116 THE MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS. 



which exact calculations indicate as yielding the largest sustained 

 net annual income from the total capital invested in land and 

 crops, the calculations being made at compound interest, and 

 being based upon the cost of formation, the time and net value 

 of thinnings obtainable, and the final net income derivable from 

 the mature crop (p. 143). In making calculations for future thin- 

 nings and mature falls, only probable returns can be dealt with ; 

 and even as regards income from past thinnings and fellings, 

 cost of planting, &c., very few estates can furnish accurate 

 statistics, while future changes in the market cannot be accu- 

 rately forecast. The tendency of timber prices is upwards, and 

 they are likely to continue to rise ; but the market for small 

 coppice material is gone, and seems never likely to revive. 



Subdivision of Woodlands into Compartments. At present 

 British woodlands are usually scattered in small blocks over 

 large estates, and are often not worked upon any definite 

 principles at all; but to be able to introduce methodical 

 management, all the woodlands on an estate should be sub- 

 divided into convenient Compartments, the boundaries of which 

 may be roads, streams, hill-ridges, shooting-rides, inspection- 

 paths, &c. ; and they should be carefully chosen, because the 

 compartments form permanent subdivisions of the woodlands, 

 and are the framework upon which any well-considered scheme 

 of management must rest both now and in the future. The 

 size and the shape of compartments may vary according to local 

 conditions; but rectangular boundaries are usually preferred, 

 with the long side at right angles to the direction from which 

 the prevailing most dangerous wind comes. The larger the 

 compartment, the less is the acreage taken up by roads and 

 rides, &c. ; but compartments of about 25 to 30 acres are 

 generally the most convenient, though where battue-shooting 

 has to be kept well in view, smaller compartments of only 

 10 to 15 acres may be preferred. In making the compartments, 

 the network of roads required for extracting the mature timber 



