PAPER INDUSTRY AND THE PULP WOOD SUPPLY 499 



and paper manufacturer must take a long look ahead in providing for 

 his raw material. 



It is particularly encouraging to note, according to the Forest Service 

 report in response to Senate Resolution 311, that fifteen forest owners 

 hold some ojA million acres, or nearly one-quarter of the forest area 

 of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and that in addition to this 

 the National Forests in the White Mountains exceeds -400,000 acres. 

 This is an excellent hasis for forestry operations. 



The present consumption of pulpwood in these three States averages 

 ahout 1,700,000 cords yearly. An annual growth of one-third of a 

 cord of pulpwood on the acreage held by these fifteen owners would 

 equal the present consumption. It is not unduly optimistic to expect 

 an ultimate annual growth of pulpwood at this rate if conditions of 

 forest protection and taxation become such as to make it a safe and 

 profitable undertaking for corporations to carry on long-time opera- 

 tions of this sort in order to provide raw material for their mills. 



In fact, it appears that pulpwood costs and values have now reached 

 a point where the professional forester with practical experience can 

 prove to the paper manufacturer that he can seriously think and plan 

 for the growing of his future supply of timber. 



We can, with some degree of confidence, make the following general 

 assumptions for pulpwood forest growing over large areas : 



1. A cost of $15 per acre for land and the stocking of it with young 

 trees, either through planting or natural reproduction. 



2. An annual protection charge of 5 cents per acre. 



3. Six per cent compound interest on the investment. 



4. We are justified in assuming that in the near future we are likely 

 to have a cutting tax instead of an annual tax upon private land devoted 

 permanently to forest growing, and we are setting a tax of this kind 

 high enough when we make it 16 2/3 per cent upon the final yield, 

 which is equivalent to an annual tax of 1 per cent upon actual value 

 with a 6 per cent interest rate. 



5. We are also justified in assuming, under good conditions, a yield 

 of 20 cords per acre at the end of 40 years. 



Applying the usual formulas of forest finance, we get $10 per cord 

 at the cost of growing this pulpwood stumpage. 



Any one who is at all familiar with timber matters in the North- 

 eastern States will have no hesitancy in saying that pulpwood stumpage 

 will be worth more than $10 per cord long before it can be grown. 



This is the real basis for belief on the part of foresters that the 

 time has now arrived when they can demonstrate to hard-headed busi- 

 ness men that in forestry and not destructive logging lies the future 

 of the great industry of paper making. "^ 



