160 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



case of all timber which is accompanied by no increase in 

 value, and a quarter girth of 17 to 24 inches is large enough 

 for anything. Very heavy timber is not only more difficult 

 to handle and convert, but its purchase is also a more risky 

 speculation, as none can say what defects lie within its bark, 

 or, if standing, what damage it will sustain in falling. 



But the most important factor in the value of all timber 

 is its quality. What quality means in all cases is not very 

 easy to define, so much depending upon the particular pur- 

 pose for which the timber is wanted. The most import- 

 ant points in timber are generally the length of the trunk 

 and freedom from coarse knots in the bole, and absence of 

 all decay in the heart or sap-wood. In the case of oak, 

 freedom from cup, ring, or heart-shake is the usual criterion 

 of good quality, and shaky oak is always looked upon as an 

 unprofitable article. In ash the colour of the heart-wood 

 is the principal feature upon which its value depends. If 

 white throughout, it can rank as first-class, but, if black or 

 discoloured by premature or normal decay, it has lost its 

 toughness, and will only make an indifferent price. With 

 beech, cleanness and length of stem is the quality most 

 esteemed, and the same may be said of elm, although in the 

 latter a few branches are always looked for. 



With conifers in general, length and cleanness of bole are 

 the most desirable features, and the more so the greater the 

 tendency of the species to produce side branches spruce 

 and silver fir, for instance, if branched to the ground, being 

 almost unsaleable. With larch, soundness at the heart is 

 probably the most desirable quality, but one which is very 

 rare in most soils after a certain age. It is evident, there- 

 fore, that the value of different species does not always 

 depend upon the same factors of quality, and that a factor 

 which is all important for one species has no influence upon 

 the value of another. 



The third point upon which the market value of timber 

 depends, namely, the position in which it happens to be standing 

 or lying, is an important one, but one which is frequently 

 overlooked by those with little experience in handling it. 

 In the case of a bulky article, like timber, growing in many 

 cases on soft or broken ground, and at a considerable distance 



