242 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



coppice, standard coppice, timber forest, etc., 1 and tbe length of rotation i. e., the time within 

 which a block is to be cut over and reproduced; furthermore, the principles according to which 

 the fellings are to progress, reproduction is to be secured, thinnings are to be made, the annual 

 yield to be expected, and the time within which the forest is to be brought into a regular system- 

 atic order of management in shoit, all the general framework of the management as far as 

 determining a set policy into which the special working plans should fit. Before this report can 

 be made final, however, the work of the valuator or examiner must have proceeded to some extent. 



VALUATION WOKK. 



The valuator or estimator, upon whose work as a basis the general and special working plans 

 depend, begins by examining and describing briefly the conditions of the soil, its productive 

 capacity, and the kind and appearance of the growth in each compartment (or subparcel, if con- 

 ditions of growth or soil make such subdivision desirable). In the description the dominating- 

 kind of timber, or, if mixed in equal proportions, that upon which the management is to be promi- 



1 NOTE. Timber forest (Hochwald, high forest) is a forest in which trees are allowed to grow to maturity, and 

 reproduction is effected either by natural seeding from the old growth ill various ways, or by planting or sowing 

 after removal of the old growth; it is usually managed in rotations of 70 to 120 years. 



Coppice (Nicderwald, low forest) is a forest in which reproduction is expected by sprouts from the stumps; 

 this is usually managed in rotations of 10 to 40 years. 



Standard coppice (Mittelwald, middle forest) is a combination of the two former, the standards being allowed 

 to grow to maturity and reproduction being secured both by seed and sprouting, 



Determining the rotation. Our friends who are attempting to bring about a more rational treatment of our 

 forests have often a mistaken notion as to when timber should be cut, when it is ready for the harvest. This ran 

 not be determined by any set period, as in the ripening of fruit in agriculture, or by any more or less defined age, 

 much less by any diameter measure. The determination of the " felling age" (Hanbarkeitsalter) <ir of the length of 

 "rotation" (Umtrieb) depends on the use to which the crop is to be put, the manner in which it is to be reproduced, 

 and the amount of material that can be produced, or the amount of profit that can be derived from it. This 

 determination is one of the most difficult, requiring both careful financial calculation and knowledge of forest 

 technique. 



The " silvicurtural rotation" is that which considers mainly the forest technique, being the time when perfect 

 natural reproduction is most surely attainable i. e., fullest seed production in timber forest, highest sprouting 

 capacity in coppice forest; or when preservation of the productive capacity of the soil, avoidance of damage from 

 windfalls, diseases, etc., are uppermost considerations. These considerations of course also influence in part the 

 determination of any of the following rotations, which wo may call " economic rotations." 



The "rotation of greatest material production" is that which allows the forest to grow ;is long as the average 

 annual accretion is at a maximum. This differs of course with species, climate, soil, etc. If for the mass of 

 material we substitute its money value and strive to so arrange that the time of rotation coincides with the largest 

 money returns, we have a "financial rotation." 



Various points of view lead to different kinds of financial rotations: 



"Rotation of the highest harvest value," or "technical rotation/' which attempts to produce certain desired 

 sizes and qualities in largest quantity with a view of obtaining thereby the largest money return for the crop under 

 the circumstances (management for telegraph poles, fence posts, osier holts, tan-oak coppice). 



"Rotation of the highest forest revenue," when the growth is to be harvested at the time of its maximum average 

 annual net money value; this time is influenced both by the amount of material and the price paid for better sizes 

 and quality of wood. In this rotation no regard is paid to the original capital invested in the soil ; when this latter 

 factor is introduced into the calculation we arrive at the true "financial rotation" or "rotation of the highest soil 

 (or ground) rent," in which the forest is to be cut at a time when the capital invested in soil, stock, and management 

 furnishes the highest interest rate. This capital, as far as the soil is concerned, may be represented by its actual 

 cost or by its market value, or else by its capacity for production (Bodenorwartungswerth ; soil-expectation value), 

 which is found by adding the values of expected returns at harvest discounted to the present time and deducting 

 the expenses incurred up to the time of harvest, similarly discounted. 



To determine this value experience tables must give the data. Local conditions and prices and the rate of 

 interest applied of course influence the length of the financial rotation. It is shortest for a firewood management 

 (in Germany, say 60 to 70 years), for spruce and pine at an interest rate of 2 to 3 per cent a rotation of 70 to 90 years, 

 with oak 120 years, appear as profitable rotations; where, small si/es, mining timber, posts, poles, etc., -are bringing 

 good prices, the most profitable financial rotation may be shorter. It stands to reason that the length of this rotation, 

 as well as of all others, can be only approximately calculated. The forestry literature of Germany is most prolific 

 just now with regard to determining financial rotations, and the highest mathematical skill is employed in the 

 discussion. 



Growth (Bestand, stand) is here and further on used in the collective sense of the word to denote an aggregate 

 of trees, for which also the word "stand" may be employed. 



