CHAPTER XXV 

 PRICES OF HOME-GROWN TIMBER 



THESE vary so much in different parts of the country that 

 it is almost impossible to give a list that would apply gener- 

 ally to the British Isles. Local demand and the situation 

 of the plantations where the timber is to be sold have to be 

 considered, while the quantity available and quality of the 

 particular timber are also important factors in determining 

 the price. 



In many instances woods and plantations are far removed 

 from road and rail, consequently the cost of delivering to 

 the consuming centre is proportionately high, while in the 

 vicinity of coal mines or manufacturing towns almost every 

 class of timber will find a ready and profitable market. 

 Then the quality of the timber (its reputation, we might 

 almost say) is a powerful factor in assessing its value, as 

 will be seen in the case of oak produced in Surrey and 

 Sussex, or beech from the chalky districts of Kent and 

 Hertfordshire. No timber merchant thinks twice as to 

 whether he should, on account of quality, purchase oaks 

 at Rockingham, Ashridge, Welbeck or other well-known 

 centres, and so it is with the beech timber on the Chiltern 

 Hills, at the Chenies, in Hertfordshire, or with Scotch pine 

 from the famous Aberdeenshire plantations. 



But there is another factor that frequently affects the 

 price of good timber, and that is, that in inaccessible posi- 

 tions the quantity offered is too small. This has been the 

 case with excellent larch timber in Ireland, where the 

 quantity offered was not sufficient to induce the timber 

 merchant to lay down plant and arrange for delivery to the 

 nearest railway or port. There are other causes of a minor 



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