356 



Coombe Plantation, Keswick. [august, 



The total gross returns of all bark and timber sales amount 

 to a present value of ,£26,668 19s., which includes all the 

 thinnings ever obtained from the plantation and the clear- 

 cutting of 467 acres above the 1,250 contour line. Clear- 

 cutting was begun in 1903, and the return from the area thus 

 felled amounts to ,£2,466 or ,£52 10s. per acre. This is 

 undoubtedly a poor return for a larch wood at sixty-one years, 

 but it must be borne in mind that this result was obtained 

 from the highest and worst part of the wood, which contained, 

 moreover, in that particular part a comparatively large admix- 

 ture of spruce and Scotch pine, for which only 3d. per cubic 

 foot was obtained against lod. for larch. The crop standing 

 on the remaining 151 acres has been put down at a value of 

 ,£10,000, or an average of about ,£66 per acre. A detailed 

 valuation was not made, but it is believed that the estimate 

 is a conservative one, since the remainder of the wood lies 

 for the most part below the 1,250 ft. contour. 



Since the wood was opened to grazing in 1876, and a rental 

 obtained thereby, the money so obtained has been included 

 in the yields. The amount of all yields from grazing 

 since 1876 is ,£1,456 13s. It is to be noted that only in the 

 case of a larch wood could such substantial returns be ob- 

 tained in this way. The shooting has been considered as of 

 no value. 



This, then, completes the list of expenses and returns, 

 and the financial aspect has been summed up in 

 Table VI. 



The total gross returns have amounted to ,£38,125, and 

 the expenses on the basis of acquiring the freehold to ,£14,662, 

 and on the basis of renting the soil during the rotation to j 

 ,£17,670. There has, therefore, been a profit balance of 

 ^£23,463 in the former case, and of ,£20,455 in the latter. 



The gross revenue of ,£38,125 represents an equalised j 

 annual income of £l 3s. $d. per acre,* while the profit of I 

 ,£23,463 represent 145., and that of ,£20,455, 125. 3d. per jj 

 acre per year over and above 3 per cent, compound interest : 

 on all money invested. 



If one takes the point of view that the land had already 

 been acquired, and that any profit represents the rent obtain- 

 able under forestry, the expenses would be less by ,£1, 013 13s. \ 



•• Theanioiint of ^ i per year for sixty-one years at 3 per cent, is ^l68 - 94504, 



