132 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



invested at 2 J per cent, amounts at the end of 

 eighty years to £12 85. 46?., and a capital sum 

 of £3 invested at 2| per cent, for the same period 

 amounts to £21 125. 7d. These two sums added 

 together give a total sum of £34 Os, lid. 



These values for the purchase of the land 

 and the cost of planting are very moderate. 

 There is no expenditure charged for maintenance 

 or for rates and taxes. A consideration of them 

 is sufficient to prove that, even assuming a great 

 reduction in the length of the rotation and that 

 the thinnings pay for the maintenance, rates, 

 and taxes, it would not be possible to estimate 

 that the forests could be established at a less 

 cost than £30 per acre. 



All predictions about the financial results of 

 afforestation are only conjectural. It is im- 

 possible to know with any form of accuracy 

 the prices of labour and timber after the war. 

 Probably all prices will rise. There is no present 

 reason to think that the rise on the debit and 

 credit side of a forest account will be unequal 

 in amount, though the possibility cannot be 

 entirely excluded that timber might rise in price 

 only slightly and the expenses increase greatly. 



Another conjectural view of the result of 

 afforestation may be presented as follows. Omit 



