6 NORTHERN SPRUCE TYPE 



the volume either in cubic feet or board feet will be found in 

 Hawley and Hawes' "JManual of Forestry," John Wiley and 

 Sons, Inc., New York City. Only tables based on diameter 

 breast-high and total or used lengths should be employed because 

 there is great variation in the height of both spruce and balsam 

 according to the depth of the soil. 



For the other important species in this type, paper birch, yel- 

 low birch, beech and sugar maple, volume tables will also be 

 found in the Manual of Forestry. With them total height is an 

 unreliable factor and only usable length is a safe indication of 

 their merchantability. This may be estimated in either i6 feet 

 log lengths or in units of lo feet according to the volum^ table 

 and the way in which it is worked up. 



The cost of estimating spruce tracts is determined first of all 

 by the percentage of the stand estimated. As explained above 

 this need seldom be more than lo per cent on account of the 

 uniformity of the stands. The second factor, roughness of topog- 

 raphy, cuts down the area possible for a crew to cover in a day. 

 However, 24 strip acres is a reasonable average day's work. 

 Hence the work ought not to cost more than 15 cents an acre 

 and can frequently be done for half that figure. This should 

 include the preparation of a report showing the amount, quality 

 and value of the timber, the way in which it can be logged and 

 a contour map of the tract. 



Stumpage Prices. — Stumpage prices tend to approach the 

 difference between the cost of logging and manufacture and the 

 average sale value of the lumber. Fluctuations in these factors 

 are not, however, reflected at once in the stumpage prices. They 

 are inclined to drag behind the increases in lumber prices and be 

 unaffected by declines. This is well brought out by the follow- 

 ing figures from Compton's "Organization of the Lumber 

 Industry": 



Average Stumpage Values for Spruce 



PerM 



1890 $1.74 



1899 2.26 



1904 3-7° 



1907 S-49 



