CHAPTER IV 



PEOFITABLE TIMBER TREES, AND METHODS OF 

 GROWING THEM 



The definition of a profitable timber tree is not an altogether 

 easy matter, profit being dependent upon many factors 

 which are apt to be lost sight of after a number of years, 

 and which cannot be foreseen many years in advance. 

 But the two principal factors are undoubtedly the cost of 

 production on the one hand, and the value of the crop 

 produced on the other. These two factors must always 

 be considered in conjunction with one another, as in the 

 case of farm or garden crops; for it is an obvious fact 

 that the expenses of cultivation must first be paid before a 

 profit can be claimed, and the smaller these are, the 

 greater the chance of profit and the smaller the risk of 

 loss. A great deal has already been said on the subject 

 of profitable forestry which need not be repeated here, 

 although it has a close bearing on the subject generally. 

 All we need deal with in this chapter is the consideration 

 of those trees which can be planted at a reasonable cost 

 per acre, and which in the present state of the market have 

 a fair probability of selling readily when mature. No tree 

 can be called profitable which cannot be readily sold when 

 mature, and which does not grow at a rate which represents 

 a fair rate of interest on the sum necessary to establish the 

 crop and maintain it for the necessary period. As it is 

 practically impossible to say how a particular kind of timber 

 will sell in fifty or eighty or more years hence, the only 

 guide the intending planter has is the present state of the 

 market. No one can say, with absolute certainty, whether 

 a species which sells at Is. per cubic foot to-day will be 



