6 FOREST VALUATION 



trees had any value. Wild land or stump land may be worthless 

 under present conditions, in spite of a fertile soil, if it is evident 

 that the labor of clearing exceeds the discounted value of the 

 income from the crops which may be raised. Most land is cleared 

 at an economic loss, and there is a tendency to hold cut-over 

 or stump lands at prices which greatly exceed their real value 

 as reduced by the future costs of clearing. 



11. The Element of Time in Values. As prices and values 

 center upon the satisfaction of human needs in the present 

 moment, the tendency is to avoid delay and reduce as far as 

 possible the period which elapses between effort and satisfac- 

 tion. Yet this element of time intervenes in every process of 

 production. Hunting and fishing supply food within a very 

 short period, which explains the dependence placed upon this 

 source of living by primitive people. In agriculture, the period 

 which must elapse between effort and satisfaction is extended 

 to cover the crop season, and enough surplus must be produced 

 to last a year. Modern engineering, illustrated by railroad 

 construction, requires still greater delay before any use or income 

 can be derived from the property. If the laborers who construct 

 such works were also the owners, and dependent for their living 

 upon the receipts from freight and passenger service, they 

 would starve long before the completion of the road. The 

 development of civilization is marked by the lengthening of the 

 time intervening between the inception of undertakings and 

 the final realization of income. This time element must always 

 be considered in the determination of present values. 



12. Capital. Men must live while engaged in production, 

 and they are enabled to undertake enterprises requiring time, 

 only when they have enough goods stored up to last them until 

 their completion. The wealth with which to supply them con- 

 sists of food, clothing and dwellings, back of which are factories, 

 raw products and land. The amount of energy that can be 

 diverted from immediate production of food to the task of 

 clearing unproductive land or constructing other improvements 

 depends upon the surplus wealth available for these purposes. 

 A poor man works a lifetime to clear up a wooded farm and at 



