8 GENER.\L CONSIDERATIONS 



not depend upon the relative costs of the two distinct busi- 

 nesses — viz., logging timber and growing tiniber — but, in 

 reahty, hinges upon whether a profit ultimately can be made in 

 excess of the expenditures necessary in growing the tree crop. 



It is true that the lack of capital to invest and of the finan- 

 cial strength to carry an investment for a period of years bar 

 many owners of forest property from practicing silviculture. 



Where the desire to enter the business of forestry exists in 

 conjunction with the requisite amount of capital, silviculture 

 will, in the majority of cases, prove to be a practical under- 

 taking. Forest properties sufficiently well stocked with tim- 

 ber to return an immediate and continuous income offer more 

 favorable opportunities for the practice of silviculture than 

 those upon which the timber is so deficient as to necessitate a 

 long period of waiting before returns on the investment are 

 available. 



The actual costs of silviculture and the degree to which 

 they increase the cost of logging are subject to wide varia- 

 tion. Graves^ stated in 191 1 that the cost of silviculture, 

 expressed in terms of the annual cut, is likely to fall between 

 50 cents and $1.00 per thousand feet, board measure. In 

 calculating the extra cost of logging timber on the National 

 Forests, as contrasted with the unrestricted logging on private 

 lands, for California forests in 1918 Birch ^ concludes that 

 expenditures are increased $0,855 P^^ thousand feet, board 

 measure, and lowered $0.78, making the net excess of cost 

 $0,075 per thousand feet, board measure. In favorable in- 

 stances a crude application of silviculture may involve very 

 shght increased charges. On the other hand intensive appli- 

 cation may require large initial costs, although eventually 

 returning better net profits than the crude application. 



It is not purposed to attempt a statement of the actual 

 costs, but rather to set forth the various classes of items 



