COXCLUDIXG THE BUSINESS. 305 



which have far to go to reach their ultimate destination. In the 

 interests of trade, it is desirable that such wood should at least 

 be perfectly sound when handed over by the forester to the 

 timber-merchant. 



4. Valuation. 



As soon as the quantity of the produce of the felling has all 

 been entered, and the manager has become acquainted with the 

 quality of each lot, he should proceed to put an estimated price 

 on the lots, in accordance with the latest information he has 

 acquired regarding local demands. The sale-price which the 

 produce will realise often depends greatly on the fact that a 

 proper valuation of it has been made before the sale by the 

 forest manager. 



In order to arrive at such a result, he must be thoroughly 

 acquainted with the actual state of the market, and with the 

 technical qualities and defects of his wood, and the purposes 

 for which it is likely to be employed. 



The manager should bestow the greater care on the classi- 

 fication of his produce, the more valuable it is, and when full- 

 sized logs of good timber are included, a rough estimate of their 

 value will not suffice. In such cases, the entire log should be 

 valued in length sections in accordance with the uses to 

 which it may be put. As each piece or lot is valued, it should be 

 stamped with the Range-hammer, generally close to the number 

 it already bears. This denotes that the wood has been entered 

 in the range receipt-book and is useful in the control of the 

 transport or in possible cases of peculation. 



Section X. — Concluding the Business of Felling and 

 Conversion. 



As soon as the Range receipt-book has been written-up, the 

 produce of the felling must be tabulated to show its value, the 

 depot should then be inspected, the workmen paid, and thus 

 the whole business concluded. 



VOL. v. X 



