AFFORESTATION 131 



In each year of the rotation that is, from the 

 year in which the first area was planted to the 

 year in which it was felled a certain additional 

 area would be planted, and the capital expen- 

 diture of the State for the purchase and the 

 planting of land would continuously increase. 

 When the first planted area was cleared the 

 capital expenditure would cease and a perpetual 

 income would be received. It would be the 

 sale money of the area cleared in each year, 

 less the cost of replanting the area cleared in 

 the previous year. 



In the present absence of all details about 

 the length of the rotation, the cost of the land, 

 and of maintenance, any estimate of the capital 

 expenditure can be only a rough approximation. 

 Yet it is possible to give some figures which are 

 beyond doubt. 



The capital expenditure per acre on the forest 

 at the time when it becomes self-supporting 

 cannot be less than 30. 



In a letter to The Spectator, published in 

 January 1914, the Duke of Northumberland 

 pointed out that, assuming the land to be worth 

 annually Is. per acre before it was planted and 

 the cost of planting 3 per acre, the following 

 would be the result : namely, Is. per annum 



