226 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FORESTRY 



The costs of land purchase, preliminary expenses, and 

 planting costs, with compound interest thereon at 8 per 

 cent., are shown in Table vi., together with the yield ex- 

 pected annually when the area is fully stocked. The 

 annual costs of maintenance are assumed to be covered 

 by grazing and sporting rents, and the intermediate returns 

 from thinnings. 



If the figures generally are compared with returns 

 actually obtained in continental State forests, given in 

 Table viii., it will be seen that the yields in saleable timber, 

 as distinct from firewood, in the estimates are slightly 

 higher than those usually obtained, while the prices per 

 cubic foot are also well up to the general averages. As, 

 however, the estimates apply to what would be compact 

 blocks, and not to a number of detached areas of various 

 sorts and conditions, neither yields nor prices can be con- 

 sidered excessive. 



The costs of planting are also higher than published 

 figures would lead one to expect. This is partly accounted 

 for by the expenses of cleaning on land previously under 

 grass or heather, and partly by the well-known fact 

 that this work can seldom be done so cheaply in Great 

 Britain as on the Continent, if a really satisfactory crop 

 is to be left on the ground. They are also intended 

 to cover cost of nursery work, and the necessary atten- 

 tion to the plantations up to the fifth or sixth year. 



The most uncertain feature of the estimates is that 

 which assumes the covering of general maintenance 

 charges by grazing and sporting rents and thinnings. 

 Any deficiency in this respect, however, should be 

 balanced by the saving or postponing of preliminary 

 expenses, upon which interest has been charged from the 

 first year, while a certain sum may be expected from 

 inferior timber not calculated in the annual yield per acre. 



The actual maintenance charges would vary generally 



