SELLING, VALUING, AND MEASURING TIMBER 151 



the option it gives the owner of allowing it to stand should 

 no suitable offer be made. When the timber is already cut, 

 the owner has no alternative but to dispose of it in some way. 

 Apart from the fact that it deteriorates more or less rapidly 

 according to species, the nuisance of felled timber lying about 

 in woods, fields, or parks is considerable, and is a constant 

 source of annoyance to proprietors. Unless the owner is 

 fully prepared to take the market price for the time being, 

 therefore, it is better policy to offer it standing ; and if he 

 knows his buyer and his buyer knows him, it is a very simple 

 matter to arrange for the price being fixed in such a way 

 that both parties get fair play. It is often more satisfactory 

 to offer it to one man and accept his bid if at all near the 

 mark, than to go to several, who may, for all one knows, be 

 in league with each other, and agree not to give more than 

 a certain sum for the lot. 



On the other hand, the price offered for standing timber 

 is rarely so high as for the same timber felled. It is not the 

 actual cost of felling, as this is always allowed for in the top 

 and lop, and can be easily estimated, but rather to the uncer- 

 tainty which exists as to the quality of the standing timber 

 and the damage which may be done to it in felling. Oak may 

 turn out shaky, elm unsound, ash black-hearted, or be split 

 in felling, while holes and defects in the upper part of the 

 trunk are not so easily seen, and the extent of the damage 

 gauged, as when the timber is down. Then, again, large 

 timber usually looks bigger when down than when standing, 

 although a practised valuer of standing timber may not be 

 misled on this point. The estate owner, again, can usually 

 fell timber at less expense than the timber merchant, for the 

 former has usually his staff of woodmen on the spot, while 

 the latter is frequently unable to get local men to undertake 

 the work, but must employ men from a distance and pay 

 their travelling expenses, lodgings, etc., in addition to higher 

 wages. Where a regular staff of woodmen is kept, therefore, 

 it usually pays best to let them cut the timber, even if the 

 merchant buys it standing, as the removal of what is some- 

 times one of his worst difficulties will often lead him to offer 

 an additional price for the timber which will more than cover 

 the cost of felling, although the letter has been allowed for, 



