THE RATING OF WOODS.
[To THE EDITOR or 722 srscrAroa."] SIR,—Some little time ago s circular was issued by the Local Government Board on the rating of woods. This circular fell like a bombshell amidst the rating authorities, but as a beam of long-deferred justice for the owners of woods. A grumbling of the rating authorities against the justice of the circular is
heard here and there, but it mostly arises from those mem. bens of rating bodies who, while excellent and useful members in many ways, are strangely ignorant of law, and still more ignorant of the practical work of forestry. I have an idea that the Local Government Board, in drawing up this cir- cular, have had at their command the services of shrewd lawyers and of expert foresters, and therefore the Board are hardly likely to have gone much astray in issuing this circular. The circular, in effect, says this :—That the Assessment Committee, in assessing for woods, must either assess on the profit shown from the sale of underwood or on the profits shown on the timber sold. But they must not assess on the profits derived from both sources. The cir- cular further suggests that a fair assessment would be on the prairie value of the land, which is reckoned to be worth 2s. 6d. per acre. One ounce of fact is worth a ton of theory.
On my estate there are two hundred acres of woodland which is surrounded by nine miles of fencing. We cut the under- wood in rotation as it is fit. This underwood is cut from eight to twelve acres each year. Each year it is sold at market price. For the underwood sold this year I have received about £60. But the whole of this £60 has been expended in wages, in the laying down and repsl'ing of fences, and in clearing debris off portions of the wale& So if the Assessment Com- mittee were to assess me on the profits (which I maintain is the fair way of proceeding) they would not this year receive from me a very large sum.
Now for the timber. From eight acres of woodland I have felled the trees, which have brought me in £230. To replant this eight acres, wire against rabbits, and keep the weeds down each year, so that they would not smother the young trees, would cost me at least £25 per acre, or £200. For twelve years, on this replanted area, there would be no profit at all. All would be going out and nothing would be coming in. In twelve years time there might be a bit coming in from the thinnings. But it would take fifty years, at least, before any real returns were derived from the replanting. So that if I were to replant, the whole of the £230 that I have received from the trees off the eight acres would be sunk in replanting, wiring against rabbits, keeping the ground clean ; and the estate would receive no return on this outlay for at least fifty years. No landowner, in the present uncertainty as to the future of land, would care to sink capital in replant- ing, the return from which would be so long delayed and so small when there is any return.
Afforestation is a problem for the Government to deal with
and not for a private owner. One acre out of every nine on my estate is woodland, and I have nine miles of fencing to keep in repair, and therefore I have decided not to replant but to clear each year a. few acres until the woods are reduced in size, fence the cleared portions off and throw them into the respective farms. Now, what will this clearing cost P If it were to be done thoroughly, that is, the tree stumps grubbed up, the land hand dug and drained, it would cost between £20 and £25 per acre. And the rent at the highest without buildinga that 1 could obtain from this cleared land would be about 20s. per acre. But suppose it was not thoroughly cleared, but the tree stumps were left in, the rubbish collected and burnt up, the space fenced out, and the area let to the adjoining farms. Here we have an excellent illustration of prairie value, and is that prairie value worth more than the Local Government Board circular states prairie value to be worth, namely, 2s. 6d. an acre P An article is worth, be it land, horse, cow, pig, what it will fetch in the open market. As the Americans say, I am now out for business, and I am prepared to receive bids for this land, and those bids I will forward to the Assessment Committee.
For years the woods of this estate have been assessed at the outrageous figure of 10s. per acre. Since this blessed circular has been issued counsel's opinion has been taken, and the assessment has been reduced to 5s. per acre. Therefore I am assessed as if the woods were returning to me £50 per annum. Well, I am prepared to let the woods at £50 per annum to the Local Assessment Committee, provided they are managed according to the rules of scientific forestry, the nine miles of fencing kept in order, and the shooting rights respected.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Hales, Market Drayton. H. B. M. BUCHANAN.
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