471 SALK OF WOOD. 



ill any case, to dry tlirouj^liout the suminer so as to ensure a 

 profitable sale, it is better to sell the produce of summer-fellings 

 in the autumn, and those of winter-fellings early in the spring. 

 In years with proh)nged cold winters, evidently the best time 

 for selling firewood is in mid-winter, and then cart-transport is- 

 readily available. Small wood for agricultural purposes, which 

 is generally brought into use immediately after felling ; railway- 

 sleepers, which are sold by wholesale merchants and must 

 usually be impregnated and delivered to the railway authorities, 

 by the beginning of summer, and other wood-assortments whicli 

 are reqmred early in the year, should be sold during autumn 

 or early winter. When trees are sold standing, the sales should 

 be effected in September, so that the merchant may know in 

 time what business he has to undertake during the felling 

 season. If the technical requirements for certain woods pre- 

 scribe that the felling should take place in the growing season, 

 an enterprising forest owner will endeavour to meet such a 

 demand. The date of final payment for the wood sold is also 

 more important than the immediate demand. "Where sales are 

 for cash down, they should be held in autumn and early winter, 

 when the country people have most ready money ; if payment is 

 by instalments, with security, the season for sale is less im- 

 portant, provided the interval before final payment, for which 

 autumn is best, is not too short. 



When the peasantry takes 2)art in wood-sales, these should 

 be fixed when they have leisure to attend, and that is usually 

 during winter. As regards wholesale traders, they generally 

 sell from timber-yards, where they keep their wood a longer or 

 shorter time, so as to profit by favourable opportunities for sale. 

 The petty dealer, on the other hand, buys only at favourable 

 seasons, when he can readily dispose of his wood for a fair profit. 



The above remarks may be thus summarised : — Autumn and 

 winter, and the times nearest to them, are the most profitable 

 seasons for selling wood; by the middle of April, in ordinary 

 years, the chief produce of felling-areas should be sold. It 

 should also be noted that people become accustomed to fixed 

 dates for sales, conduct business accordingly, and attend such 

 sales with the determination to purchase sufficient wood for their 

 requirements. 



