ioo PROCEEDINGS OF THE; 



own operations, as any plan that requires years to 

 prove profitable; the commercial mind is slow to em- 

 brace. 



The facts that must deeply impress the individual 

 are those which influence matters of personal interest. 

 The lumberman centers his attention on that part of 

 the forest which he can profitably convert into money. 

 The young, immature trees are obstacles to him, which 

 increase the cost of transporting timber to the mill. 



T! j forester, on the other hand, considers young 

 trees as the basis of future returns. 



In order that the best results may be obtained, the 

 forester must understand the economic problems that 

 confront the lumberman. The manufacturer of lum- 

 ber faces the necessity of providing raw material 

 (standing timber) for from five to twenty years, de- 

 pending on the size of his plant, in order to justify his 

 investment. He usually has maturing payments on 

 his timber land, that have to be met from the returns 

 of operation. This necessity has generally precluded 

 in the earlier years of a lumberman's operation serious 

 consideration of anything but the production of the 

 lumber at the lowest possible cost. The practice of 

 forestry would increase the cost of production per 

 unit on account of the less amount of timber imme- 

 diately available from a given area. The percentage 

 of increase in cost of production would be very slight 

 where there is a heavy stand of timber, but in a light 

 stand the percentage of increased cost would be quite 

 large. The individual operator has always had to 

 consider first, the necessity of employing a larger 

 investment; second, competition of manufacturers, 

 who are operating regardless of the principles of 

 forestry. This competition during periods of general 

 commercial depression might force the manufacturer 



