SELLING, VALUING, AND MEASURING TIMBER 159 



VALUING. 



The attempt to ascertain the value of timber is an 

 undertaking which all men connected with the growing of 

 it are called upon to undertake at some time or another in 

 their career. Whenever an estate or part of an estate 

 changes hands, the timber standing upon it is invariably 

 taken over at a valuation, and in such cases the valuation 

 is usually made by a professional valuer who has no direct 

 interest in either the seller or buyer. The methods of 

 valuing adopted in such cases we do not propose to discuss. 

 Each valuer has his own particular method of doing his work, 

 the merits of which invariably depend upon one factor, namely, 

 experience. Without experience no man can be called an 

 expert valuer, for the irregular shapes which certain kinds 

 of trees take on, and to which no set rule of measuring will 

 apply, render judgment as important a feature of the work 

 as careful measurement. 



But coming to those cases in which the forester is often em- 

 ployed, namely, the valuing of either standing or fallen timber 

 for immediate sale, a few words may be said. Apart from 

 the actual measurement of the timber, which will be dealt 

 with presently, the question of its value depends principally 

 upon three factors 1st, its size ; 2nd, its quality ; and 3rd, 

 its situation as regards the nearest road or railway station. 

 The size of timber affects its value in varying degrees, 

 according to species and local demand and manufactures. 

 Small, but long and clean larch, for instance, will prove as 

 valuable as larger but coarser timber in most districts. 

 Pit-wood of moderate dimensions, again, will often make more 

 money per cubic foot than heavy timber, which is more 

 difficult to handle, and which means more weight without 

 any compensating quality. Beech in a chair-making district 

 is also another instance of small or moderate-sized timber 

 making as much per foot as large, especially if the latter 

 happens to be coarse and branchy. On the other hand, oak, 

 elm, or ash, if sound and clean, are worth considerably more 

 when large than when small, for certain purposes if not for 

 others. As a general rule, however, a size is reached in the 



