About one million hectares of forests are fertilized annually in Finland. The goal of the present study was to find out, by means of calculations, how the profitability of forest fertilization varies with variations in the stage of development of tree crops, the quality of the site and its geographical location. Calculations concerned bot fertilization of forests in mineral soil sites and in drained peatlands. The study is a part of a larger project concerning the order of profitability of different forest improvement measures in different conditions. The problems dealt with in this study were approached from the point of view of national economy.
On the basis of two empirical materials it is shown that there is a high correlation between the stand growth percentages before and after the fertilization. Applying the results to existing yield tables the authors calculate benefit/cost ratios showing the stage of development of the stand, the quality of the site and its geographical location. According to the results, fertilization is more profitable in sites of medium fertility than on poor sites. Profitability decreases rather fast from south to north and with decreasing timber prices.
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