CHAPTER XI 

 STUMPAGE VALUES 



167. Definition of Stumpage Value. Stumpage value is 

 the sale value of merchantable standing timber its value on 

 the stump previous to felling and removal. The term " mer- 

 chantable " is not so easily denned. Timber is merchantable 

 when it is of sufficient size to furnish wood products suitable 

 for definite commercial purposes. There can be no fixed 

 standard of sizes to coincide with the general definition of 

 " merchantable " timber. Trees merchantable for cordwood or 

 paper pulp are not large enough to yield saw timber. It follows 

 that stumpage value is the sale value of timber intended for 

 certain specific uses. The industry which can pay the most 

 for the timber determines its stumpage value. In the form of 

 stumpage, timber is a portion of the real estate ( 134 to 136). 

 When purchased with land it may be held indefinitely, but when 

 bought or sold separately it must usually be removed within a 

 stipulated period. The value of stumpage is ordinarily sepa- 

 rated from that of the land, even when both are purchased, 

 though in the past the land was often considered of no value 

 except for the timber. 



168. Sale Value of Stumpage. Small bodies of timber, such 

 as woodlots, are frequently sold for a lump sum. The value of 

 the timber is thus agreed upon without determining its price 

 per unit, which is known only to the purchaser after he has cut 

 the timber. Areas of considerable size may be sold on the 

 basis of a price per acre. 



This crude method is giving place, for large tracts or timber 

 aggregating considerable value, to the determination of quantity 

 and agreement upon a price per unit, thus arriving at total 

 value. But neither quantity nor price are easily ascertained 



166 



