THE APPRAISAL OF DAMAGES 131 



information, he is at liberty to speculate on the increase in 

 prices as he sees fit. 



The rate of interest will remain a matter of dispute until 

 forest production takes its place as a recognized business. The 

 higher the rate used, the smaller and more conservative will be 

 the value placed upon the damage. This is directly opposite to 

 the effect of a high rate used in calculating cost of replacement. 

 In such a case, the higher the interest rate, the greater will be 

 the cost, and the smaller the value of the crop (121). 



140. Damages to Merchantable Timber. Timber killed by 

 fire is saleable if accessibly located and a market exists capa- 

 ble of absorbing it before it deteriorates from rot and insects. 

 If sales can be made, the damage is the difference in value of 

 the timber before and after the fire. To this loss must be added 

 the loss in stumpage value of timber not burned but whose 

 logging costs are increased as a result of the diminished quan- 

 tity of stumpage ( 138). 



Let y' = value of damaged timber, 



L = total damage. 



The loss is expressed as 



L = Y -Y'. (O) 



Timber cut illegally may be settled for with or without suit, 

 on the basis of the stumpage value.* But it is poor satisfaction 

 to an owner to collect merely the present value for small timber 

 which he desired to preserve. Additional damages can be ob- 

 tained by the owner, if he can prove: 



a. That the expectation value of the timber is greater than 

 its present stumpage value. Unless increase in prices is per- 

 mitted, this is not always easy to show. 



b. That the sale value of the entire property has been in- 

 jured by the cutting. 



* An important principle of damages widely recognized is that in case of 

 wilful trespass, the value of the products wherever found, is the measure of the 

 damages. In such cases the value of the timber after felling, transportation, or 

 manufacture may be the basis of damages. Sedgwick on Damages, gth Ed., 

 Vol. Ill, 934. 



