1 66 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



Timber is bought and sold under so many different conditions 

 that when a price is mentioned it is always necessary to define 

 the conditions under which the price apphes. Timber standing 

 is spoken of as stumpage, and the price paid for trees standing is 

 called stumpage price, which is expressed generally as so much 

 per thousand board feet, cord, or other unit. It is customary in 

 European practice, and in some cases in this country, to sell logs 

 in the woods when piled alongside the logging road. In America 

 this is spoken of as being on the skidway. Again, the transac- 

 tion may be of logs delivered at the mill, or loaded on a car, or 

 skidded on the bank of a river. 



Naturally the price of stumpage is lowest, that paid for logs 

 delivered at the mill is highest; other prices range between the 

 two. The value of timber may also be figured at its price when 

 manufactured and placed on the market. This, of course, is the 

 highest of all, but is the easiest to arrive at and should serve as 

 the basis from which the value of the standing timber can be 

 computed as described below. 



The market value of manufactured lumber fluctuates consid- 

 erably with national supply and demand. In years of business 

 depression, like 1908, when there is less building, prices decHne. 

 As a general tendency, however, the prices of lumber are rising. 

 Prices paid for lumber, wood, and other forest products, as for 

 everything else, vary according to local conditions, and the first 

 step in valuation of timber is to ascertain the prices that can 

 be secured either for the manufactured article or for the logs 

 delivered at the mill. For example, the following prices per 

 thousand board feet are average prices for logs delivered at 

 the mill in northern Vermont. Birch, beech, and maple, $9 

 per thousand board feet; hemlock, $9.50; ash, spruce, and 

 fir, $10.50; white pine, $11; but in any given case the actual 

 prices may be considerably above or below these. Hence in- 

 quiry is necessary whenever an estimate of the value of stand- 

 ing timber is to be made. Where there are special industries 

 requiring a large amount of any special timber, the prices paid 

 for that species are higher. As we have stated, a timber 



