178 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



The simplest arbitrary method has been used by some National Forest 

 Supervisors in valuing young stands for statistical or other purposes ; 

 the value of young timber is set either at an arbitrary figure per acre 

 or at an arbitrary per cent of the value of old timber in the vicinity, 

 practically regardless of age of stand, although this may be considered 

 in a vague way in setting the value. Another arbitrary method, pro- 

 posed by District 2 of the Forest Service, for statistical purposes is to 

 capitalize at an arbitrary per cent the mean annual yield, which is ob- 

 tained by dividing the yield (apparently gross yield) at maturity by 



Y 



age of maturity. The formula mav be expressed V = ;::^, where 



' n X -Op 



V is present value, Y yield at maturity (n years) expressed in money, 

 and .Op the arbitrary rate of capitalization. This method disregards 

 age of the stand entirely. Besides the objections that it uses simple 

 instead of compound interest and omits consideration of costs of pro- 

 duction, it does not give the value of the stand at all, but the capital 

 value of soil stocked with potential forest. 



G. L. Hartig used essentially this formula to get soil value, in his 

 instructions for valuation of Prussian forests in 1814. On account of 

 the poor mathematical training of foresters of that day and on account 

 of the negative results often encountered with compound interest for- 

 mulae, he avoided the use of compound interest and found the mean 

 annual yield by dividing total yield at maturity, including intermediate 

 yields without interest, by the age of rotation. He deducted an arbi- 

 trary fraction of this gross yield, depending on age of the stand, as a 

 sort of insurance and to cover costs and interest charges, and multiplied 

 the remainder by the actual age of the stand.^ This value for the stand 

 may be expressed by the formula : 



V -(X±l Y + T 



m. 



in which Vm is value at the given age (m), Y value of final yield, T 

 value of intermediate yields, n age of rotation, and k an arbitrary con- 

 stant. 



Frey* recommends Hartig's method, apparently without the deduc- 

 tion for costs. 



Albert^ and Roth*' suggest this method as a rough way of getting at 



' Borggreve : Die Forstabschatzung. Berlin, 1888, pp 359-360. 



* Zur Losung der Waldwertrechnungsfrage, in Zeitschrift fiir Forst und Jagd- 

 wesen, May, 1915, p. 284; abstract in Forest Quarterly, March, 1916. 



° Lehrbuch der Waldwertberechnung, Wien, 1892, pp. 2off. 



* Forest Valuation, 1916, p. loi. 



