TIMBER ESTIMATING AND MARKETING 171 



Timber is bought and sold under so many different conditions 

 that when a price is mentioned it is always necessary to define 

 the conditions under which the price applies. Timber standing 

 is spoken of as stumpage, and the price paid for trees standing is 

 called stumpage price, which is expressed generally as so much 

 per thousand board feet, cord, or other unit. It is customary in 

 European practice, and in some cases in this country, to sell logs 

 in the woods when piled alongside the logging road. In America 

 this is spoken of as being on the skidway. Again, the transac- 

 tion may be of logs delivered at the mill, or loaded on a car, or 

 skidded on the bank of a river. 



Naturally the price of stumpage is lowest, that paid for logs 

 delivered at the mill is highest; other prices range between the 

 two. The value of timber may also be figured at its price when 

 manufactured and placed on the market. This, of course, is the 

 highest of all, but is the easiest to arrive at and should serve as 

 the basis from which the value. of the standing timber can be 

 computed as described below. 



The market value of manufactured lumber fluctuates consid- 

 erably with national supply and demand. In years of busineSfe 

 depression, like 1908 and 1914, when there is less building or 

 exporting, prices decline. As a general tendency, however, the 

 prices of lumber are rising. Prices paid for lumber, wood, and 

 other forest products, as for everything else, vary according to 

 local conditions, and the first step in valuation of timber is to 

 ascertain the prices that can be secured either for the manufac- 

 tured article or for the logs delivered at the mill. Where there 

 are special industries requiring a large amount of any special 

 timber, the prices paid for that species are higher. As we have 

 stated, a timber owner having had his logs sawed may sell the 

 manufactured lumber. Sawmill owners usually charge from 

 $2.50 to $3 per thousand feet, board measure, for sawing softwood 

 lumber and from $3 to $4 for hardwoods. These figures indicate 

 the possible profit of selling manufactured lumber over logs, but 

 the owners should realize that it is often difficult for them to find 

 a ready market, while the millmen are in constant communication 

 with dealers. 



