222 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



depends upon circumstances. The adaptability of the 

 species for transplanting also affects the cost to some 

 extent, as the expense of filling up is greatly increased 

 or decreased according to this feature, and many circum- 

 stances of an accidental nature render the expenses of 

 planting an uncertainty. 



General maintenance will include the labour required 

 for cleaning, thinning, upkeep of fences, nursery, drains, 

 payment of rates and taxes, and supervision and care- 

 taking. These expenses will usually increase slightly 

 throughout the rotation, until an annual expenditure of 

 about 5s. per acre will be required, chiefly made up of re- 

 newal or repairs to fences, cleaning of young plantations, 

 and supervision, exclusive of the higher administrative 

 charges necessary in large schemes. 



If, however, the cost of nursery work, planting, clean- 

 ing, and filling up during the first five years is covered, 

 general maintenance should be practically balanced by 

 grazing rents in the early stages, and returns from thin- 

 nings after the thirtieth year or so, and on an average 

 area may be disregarded in estimating the accumulation 

 of capital charges. On very poor, high-lying land returns 

 from thinnings are a very doubtful source of income at any 

 time, but the expenses of caretaking or tending are very low, 

 and the nett loss under this head may not be very great. 



Income will, on the above supposition, therefore, be nil 

 until the area is in full working order. It is then derived 

 from the yield of final fellings, the volume and value of 

 which will depend upon the quality of the soil and situa- 

 tion. In estimating yields from a large area it is, how- 

 ever, necessary to allow for various factors which will 

 inevitably reduce the average yield as compared with that 

 obtained from a single acre, or derived from the productive 

 ground alone. Fences, roads, waste ground, buildings, 

 etc., all tend to bring the actual timber-growing ground 

 down to a smaller acreage than that comprised in the 



