LOBLOLLY OE NORTH CAROLINA 1 I 137 



cover the freight differential to establish Norfolk parity in price. The 

 elements of costs per 1,000 board feet in an actual operation are as 

 follow- : 



Logging, felling, bucking and swamping $3.55 



Railroad construction 40 



Hauling to mill on railroad or towage 60 



Milling, drying, stacking, and grading 1.95 



Selling and discount 35 



Overhead charges (interest, insurance, salaries, taxes, sink- 

 ing fund, and profits) 3.60 



Freight differential to establish Norfolk price parity 2.40 



Total cost of operation per 1,000 feet $12.85 



Some of these items are paid for on the basis of the wood's scale and 

 this must be converted to the mill cut; while there is a credit in the 

 excess of the mill cut above the Doyle-Scribner wood's scale which in the 

 case of very small timber may materially affect the apparent cost of the 

 operations. When all woods' work is paid for by the day the stumpage 

 and other costs are based on the direct output of the mill using the band 

 saw or circular saw table as the case may require. 



The cost of operation in this case would be regarded, in round figures, 

 as $13 and stumpage values figured accordingly. 



To provide for a wide range of conditions three costs of operation 

 have been used: a low cost at $11 per 1,000 feet; a medium cost at $13; 

 and a high cost at $15. The one must be selected which most nearly 

 suits the conditions of each individual case. 



Since some of the important factors of expense which enter into the 

 cost of growing timber are variable, it is impossible to make any one set 

 of calculations which will accurately determine the cost and profit in 

 producing loblolly pine timber on cut-over lands, at all places within 

 North Carolina where there is no cost of stocking. Consequently the cal- 

 culations are made on the basis of what are assumed to be average con- 

 ditions. A soil value of $5 an acre is used, and a rate of interest of six 

 per cent compounded is allowed on the soil value. The increase in the 

 soil value and the increase in stumpage price will in part cover the cost 

 of protection and taxes. A deduction of one per cent from the rate of 

 profit added to the increase in stumpage and soil values will undoubtedly 

 more than cover taxes, protection, and administration charges within a 

 growing period of fifty years. Since there is no cost of stocking other 

 than protection and leaving seed trees, the initial investment is practi- 

 cally limited to the soil value. The growth of the seed trees, if they are 

 carefully selected, should approximately cover the interest on their 

 initial value. 



Table 70 shows on the basis of Doyle-Scribner rule the rate of 

 interest yielded by fully stocked unthinned stands of loblolly pine with 

 a soil value of $5 an acre, at different ages on different quality sites, and 



