CHAPTEH VII 



THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE BRITISH FOREST 

 FLORA 



A PROFITABLE timber tree is not easy to define in the 

 abstract. A tree may be highly profitable when grown in 

 certain soils or situations or under certain economic con- 

 ditions, while the same species may be unprofitable when 

 grown under different circumstances. With planted 

 timber, the return necessary to render a tree profitable 

 must be higher than in the case of trees which have 

 been produced without artificial assistance from the seed 

 of a former crop, or other means of propagation. A tree, 

 again, which is regarded as profitable to-day may prove 

 to be unprofitable in the course of fifty or a hundred 

 years, owing to changes in manufactures or substitutes 

 being found for its wood. 



Instances of all the above cases may be found in the 

 British Isles. Scots pine at low or moderate elevations 

 in the Highlands of Scotland may be as profitable as any 

 species capable of growing in the poor soils or raw climate 

 of the country, owing to the cheap rate at which it can be 

 planted. On rich soils and low-lying situations in many 

 parts of England the same tree can scarcely be given away, 

 unless grown near a colliery. Beech planted at any distance 

 from a manufacturing centre can seldom be grown at a 

 profit, while in the Chiltern Hills natural regeneration, com- 

 bined with a local market, render it one of the most profit- 

 able crops that can be grown in the district. Oak affords 

 a very good instance of a timber that once commanded a 



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