TIMBER VALUATION 65 



out dangerous insects and snakes. This type is, in fact, prac- 

 tically the only one in which the danger from snakes is a constant 

 menace. Rattlesnakes occur in other kinds of timber but they 

 are seldom abundant and are not accompanied by the water 

 moccasin, one of our deadliest and most active reptiles. Then 

 too crocodiles occur in the southern parts of the bottomland type. 

 But probably the most serious enemies of the estimator are the 

 fleas which disturb his sleep, the chiggers which burrow under 

 his skin, the mosquito that inocculates him with malaria and yel- 

 low fever, and the bacteria that produce dysentery and typhoid 

 fever. All are abundant in the swamps. 



There are, fortunately, certain offsetting factors which tend to 

 keep down the estimating costs. The stands are fairly uniform 

 so that a low percentage estimate is adequate. Rarely is more 

 than 15 per cent necessary. Then, too, the merchantable limits 

 are fairly constant because practically all the lumber cut from 

 the type goes into the general market and the logger does not 

 attempt to utilize below a diameter of 10 inches breast high nor 

 run his logs above a top diameter of eight inches. 



Stumpage figures for the species in this type are not abundant 

 but all that could be secured are given below: 



1900 



Ash $3.03 ($2.75 to $3.10) 



Cottonwood 1 -45 ( i . 15 to 2 . 24) 



Cypress 1 . 58 



Gum, red i . 68 ( i . 42 to 1.72) 



Gum, tujjelo 



Oak, live 3. 18 (1.70 to 5.83) 



They show that live oak and white ash are the most valuable 

 species while the other three are not sufficiently valuable to get 

 above an average value of $2 per M. It must, however, be under- 

 stood that the figures given are averages from the whole United 

 States.. For the bottomland type they are somewhat too high 

 for the species like ash and oak which occur in other t>'pes which 

 are more accessible. The other species which occur only in this 

 type give values which can be taken as representative of con- 

 ditions in 1900. 



