it in their own yards. When Scots Pine logs are stored in water, the wood is much less apt to assume the bluish discolouration (see p. 444) often appearing when it is stored on land, and which affects its market-value when converted. All kinds of wood, however, when stored on land, whether piled in heaps or lying in single logs, should be well raised above the ground-level on supports, and in the case of Conifers, the stems should be barked to season quickly and to prevent attacks of bark-beetles (see Fig. 136, p. 66).

The Sale of Timber.-In Britain, timber is usually sold either by public auction, called public roup in Scotland, or by tender, or by private contract. Sometimes the trees are felled, logged, and assorted into convenient lots before the sale is advertised, and at other times the trees are sold standing; and in this latter case, the conditions of sale or articles of roup determine whether, and under what conditions, the trees are to be felled by the seller or by the purchaser.

Sales of standing timber should be made as early as possible in autumn, so as to enable the wood to be felled and removed during the winter; while sales of felled timber should take place as soon as is convenient after the felling, logging, assorting, and lotting have been completed. The earlier one gets the timber sold and removed, the better for the woods and for the other work on the estate; and damage to roads should be at once repaired.

All of the above three methods of sale, as well as the two different ways of arranging for felling, have specific advantages and disadvantages inherent to them; and it is therefore absolutely impossible to say that any one is better than the other. From the very nature of such business transactions no general rule can be held to apply. In most districts sales by public auction are the commonest way of disposing of large falls of timber; and at such sales held at some rural centre the catalogue of lots usually includes timber on two or more estates in the vicinity.

For large quantities of timber, sales by public auction are no doubt in most instances best. Theoretically, they should be better than any other method of disposal, if the competition be bona fide and free. But, practically, there is always a certain amount of danger that the timber-merchants who habitually attend such auction sales may form a ring to prevent anything but nominal competition, and then afterwards hold a knock-out or supplementary trade-auction, at which is divided among themselves an additional sum representing the true value of the timber of which the landowner has really been deprived by means of a combination of buyers whose action goes very near being a fraudulent conspiracy. Such rings absorb casual outside buyers, and are very difficult to break up unless some of the buyers quarrel among themselves, and then even one resentful bidder may raise prices at any rate for such lots as suit his requirements-to near their true level.

It is often difficult to find out whether a ring is formed or not, because it generally operates over an extensive area, and consequently reduces the average price of wood throughout the whole of that, and there are always specious, plausible explanations for such low prices (e.g., labour scarce and dear, transport heavy, very difficult wood to handle, trade bad, and market

for timber poor, &c.). Certainly, if there happen to be saw-mills in the vicinity of the woods, the owners of which are willing to give a fair price for timber, it is then best to sell by private contract, and thereby to establish a permanent connection in which the sawyer will look to the local woods for at any rate part of his yearly requirements in timber in the log, and the landowner will find a fairly assured market close at hand. The more such local conditions of supply and demand are developed, the better for the seller and the buyer, and for the neighbourhood supplied by the local saw-mills.

When, however, there are specially fine falls of Oak, Elm, or Ash suitable for particular purposes (e.g., railway workshop requirements, carriage-builders, butts and burrs for cabinet-making, &c.), then it may often be advantageous to advertise for tenders; and if no suitable offers are received, the timber can still be sold by public auction or private contract; and, as a matter of fact, calls for tenders often result in a subsequent sale by private contract.

In sales by private contract there are no extraneous expenses, such as commission and advertising; and in calling for tenders, there are only the expenses of advertisement; whereas in sales by public auction there is the auctioneer's commission (10 per cent ordinarily, but this includes lotting, cataloguing, and valuation, and also the collection of the money from the buyers), advertising, refreshments at sale, &c. A public auction can of course be held by the landowner, or his agent, bailiff, or forester, after taking out an auctioneer's license (fee £10), but this is probably very seldom ever done.

When timber is marked for sale, whether standing or felled, it is valued by the forester; and if an auctioneer be employed, the forester's valuation is compared with the valuation made by the auctioneer, when any very marked differences can be inquired into before the latter valuation is approved by the landlord or his agent as a sort of upset price or basis for the amount anticipated.

Even when an auctioneer is employed, the forester should attend the sale and make his own notes in some such form as the following :

In France, Belgium, and Holland the usual method of sale is that known as a Dutch auction. The lots are successively put up at an upset price considerably above the true

VOL. II.

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reserve price, and the sum asked is gradually reduced till some buyer calls out that he will take the lot at that price, when it is knocked down to him.

In Britain, the custom varies both locally, and on different estates in the same locality, as to felling timber while standing or after felling and logging. The only real advantage in offering standing trees for sale is that if the prices offered are not considered satisfactory, the bids (whether made privately, or by tender, or at a public auction) need not be accepted, and the trees may be left growing for some time longer. Once the timber is felled and logged, however, the wood-merchants know that it must be sold sooner or later, and that the landowner will generally be glad to dispose of it as soon as he can get anything like a reasonable price for it. But in standing timber one can never tell whether, or to what extent, there may be unsound wood in the trees; and it is only after they have been felled and logged that either the seller or the buyer can form a correct idea of the true quality and condition of the wood.

In disposing of standing timber the conditions of sale sometimes stipulate for felling by the seller, and sometimes for felling by the buyer, subject to the supervision of the forester; but, on the whole, it is usually preferable to have this work done by the landowner's employees (see also remarks on p. 478). If the buyer desires to have the trees logged in special lengths, or to special top-diameters to suit his particular requirements, he can easily send a man to chalk-mark the cross-cutting places where the stems are to be logged. When standing timber is sold, it is customary for the buyer to have all the "lop-and-top," or branchwood below timber-size, for nothing, as a set-off against the cost of felling and logging-on much the same principle as that on which the customary British square-of-quarter-girth measurement is based.

In France, it is usual to sell the timber standing, which is then felled, logged, and removed by the buyer; while in Germany it is usually felled and assorted previous to the sale. But it is now generally admitted that the latter is the more satisfactory practice from a sylvicultural point of view.

At sales by public auction the bids are made for each lot, irrespective of its entire contents. Even when these are perhaps roughly indicated (and then always only with the saving clause "more or less "), the conditions of sale provide for the buyer having informed himself of the quality and contents of each lot, and no subsequent representation about either can be entertained. But in sales by tender or by private contract the price agreed to is often per cubic foot (square-of-quarter-girth measurement) for the different kinds, qualities, and dimensions of timber; and this often gives rise to differences of opinion and disputes in fixing the total amount actually payable. In such cases it is therefore well to make (besides the other customary business stipulations) special conditions as to (1) what is to be measured as timber, (2) what is to be I. and II. or III. class timber, (3) what deduction in girth-measurement is to be allowed in each case for bark (unless the timber is already stripped), and (4) how the "lop-and-top" below timbersize is to be disposed of. Disputes about such matters are of course always

most likely to occur when the trees are sold standing. Such causes of dispute are obviated when the timber is sold at so much per tree, or per ton weight.

General Conditions of Sale.-Every timber-auctioneer has his own special and concise Conditions of Sale or Articles of Roup printed at the end of each of his catalogues; and these conditions are always either read, or agreed to be taken as read, before the first lot is put up for auction. And on all estates where extensive sales of timber take place, whether by private contract or by tender, printed forms are in use which have been drawn up by the agent or factor and revised by the solicitor or law-agent of the estate. There is therefore no necessity for here giving specimens of any such documents, because for anything beyond a mere petty sale the forester should not act, and should not be permitted to act, except under the direct and explicit instructions of the landowner, or of his responsible agent or factor.

In all such documents, however, the conditions of sale should provide for the following matters:

1. The mode of payment of the purchase money. At public auctions, in most parts of Britain, it is customary to accept 10 per cent cash down, and a bill for the balance at three months' date, or to allow a total discount of 24 per cent for cash in full at once. But of course special terms are given for large transactions made by private contract.

2. No timber to be removed till payment in full has been made in cash or by deposit and bill; but the timber to be at the risk of the buyer from the time it is knocked down to his bid.

3. The date by which the timber must be removed—usually the 31st May at latest, except in the case of very large sales of woods to be clear-felled, when the time allowed for felling and removal may perhaps extend to 1, 1, or 2 years.

4. The roads by which it should be taken off the estate, and the minimum breadth of the wheels of the timber-carts (wheels less than 4 in. flange cut up soft roads badly when the loads are heavy).

5. The buyers to be responsible for any damage done by their men, horses, or tractionengines to trees, plantations, coppices, fences, and gates, &c.

6. The right to make one bid for each lot is often reserved to the seller, and also the right to stop the sale if the bidding proves unsatisfactory.

7. If a buyer fails to complete the purchase, the lot may be re-exposed and re-sold, and the original buyer shall be responsible for any deficit thereby accruing.

8. In the case of standing timber, it should be stipulated whether felling and logging should be done by the seller or the buyer. In the former case, arrangements must be made for payment of all charges incurred; and in the latter, it must be precisely stated how and at what height above the ground the trees are to be felled.1

As soon as a sale by public auction has been held, the buyer should be made to pay his deposit and give his bill for the balance, unless he prefers to pay cash down and obtain the usual discount. This can easily be shown as follows in

1 If any contract be made for felling timber such details must of course also be fixed, all large trees being felled by axe and saw as close above the ground as may be possible under the given circumstances (a limit being fixed).

a Sale Register or Roup Roll, or the form given on page 481 can easily be arranged to include the extra details, thus :

Coppices are usually sold standing, either privately or by public auction, at so much per rood, lug, or acre, and with the proviso that they are to be cut and cleared by a certain date. Ordinary coppices should be cleared by the end of March, but in Oak-bark coppices one must allow till the middle or end of May even in the mild climate of England, and up to about a month later in the north of Britain, so as to enable the bark to be stripped.

The material cut on the coppices is generally fashioned on the spot. The largest and straightest poles are trimmed as hop-poles, wherever a fair market still exists for these. They are simply cut into the proper lengths, classed according to size, and sold at about 8s. per 100 poles, 12 ft. x 1-1 in. top-diameter, and 10s. per 100 for 14 ft. poles, the rates often applying equally to hard and soft woods, and also to Conifer thinnings from neighbouring plantations.

In most parts of the country hurdles are still used, though rapidly being displaced, and a large quantity of small Hazel, Oak, Ash, and Chestnut is used for hurdle-making, crate-wood, and barrel-hoops, as well as for bean-sticks about 8-10 ft. long, stakes from about 5-8 ft. long for fences and hedges, and peasticks about 3-5 ft. long, also stakes for fishing-nets for salmon fisheries (e.g., in Severn valley), and for supplying local requirements of various sorts (flowersticks, broom-handles, brickyard-stakes, brick-kiln bavins, bush-bavins, shores, headers for thatching, &c.), and clog-making near Alder-groves.

Hurdle-making is still practised, just as when it was, down to about thirty years ago, of more importance in our rural economy. The upright stakes, sharp-pointed and a little over 3 ft. long, are stuck in line about 8-9 in. apart in a stout block of wood on the ground, with holes bored of the required size and depth, and the pliant withe formed by the split rod is woven alternately in-and-out around these uprights from the base upwards. The ends of each withe are spliced in so as not to damage the fleece of the sheep penned, and care is taken to avoid leaving sharp snags at either end of the hurdle. When this rough wooden woof reaches the proper height of about 3 ft., the snag-ends of the uprights are trimmed, and the hurdles ranged in dozens ready for removal. It takes about threequarters of an hour to make one hurdle, and one dozen is a good day's work. At present they only fetch from about 4s. 6d. to 5s. 6d. a dozen, and it is often difficult to dispose of them in any quantity.

Osier-holts are carefully coppiced to provide withes or "rods" for basketmaking and other wicker-work. The shoots go by the various trade names of (1) green rods, when fresh cut and unpeeled; (2) brown rods, when they are left to dry in their skins; (3) white rods, when they have the bark