STUMPAGE PRICES 7 



Hence, for the calculation of future prices such figures can only 

 be used as a check and guide. The costs of the different steps 

 in logging and manufacturing must be known for each tract and 

 the sum of these plus a margin of safety deducted from the aver- 

 age sale value. This requires a knowledge of the methods of 

 lumbering and sawmilling and makes necessary their description 

 in some detail. 



On account of the inaccessibility of the spruce stands logging 

 Jobs are almost invariably carried on by large camps located 

 close to the place of cutting and only connected with the outside 

 world by a slender thread, the rough tote road. Spruce stands 

 are usually in mountainous regions where farms cannot be hewn 

 out of the wilderness. Consequently their logging is no job for 

 the farmer's spare time. If he does it at all he must go back 

 into the mountains, build a camp and stay with the job with 

 single-hearted devotion. As a matter of fact the typical opera- 

 tion is a large one in which the camps house 30 to 60 men and 

 such a one will be described to give a notion of the methods 

 employed. 



The first step is the estimate of the watershed or valleys to be 

 logged and the accumulation of sufficient topographic data to 

 determine where the main roads must go, whether driving can be 

 employed and the approximate cost of logging. This information 

 should be secured by the estimators. The figures given above 

 for the cost of estimating contemplate a report which should cover 

 the following points : — ■ 



Amount of timber by logging units. 



Quality of timber by logging units. 



Topographic data (preferably in the form of a contour map). 



Logging costs by principal watersheds. 



Method of sawmilling and estimate of cost. 



Estimated sale value of finished product. 



Such a report enables a lumber company to plan its own opera- 

 tions inteUigently or let contracts with exactness. The latter 

 method is more common in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont 

 and New York because there are many jobbers who possess great 



