BY ROYALTY. 453 



in most countries during the second and third decades of the 

 present century, led to a complete change^ of principle. It is 

 now admitted that the forest owner, like any other producer, is 

 thoroughly justified in selling his produce for its full value. 



Even if there can be no question that the price of firewood 

 depends on that of coal, yet to depress it as low as that of coal 

 merely on this account is not fair, for there are several other 

 intervening circumstances which must not be neglected, such 

 as custom, comfort, &c. 



The price of wood varies with time and place and in order to 

 allow due weight to these factors in fixing royalties, different 

 tariffs must be assigned to different districts or sale-depots. 

 Thus, all places .where wood-prices are about the same, should 

 be comprised within a sale-district, excluding places where 

 there are any marked differences in prices. In a province, 

 forest district, or forest range, therefore, there will be as many 

 tariffs as there are market-values for the same wood assort- 

 ment. But even the very points which have occasioned the 

 separation of sale-districts from one another may themselves 

 vary, and render it necessary to alter the circumscriptions of the 

 latter. In a similar manner allowance is made for periodic- 

 variations in wood prices, by revising the tariffs whenever a 

 general rise or fall in prices has occurred. Owing to the present 

 changeable nature of trade this should be done almost every 

 year, at any rate for sale-districts within the reach of the 

 general trade in wood. As regards very valuable wood-assort- 

 ments, tariffs should be revised even more than once a year, 

 whilst for inferior assortments longer intervals, from two to 

 three years, will suffice. 



Where most of the annual yield of a forest is sold to the 

 highest bidder, tariffs arc prepared for the ensuing year by 

 taking the average sale-pi'ices in round numbers for each 

 assortment, due allowance being made for any abnormal cir- 

 cumstances affecting particular sales, or for assimilating the 

 tarift's sufficiently to those in force in neighbouring sale-districts. 

 Whenever the average results of sales to the highest bidder do 

 not afford sufficient data for framing tariffs, the market-prices 

 of . wood in neighbouring towns should also be utilized, natu- 

 rally after deducting the cost of transport from the forest depots. 



