338 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 



Aside from these tangible differences there is invariably met another 

 intangible difference in two forest problems otherwise comparable, — due 

 to a difference in ownership. Among the problems confronting the manag- 

 ing forester, the most difficult is, perhaps, the task of ascertaining the 

 definite desire of the owner. This task is more trying in the case of individual 

 ownership than in the case of stock companies. 



Working plans cannot be made for a forest when an owner, lacking 

 continuity of purpose, is subject to whimsical fluctuations of mind; or when 

 the owner's financial status happens to be of a shaky nature. 



It must be clearl} T understood, on the other hand, that a " working 

 plan " is a plan merely outlining a definite policy; a policy to be followed 

 as long as (and no longer than) the economic conditions surrounding the 

 financial problem remain unaltered. 



The market of forest products in America is — unlike the German 

 market — an interstate market, not a home market. 



In Germany the sustained yield of the forests is framed, essentially, 

 with a view to the consuming capacity of a home market. 



In this country, so far, no attempt is being made towards the adjustment 

 of a supply of lumber and demand for lumber — with the exception only 

 of the cypress industry which, controlled by firms of remarkable strength, 

 seems effectually to establish an equilibrium between lumber demand and 

 lumber supply. 



In the production of the hardwoods and of pine, concerted action of 

 the producers towards a similar end is, for the time being, a pious wish. 



" Concerted action " of the producers is usually decided as a " trust." 

 From the patriotic standpoint, no more beneficial trust can be imagined 

 than a lumber trust. 



The German sustained yield, adopted by practically all owners of 

 stumpage, amounts to a trust-yield." 



There is no possibility — neither abroad nor here — to establish an 

 absolute equilibrium between production of trees and consumption of 

 lumber, the latter being subject to continuous fluctuations, whilst the 

 former allows only of slow alterations. 



The American producers, with rare exceptions, have never attempted 

 to curtail the output of the lumber industry. On the contrary, when the 



