18 



DIRECT UTILITY OF FORESTS. 



average, be estimated at more than £25 per acre, while land 

 of the 11, or middling quality may be estimated at £12, an 

 acre, and land of the III. or lowest quality at £4, though land 

 of the latter quality is frequently worth consideral)ly less. 



This table shows : — 



(1.) That the capital increases with the length of the 



rotation. 

 (2.) That the value of the growing stock is at first smaller 



than the value of the soil, equal to it under a rotation 



of from 50 to 60 years and greater after that period. 



Under a rotation of 100 years, for instance, the 



proportion is as follows : — 



(3.) That the capital invested in timber forests is con- 

 siderably greater than that of the soil only. Hence, 

 if forests give a higher return than fields, it does not 

 follow that the investment iu the former is of a more 



