Kii SALE OF WOOD. 



it is agreed upon freely by the competitors ; it is illogul only 

 when brought about by threats, &c. The seller must, therefore, 

 endeavour to guarantee himself against the damage he may 

 sufter owing to coalition at auctions. Almost the only remedy 

 available is to stop the sale, and adopt measures to improve the 

 competition of purchasers. Among these are the following : 

 advertising widely (this however, presupposes sufficient wood to 

 attract distant purchasers) ; sub-division of the sale-lots into 

 smaller ones, so that it may be possible for poorer purchasers to 

 compete ; finally, avoidance of all burdensome sale-conditions 

 which reduce competition. A further measure against coalition 

 is to adopt another mode of sale. 



There are also first principles of justice as well as of self- 

 interest, wdiicli should always induce the seller to avoid all 

 conduct on his part which may hinder a proper price being paid, 

 or lead to coalitions of the purchasers. 



ii. SdU' of Stdudin;! Trees. 



The sale of standing trees, especially with the right of felling 

 and conversion by the purchaser, is frequently preferred by 

 wood-merchants and large dealers in timber to that of con- 

 verted wood. This is easily explained by the fact that in 

 the former case the wood-merchant can convert and remove the 

 wood more profitably to himself, and can time its conversion 

 and removal so as to take advantage of any special demand. 

 In this mode of sale, however, the purchaser obtains the 

 crown and stumps of the trees, as well as the stems, and thus 

 may be encumbered with a quantity of firewood, the disposal 

 of which is often burdensome and unprofitable to a timber- 

 merchant. 



The matter has a difterent aspect as regards the interests of 

 the forest owner. When the standing trees are sold by imit of 

 produce, this protects the forest owner from the necessity of 

 selling his trees at too low a price, and at the same time allows 

 him full play in carefully felling and converting the trees. 

 When, however, it is important to satisfy local demands, this 

 mode of sale is not satisfactory [as the whole of each assort- 

 ment from a felling-area (or the demarcated portion of one) is 

 necessarily purchased by one individual. — Tu.]. 



