THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol, XVII. No. 5. 



AUGUST, 1910. 



COOMBE PLANTATION, KESWICK: 



A Successful Plantation at a High Altitude. 

 (Continued.) 



R. L. Robinson, B.A., B.Sc, and A. Lindsay Watt, F.S.I. 



Financial Asp ext. 



In reviewing the financial results of a plantation of 

 this nature, where the land may or may not be used 

 for a future crop, and where the grazing value of the 

 land is but little impaired, compared with virgin land, after 

 the removal of the crop, the first consideration is the use of 

 the soil throughout the rotation. For the purposes of a 

 single rotation the land might obviously be bought outright, 

 in which case a sum representing its value at the end of the 

 rotation must be credited to the " returns," or the use of the 

 soil for growing the crop might be rented on the basis of 

 the value of the land for sheep-grazing. 



Calculations have been carried out on both these assump- 

 tions, as the results give a useful comparison of the returns 

 from the land under the two methods of management — 

 forestry and sheep-grazing. 



Expenses. — A valuation made in i860 put the freehold value 

 of the land, without the crop of timber it then carried, at ,£200, 

 or approximately £1 per acre. The amount, at 3 per cent, 

 compound interest, of ,£200 paid in 1848 is ,£1,213 I 3 s -i DUt 

 as the land still has a value (^200) now that it is being 

 cleared of timber, the sum so accumulated is ,£1,013 13s. 



On the other hand, the total amount of the annual rents 

 would be ^4,021 13s. The rent has varied somewhat 

 from period to period. From 1848 to 1857 it was estimated 

 at ^15; from 1858-1867 at ^20; 1868 to 1882, ^40; 1883- 

 1902, ^20; 1903-1909, £15. The plantation has been let 



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