FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF AFFORESTATION 215 



as a rule, and that the poorer the quality of the land, and 

 the lower the value of the crop per acre, the greater the 

 area must be to show a profit. This is chiefly due to the 

 various economies which can be effected with large areas 

 as compared with small. The fencing of large blocks can 

 either be dispensed with altogether, or can be carried out 

 at the lowest possible rate per acre. Supervision is 

 easier, labour better organised and more efficient, and 

 the cost of planting, thinning, felling, and other operations 

 carried out at the lowest possible cost. In another direc- 

 tion, timber grown in big lots commands a better market, 

 and attracts the establishment of timber-using industries 

 to the vicinity of the forest, tending to an enhanced price 

 and a continued demand. With certain species, again, 

 large blocks become self-regenerative in time, and with 

 skilful management they may be kept under a succession 

 of crops with little or no expense to the proprietor. 



On the other hand, large forest areas are more subject 

 to insect pests, and possibly more exposed to wind and 

 tire risks than small isolated patches ; for strange as it may 

 appear to the inexperienced, the more a wood is constantly 

 exposed to wind the better can it withstand its force. 

 This immunity, however, is only gained at the expense 

 of height growth, and cleanness of timber, and financially 

 may be of no great advantage. 



In Great Britain the fact is obvious that the better the 

 land, and the more favourable the situation for agricul- 

 tural purposes, the more difficult it becomes to procure 

 large areas for any definite purpose, and especially to 

 secure them at a low price. Apart from existing woods, 

 the majority of which are individually small, the 

 woodlands of the future must be formed in blocks of 

 such a size as will enable them to be worked profit- 

 ably on the lines already referred to. The minimum 

 size for blocks varies with the soil, situation, markets for 



