i 



Development of Forest Valuation. 129 



The many sales of forest property which took place at 

 the beginning of this period natnrally stinmlated the 

 elaboration of methods of forest valuation. Even the 

 soil rent theory finds its basis at the very beginning 

 (1799) in a published letter by two otherwise nnknown 

 foresters {Bein and Eyher), who proposed to determine 

 the value of a forest by discounting the worth of the net 

 yield with a limited compound interest calculation to the 

 120th year. This idea was elaborated in 1805 by Xoerd- 

 linger and Hossfeld into the modern conception of ex- 

 pectancy values and the now familiar discount calcula- 

 tions were inaugurated by them. Cotta and Hartig par- 

 ticipated also in the elaboration of methods of forest val- 

 uation : Cotta writing his manual in 1804, recognizes the 

 propriety of compound interest calculations, while Har- 

 tig, 1813, still uses only simple interest and exhibits in 

 his book as well as in his instructions for practice in the 

 Prussian state forests rather mixed notions on the sub- 

 ject. 



Altogether, even in the earlier part of the period, 

 there arose considerable difference of opinion and warm 

 discussions, in which all the prominent foresters took 

 part, as to the use of interest rates and methods of cal- 

 culation. But this warfare broke into a red hot flame 

 when Faustmann (1849) vnth. much mathematical 

 apparatus developed his formula for the soil expectancy 

 value, and when Pressler and G. Heyer transferred the 

 discussion into statical fields making the question of the 

 financial rotation the issue. Then the advocates of the 

 soil rent and of the forest rent theories ranged them- 

 selves in opposite camps. This war of opinions, although 

 abated in fervor, still continues and the issue is by no 

 means settled. 



