XIX 



WILL PLANTING FORESTS EVER BECOME 

 PROFITABLE ? 



IT matters little what facts may be set forth or what 

 arguments may be adduced to show the necessity for plant- 

 ing forests, nor does it signify how strong appeals may be 

 made to patriotic and altruistic sentiment, tree -planting in 

 this country will not be engaged in to any great extent un- 

 less it can be put on a paying basis and become a profit- 

 able, self-sustaining enterprise. The feature uppermost in 

 the mind of any one who contemplates engaging in it is, 

 Will it pay ? Can any one afford to invest money and give 

 time and labor to growing trees for economic purposes ? 

 However anxious one may be to see our forests restored, 

 or however advantageous it may be to the country at large 

 to have it done, a candid, truthful answer must be that, in 

 and of itself, and based wholly on financial considerations, 

 it will not pay if the present price for labor and the pre- 

 sent rates of interest and taxes are to be maintained, and 

 no higher prices for forest products are to prevail when 

 the trees are fit to harvest. 



There are certain fixed charges which must go with tree- 

 planting from the day the seeds are sown until the trees 

 can be profitably harvested ; and for the fast-growing ones 

 this period may be set down as not less than sixty years. 

 These charges are : compound interest on the money in- 

 vested in land and planting, care and labor in management, 

 and annual taxes ; and when these are summed up, it will 

 be found that the total cost will at least be equal, and prob- 

 ably will exceed, the price for which that character of 

 lumber and other forest products can now be purchased in 

 market. 



