126 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



case is entirely different, and the expenditures for 

 harvest alone may range from $25 to $75 per acre 

 and more. 



But the difference, that renders the established 

 regulated forestry business unique, is the amount 

 and the character of the permanent or fixed capital. 



Both the farming and the forestry industry have 

 in common, besides buildings and tools, the soil as 

 the basis of production. Since forestry is gradu- 

 ally relegated to the poor soils, this part of the in- 

 vestment is comparatively much smaller than in 

 agriculture, unless agricultural soils are used in for- 

 est growing. Thus in Prussia, where, as we have 

 seen, lately purchases of absolute forest soils have 

 been made by the government, the average price 

 paid in 3 years for about 7500 acres was less than 

 $22, including occasionally inferior timber and build- 

 ings, the range being from $3 to $33.30, while the 

 better agricultural soils bring in the province of 

 Brandenburg $100 to ;^i6o per acre. In other 

 districts, where forest products are higher in price, 

 the value of forest soils ranges somewhat higher, 

 namely, from $15 to $60 and occasionally ;^8o. 

 But in forestry the fixed capital is not confined to 

 the soil; the much larger value is represented in 

 the growing stock of wood, which must be allowed 

 to accumulate before it is ready for the axe. This 

 is the most characteristic feature in the wood-crop- 

 ping business carried on for continuity : that only 

 the accumulated accretions of many years can be 



