SOIL AND SURFACE CONDITIONS 143 



trees of a more valuable species can be introduced, it is 

 found that £10 to £15 per acre is the lowest amount that 

 can be named which will cover initial cost and compound 

 interest previous to the planting of the timber crop 

 proper. 



The cost of putting in the latter will probably vary 

 from £3 to £5 per acre, according to species introduced, 

 and an average figure of £4 will not be far out. This 

 makes from £15 to £20 in all as the total cost of affores- 

 tation, including preliminary and timber crops. The 

 question then remains, will the crop thus produced be of 

 sufficient value to justify "this expense ? In the more 

 sheltered districts, enabling the climate to make good 

 some of the deficiences of the soil, good management may 

 give, at the end of a fifty to sixty years' rotation, an 

 average yield of about 2000 to 3000 feet per acre of such 

 species as spruce or larch. The highest possible value 

 that could be placed on a crop of this kind would be 4d. 

 per cubic foot all round, assuming two-thirds to consist of 

 spruce and one-third larch, making a total value of £30 to 

 £50, from which costs of formation and management must 

 be deducted. The latter, of course, varies with the size of 

 the area and other circumstances, but at the lowest it 

 cannot be less than 2s. 6d. per acre, taking every item 

 into account expended over a long period. Without 

 going into exact figures it is evident, therefore, that the 

 returns from lands of this class cannot do more than pay 

 expenses under the most favourable circumstances, unless 

 current prices for small timber rise two or threefold in the 

 future. 



The question is often asked why trees should not grow 

 at the same elevation to-day as those found under the 

 peat and mountain slopes 2000 feet or more above sea- 

 level. The question may be answered in a way by 

 pointing out that these trees were usually growing in the 



