164 FARM FORESTRY 



sary. In this case it will be better to have some competent 

 person go through the woodlot and mark all the trees to be 

 removed. 



The only safe and equitable way of selling timber is to 

 have the purchaser pay for the material as it is cut and re- 

 moved from the woodlot or as delivered at the mill, so much 

 per piece or per unit amount, the method of logging and the 

 price for each kind of material to be agreed on beforehand in 

 writing. The products of the woodlot would be measured by 

 the woodlot owner and the purchaser, or by a log sealer ac- 

 ceptable to both parties, and by the use of a certain log scale 

 or other unit in general use. This is the method of selling 

 timber used by the United States Forest Service. An esti- 

 mate is made of the timber before the sale, to serve as a basis 

 for making a bargain and setting a price on the timber. The 

 material is paid for, however, according to the scale sent in 

 by the government sealer, who determines the number of 

 board feet in every log by a log rule and measures the number 

 or lengths of all sticks of timber removed. 



THE STUMPAGE VALUE OF TIMBER 



The stumpage value of timber in a woodlot will depend on 

 several factors which will vary for different regions and 

 conditions. 



On the Amount of Standing Timber in the Region. 

 The stumpage price of timber has gradually risen as the old 

 virgin timber has been cut. In regions where much of the 

 old timber still remains the stumpage price is low, as in the 

 South, where the stumpage price of timber is often as low 

 as $i per thousand board feet. In the Lake States nearly all 

 the virgin pine stands have been cut and stumpage values 

 for good white pine timber run as high as $15 per thousand. 



On the Demand for the Timber. Where there is a ready 

 market for the sale of the products of the woodlot, the stump- 



