232 FOREST VALUATION 



cessful. These future costs depress the real value of stump 

 land, and cause a wide divergence between the true values of 

 wild land and improved farms. 



241. Cost of Clearing Stump Lands. The appraisal of the 

 cost of clearing land is not difficult, but if based on the actual 

 cost of wages for the labor required in clearing up ground at 

 one operation, it is apt to be too high. Land is seldom cleared 

 in that way, except by land companies supplied with large 

 capital. The settler clears gradually, using his own labor at 

 slack seasons, cultivating between the stumps, grazing the 

 land, and allowing the stumps to rot. The roots of hardwood 

 and sap pine stumps decay in from three to ten years and the 

 stumps are easily gotten out. The stumps of heart pine and 

 certain other conifers do not rot readily but will pull much more 

 easily after a few years than at first. The loss in time is great, 

 since the full utility of the soil for crops is not attained for years. 

 The settler may even be investing an amount of labor and capital 

 in the clearing for which, judged commercially, he will never 

 be repaid. But clearing will be attempted successfully even on 

 lands on which its cost apparently exceeds the final value of 

 the land. Therefore the cost of clearing, provided the soil is 

 good, should not be regarded as indicating a negative expectation 

 value for stump land. Should the cost exceed the value of 

 cleared land, a very low value for stump land is indicated, but 

 this value will still be positive in most cases. 



242. Sale Value of Stump Lands. Sale values for stump 

 lands are often falsely or inaccurately determined and are set 

 at far too high a figure. This is due to the lack of general 

 knowledge of the costs and delays of clearing. The values for 

 highly productive improved lands, perhaps bearing orchards, 

 are compared with stump lands, to the enhancement of value 

 for the latter in the minds of purchasers, many of whom 

 know nothing of the problems involved. It is safe to say that 

 without the necessary additional capital to hire the clearing 

 done, such lands can never be developed by this class of inves- 

 tors out of the income from the property, while persons of 

 small means cannot buy stump land at high initial prices and ever 



