[To IVY EMMY OF MN "Brsararoo:"] Sts,—Sir John Stirling Maxwell
in his letter in the Spectator of January 17th appears to ignore the initial cost of planting. Taking it at £6 per acre, allowing for the maturing of the wood fifty years only, during which there would be no return, and accumulating the cost with compound interest at 3i per cent. per annum, it would amount in fifty years to 23310e. per acre, according to the table in Whitaker's Abnanack. That would require more than 21 per acre per annum to give a return of 8} per cent. on the cost of planting alone, without allowing for the original value of the land. None- of the instances given show such a return.—I am, Sir, Ise., T.
[We cannot continue this correspondence. We are bound to say, however, that it has left us even more strongly cons vinced than before that it would be madness for the State to embark on a gigantic speculation in timber-growing. Even if an occasional profit can be made in the right place by the right man, it in certain that the State would be a heavy loser. If the nation is ever demented enough to determine to spend millions on tree-growing, we trust it will do so by way of direct bounties, for the taxpayer will then be able to realize exactly what his whim is costing him.—En. Spectator.]
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