No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION. 335 



TAXATION OF WOODLAND. 



Chapter 598. 

 Ax Act to provide for the classification and taxation of wild or 



FOREST LAND. 



Be it enacted, etc., as folloios: 



Section 1. Owners of woodland or land suitable for forest planting 

 maj^ have such land classified for taxation under the following designa- 

 tions : — 



(a) Land with trees of merchantable value shall be known as Woodlot. 



(b) Land without trees of merchantable value shall be known as Planta- 

 tion. 



No tract of land containing less than three acres shall be classified unless 

 such tract is to be consohdated with other tracts under the provisions of 

 section thirteen of this act. 



classification. 

 Section 2. Any owner of land suitable for classification as Woodlot 

 or Plantation who desires to have it classified shall make application, in 

 such form as the tax commissioner shall from time to time prescribe, to the 

 clerk of the city or town in which the land is situated. The application shall 

 state whether or not the land is encumbered by mortgages, leases, attach- 

 ments, or other valid liens, except rights of waj^; and shall state also 

 whether other persons than the applicant have an interest or interests in 

 the land. In either case, the application shall be accompanied by the writ- 

 ten assent to the classification of such mortgagees, lessees, attaching credi- 

 tors or lienors, or persons having an interest in the land, which assent shall 

 be under seal and in such form as the tax commissioner shall from time to 

 time prescribe. The application shall be accompanied by such description 

 by metes and bounds as may be contained in the last conveyance of the 

 land, or by two copies of a plat showing the location of the land by metes 

 and bounds, and in either case shall contain a reference to the book and 

 page of the record of said conveyance. If the land to be classified com- 

 prises a part of the land described in any conveyance, said apphcation shall 

 be accompanied by such a description by metes and bounds as will be 

 sufficient to identify that part, or by two copies of a plat showing the loca- 

 tion of the part bj^ metes and bounds, and in either case shall give a refer- 

 ence to the book and page of the record of said conveyance. The clerk of 

 the city or town in which the land is situated shall forthwith notify the as- 

 sessors of such city or town of the filing of the application. The assessors 

 shall forthwith determine whether the land is suitable for classification; and 

 if they so determine, shall within thirty days make separate valuations of 

 the land and of the value of the trees growing thereon, which value shall 

 be the fair cash value of the trees on the stump, hereinafter called stumpage 

 value. The assessors shall make separate valuations of any buildings on 



