LEGAL VALUE OF SHADE TREES 235 



had to be removed, and a guaranty is required to protect 

 the owner in the matter of satisfactory growth for the 

 transplanted tree. 



(3) The Roth Method. This was evolved by Professor 

 Filibert Roth, Dean of Forestry at the University of Michi- 

 gan, and is based on profound study and observation 

 covering many years. In his lectures Professor Roth 

 discussed the subject for a generation or more and his 

 calculations attracted such widespread attention that they 

 were published in the Michigan Manual of Forestry, Vol. II. 

 As a minimum estimate Professor Roth advocates com- 

 puting the cost of establishing a tree at $15, plus com- 

 pound interest at 5 per cent, for the 25 years which must 

 elapse before the tree has achieved its full value by reaching 

 the point of development at which it is really serving its 

 full purpose. After this point has been reached, he figures, 

 the tree "pays its own way" by its usefulness and beauty. 

 The value of the tree, at the end of the 25 year period, 

 therefore, is the $15 investment with added interest in the 

 sum of $36.80, or a total appraisal of $51.80. Professor 

 Roth suggests further that the cost of caring for the tree 

 might also be added. 



(4) The Circumference Measurement Method. This 

 allows a valuation of approximately $5.00 per inch of cir- 

 cumference, breast high measurement. 



(5) The Diameter Measurement Method. Many 

 landscape architects, foresters and others, who have given 

 serious thought to the subject, advocate the method which 

 bases appraisal on a tree's diameter 4^ feet from the 

 ground. This plan allows $10 per inch of diameter. 



(6) The Square-foot Basal Area Method. This plan, 

 devised by Mr. George H. Parker, of Hartford, Connecti- 

 cut, bases valuation on an allowance of #75 per square 

 foot of basal area, breast high measurement, subject to 



