BY PUBLIC AUCTION. 457 



price of each lot. As soon as the last lot has been sold, the 

 auction is concluded by ascertaining the total price paid for each 

 wood-assortment, and for the whole of the produce which has 

 been sold. 



The success of the auction will depend in some measure on 

 the place where it is held. This may be either on the felling- 

 area or at the wood-depot, or in a building in some neighbouring 

 and suitably situated village or town. 



If the sale is effected in the forest or depot, then every 

 would-be purchaser can examine each lot, and estimate its value, 

 and bid for it with confidence and deliberation. This is par- 

 ticularly useful for purchasers when there is a considerable 

 difference in the quality of the various lots. 



When, however, in a sale by detail, the lots are scrupulously 

 assorted, as at present in many forests, the buyers are accustomed 

 to visit the felling-area before the sale and true descriptions of 

 the lots are given by the auctioneer — or where in sales of 

 standing trees sufficient information regarding their volume and 

 quality has been supplied beforehand to the buyers — a sale under 

 cover of a roof is preferable, as it is much more expeditious 

 and usually attracts a greater number of purchasers than a sale 

 in the open air. Anyone wishing to purchase a large quantity 

 of timber, will in any case visit the felling-area before the sale, 

 and small purchasers have no time during the sale to measure 

 and value every log, without intolerably delaying the auction. 

 An auction in the forest is therefore advisable — when buyers 

 cannot be induced to visit the felling-area or depot before- 

 hand ; when the wood has been carelessly assorted, or each 

 lot contains wood of various assortments and qualities. In all 

 other cases, the interests of the forest owner are generally better 

 safeguarded when the auction is held in a building. 



The date chosen for the auction ; the place in which the 

 auction is held, and the list of material to be sold, should 

 now be publicly advertised, both in the best local newspapers 

 and in printed notices posted-up at inns and public buildings in 

 the sale-district, as well as by the public crier. If the produce 

 to be sold is chiefly wood for local demands, it is superfluous to 

 spend much money on advertising ; it is then sufficient to give 

 a list of the chief assortments in the notices, and to advertise 



