42 FORESTRY OF NORWAY. 



the timber trade, informed me some time ago that, ac- 

 cording to a calculation he had made, pine and spruce 

 timber actually costs, and is worth much more than the 

 price at which it is sold. His theory is, that an acre of 

 ground timber is worth the same that the lowest or 

 nominal price of wild land say 1 dol. an acre would 

 amount to, as an invested capital, drawing interest at the 

 expiration of the period required for timber to develop. 

 ' In the report on Swedish forest culture, accompanying 

 my letter No. 166,' says he, ' it was shown that on the 

 northerly part of Sweden, 200 years, and in poorer soils 

 300 years, are required for the pine to grow to good 

 timber. In the south part of the country 100 years are 

 sufficient/ He says that 1 dol. invested at 5 per cent, 

 interest per annum will double in 20 years. In 40 years 

 it will be 4 dols. ; in 60 years, 8 dols. ; in 80 years, 16 dols. ; 

 in 100 years, 32 dols.; in 120 years, 64 dols.; in 140 

 years, 128 dols. ; in 160 years, 256 dols. ; in 180 years, 

 512 dols. ; in 200 years, 1024 dols. ; and this he makes 

 the cost of production as thus calculated. 



He goes on to say : ' Assuming that one hundred and 

 eighty years are required for the growth of pine timber 

 in the north-west part of the United States, these 

 figures would seem to show that the pine forests of the 

 United States are bringing to hand trees sold and con- 

 sumed at a price very much below their actual value.' I 

 know that the same thing has occurred in other countries 

 besides America, and that in many cases the tree was 

 worth to the country, as a tree, a great deal more than the 

 price obtained for it as wood ! 



In the narrative of what I saw in sailing from Christian- 

 sand to Christiania, I have intimated that close upon the 

 level of the sea, on the shores of the Skager-Rack, and on 

 islands there, and the coast of Bohu's Bay, and of the 

 Christiania Fiord, the coniferae give a character to the 

 scenery. But, as has been stated, these are not the only 

 kind of trees found indigenous in Norway. There has 



