8 PRELIMINARY STUDY OF 



an excessive burden on timber land owners as a class. Conse- 

 quently there is little or no reason to believe that the cutting of tim- 

 ber has been hastened on account of taxes. 



TIMBER INDUSTRIES. 



The manufacture of lumber and timber products ranks second 

 among the industries of Tennessee. In 1905 the value of these 

 products amounted to over $21,500,000, while the capital invested 

 was over $16,000,000. This is exclusive of planing-mill products, 

 including sash, doors, and blinds, which in 1905 reached a value of 

 over $4,500,000, with an invested capital of over $3,000,000. Fuel 

 wood and a large amount of hewn and split material cut for local 

 use would not be accounted for in these figures, although they con- 

 stitute an important additional drain upon the forest. The con- 

 sumption of firewood within the State is estimated at 4,730,000 

 cords for the year 1908. The most important products are rough 

 and finished lumber of all kinds, railroad ties, staves and heading, 

 vehicle stock, handles, poles, mine timbers, posts, and tanbark. The 

 principal commercial timbers are oak, yellow poplar, yellow pine, 

 red gum, chestnut, white pine, hickory, and hemlock. 



STUMPAGE VALUES. 



The value of standing timber depends on a number of dif- 

 ferent factors, chief among which are (1) the distance of the 

 tract from market, (2) its accessibility for logging, and (3) the 

 quality of the material. Since these are quite variable, any aver- 

 age figures, such as are given here, are of very general appli- 

 cation, and are not suitable for valuing particular tracts. The 

 stumpage values given for Middle and East Tennessee are based 

 upon a distance from the railroad of from 8 to 12 miles, a haul 

 which would be made in one day. In West Tennessee, where much 

 of the timber does not command a price high enough to warrant 

 long hauls, the basis of the figures is a two-trip haul. 



White and red* oaks are about equal in value if the red oak is of 

 the best quality. In many cases, however, the red oaks consist of 

 inferior species which have a lower stumpage value. The largest 

 amounts of white oak are produced in the Cumberlands, where it 

 is worth about $5 a thousand feet on the stump. Similar timber 

 in the Highland Rim, which also produces considerable white oak, 



* All merchantable, black oaks are usually termed " red oak." 



