COMPARISON OF FOREST WITH AGRICULTURAL VALUES 233 



expect to lift the mortgages which they must usually accept. 

 In contrast to boom sale values upon such lands, the appraised 

 value of stump land should be reasonably low compared with 

 improved tracts in the same neighborhood. 



243. Summary of Elements of Value for Forest Land. The 

 elements of value which must be considered in arriving at the 

 value of forest lands are: 



Value of mature or merchantable timber. 

 Expectation value of young timber. 

 Value of land based on future timber crops. 

 To these values must be added: 



Value of improvements as roads, fire lines. 

 Value of protective influence of the forest. 



The determination of value for merchantable timber is dis- 

 cussed in Chapter X. Actual prices received for similar timber 

 are commonly accepted as indicating this value. 



The value of young timber and of land is found by the methods 

 described in Chapter VI, when an appraisal is necessary. 



Roads and other improvements do not influence value on 

 the basis of what they cost, but by their effect in cheapening 

 transportation, lowering fire risks and increasing the net income 

 or lowering the rate of interest (211 and 68). In proof of this 

 statement it is recognized that in agricultural appraisals the cost 

 of dwellings and other improvements on farms is not the basis 

 on which the farm is valued, although they add to its value by 

 providing the immediate facilities for deriving the income by 

 cultivation. 



The value of the protective influence has been discussed in 

 Chapter VII ( 146). This value benefits adjoining property 

 rather than the land itself, but is an important factor when 

 weighing the relative merits of agricultural versus forest use. 

 Fortunately, slopes valuable for their protective forest cover 

 are usually too steep to be tilled without inducing erosion, and 

 the demonstration of this fact would at once prevent the 

 classification of such soils as agricultural by an intelligent 

 investigator. 



