LAND VALUATION 227 



cause it not only sets the period of interest accumulation but 

 determines the final yield. Generally speaking it takes about 

 50 years under favorable conditions to grow boxboards, pulp- 

 wood and railway ties, 100 years to produce ordinary sawtimber, 

 and 150 to 200 years are required for extra wide clear finishing 

 lumber. Roth gives the following rotations for the principal 

 European species: 



Pine and spruce 80 to 100 years in public forests. 



Pine and spruce 60 to 80 years in private forests. 



Balsam 100 years 



Beech 100 to 120 " 



Oak 150 to 200 " 



It is obvious, therefore, that types which cannot produce rail- 

 way ties at least in 100 years are hopelessly handicapped. Con- 

 sequently the slower growing types such as the northern swamps, 

 southern ridges, western yellow pine on semi-arid sites, chapparal 

 and pinon-juniper types cannot justify themselves as wood pro- 

 ducers no matter how long the rotation. Conversely, the types 

 with rapid annual growth are not only the most productive for 

 short rotations but are also the only ones that will pay dividends 

 from timber production alone if left for over 100 years. 



Land values in forestry must obviously be low. Interest must 

 run for long periods and high priced land would soon accumulate 

 amounts of interest which even the most rapid growth could not 

 offset. Furthermore it is fundamental that forests should be 

 restricted to the low priced, stony, rough lands unfit for tillage. 

 Therefore, the values used, $5, $10 and $15, err on the side of con- 

 servatism rather than being too low. In this connection it is 

 interesting to note that $15 per acre is the average value at which 

 the British Reforestation Committee estimate — 1918 — they 

 can secure land in the British Isles. The purchases by the Federal 

 Government under the Weeks Law have never exceeded $5 an 

 acre for the land itself. The land value and the compound 

 interest which it accumulates are not determining factors in 

 deciding where forestry may be profitably practised. Any low 

 priced land which has favorable climatic and soil conditions for 

 rapid growth will give good returns if forested. 



