How to Care for Your Small Forest 



231 



A little effort often uncovers numer- 

 ous outlets for forest products: 



(a) Ask your neighbors; they may 

 have just made a sale. 



(b) The county agent often will 

 know. 



(c) The local forester will have a 

 list of markets and prices and often 

 knows of markets elsewhere. 



(d) Look for advertisements in 

 your local paper or get a copy of a 

 lumber trade journal. 



(e) You may run an advertisement 

 locally or in a metropolitan paper or 

 trade journal. 



(/) Write several of the wood-using 

 industries. They furnish specifications 

 and prices, and often their buyer will 

 call if requested. 



Fuel wood is needed by packing 

 houses, bakeries, lime-kilns, brickmak- 

 ers, and tobacco growers. Highway 

 departments use piling, bridge timbers, 

 and posts. Railroads need ties and 

 heavy timbers. Mining companies and 

 telegraph companies want poles. Paper 

 companies buy pulp wood. Veneer logs, 

 sawlogs, and bolts and billets can be 

 sold to woodworking plants. Plants 

 that make wine and whiskey barrels 

 are ever on the lookout for high-grade 

 white oak. 



4. Marketing converted products 

 brings the greatest profit. 



Long, high-quality logs can be sold 

 to mills that cut large timbers on spe- 

 cial order. Lower-quality, short logs 

 can be taken to a small mill that cuts 

 lumber. Good white oak often will 

 produce valuable stave bolts from the 

 butt cuts, while the rest of the tree can 

 be sold as sawlogs. Large, high-grade 

 logs of other species such as sweetgum, 

 yellow-poplar, walnut, and so on, can 

 be sold separately as veneer logs for a 

 high price. Tall, straight trees can be 

 cut into poles or piling and sold at a 

 premium. 



Always before creaming-off the best 

 trees in a small forest for the products 

 that bring the highest prices, be sure 

 you can sell for a fair price the less 

 valuable trees that need to be cut. 

 Often a small forest is high-graded and 



then no one will buy the lower-quality 

 timber that remains. 



The owner of a small forest who 

 sells converted products must use skill 

 and care in turning them out. All 

 profit may be lost if many logs, poles, 

 posts, timbers, or piling are rejected 

 by the buyer. 



If the owner does the cutting him- 

 self, greater care can be exercised. If 

 a contractor is hired to do the work, 

 the owner should personally supervise 

 the cutting operation. 



GETTING BIDS ON STANDING TIMBER 

 or converted forest products is good 

 business. 



The points to tell the prospective 

 bidder about your standing timber are: 



The location and size of the wood- 

 land in acres. 



The estimated amount for sale in 

 board feet, cords, or other measure- 

 ments. 



The kinds of trees for sale. 



The quality of the timber and its 

 size range in diameter and height. 



Whether logging will be hard or 

 easy due to rough ground, hills, or deep 

 ravines. 



Accessibility to roads, railroads, and 

 paved highways. 



Whether the trees are old growth 

 or second growth. 



Whether the trees are forest grown 

 or came in on old fields. 



Prospective bidders on products you 

 have cut will want to know: 



Kind of product. 



Amount for sale, such as number of 

 cross ties, poles, posts, and so on. 



Quality of the converted products. 



Grade if possible. 



Lengths, and other sizes needed to 

 explain the product. 



Location of products. 



Kinds of timber in the products: 

 Hickory, walnut, oak. 



General items to include in all let- 

 ters asking for bids, on stumpage or 

 converted products, are: 



Owner's name and address. 



Conditions of sale as to payment, 

 and so on. 



