156 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



foresters, therefore, or agents who mark the timber them- 

 selves, generally attempt to get as much good timber into 

 their sales as possible, and feel tempted to leave out a good 

 deal of rough and indifferent stuff which they know will sell 

 badly. From the auctioneer's and timber merchant's points 

 of view this is all right, and is also a good thing for the 

 current year's accounts of the estate. But it often means 

 that the woods are gradually ruined by over-cutting, and the 

 constant thinning out of the best trees, in order that the one 

 year's sales may be as good as its predecessor's. Such a 

 course can only have one ending ; and it is a well-known 

 fact that, on all estates on which an annual sale has been 

 held for many years, the quality of the standing timber 

 gradually deteriorates. Old ornamental timber and young 

 woods may not be much affected, but the quantity of market- 

 able timber gradually decreases at a faster rate than it 

 matures, and the woods eventually consist of either young 

 trees or stunted and decrepit individuals which ought to 

 have been taken out years before. In the case of woods 

 properly and systematically worked, this of course need not 

 be the case, as then each season would bring its annual 

 quota of mature timber to the axe. But how many estate 

 woodlands are properly worked may be seen by referring to 

 Chapter II. 



Where the rubbish can be worked up on the estate or 

 sold privately to advantage, the sale of the best timber by 

 auction might be a judicious proceeding. But when the pro- 

 portion of good to bad or indifferent is about one of the 

 former to three of the latter, as is usually the case, this is 

 not an easy matter. Auction sales depend for their success 

 upon keen competition, and keen competition depends upon 

 the quality and quantity offered and the state of the trade. 

 Small sales mean local buyers, who do not as a rule cut one 

 another's throats, although it occasionally happens that a 

 small man on the spot will give a price for one or two lots 

 which ordinary buyers do not attempt to reach. But the 

 fact remains, that high averages at auction sales can only be 

 reached by good quality offered, and few proprietors are able, 

 after all is over, to say that they have received more for their 

 timber than it is worth, although they may have received, as 



