16 DIRECT UTILITY OF F0REST8. 



of an estimated value of close on £12,000,000 a year, as the 

 following statement shows : — 



Average Annual Imports of Minor Forest Produce 

 INTO THE United Kingdom. 



2. Forests as Ohjects of ludustri/. 



Forests occupy a certain portion of the earth's surface ; 

 hence forestry forms part of agriculture in its widest sense. 

 They are important objects of industry, representing a large 

 amount of capital, and they require labour in various ways 

 though at a rate different from that of other branches of 

 agriculture. 



a. Tlic Ct/jiiial of Forcslry. 



The capital employed in forestry consists principally of the 

 soil and the growing stock of wood, the latter being an 

 accumulation of a number of years' increment. When the 

 working is of an intermittent nature, the amount of capital 

 fluctuates from time to time ; when the working is so arranged 

 that an equal annual return is secured, the capital remains of 

 the same amount and consists o£ the soil plus the growing 



