18 



the investment, multiply the cost per acre by 2.18. The result will 

 be the value of the investment at the end of sixteen years at five per 

 cent, compound interest. Take a concrete example: If the trees 

 are planted at three and one-half by seven feet, 1777 will be re- 

 quired to the acre. At $5 a thousand, the cost will be $8.88 an 

 acre. Preparing the ground, planting, and cultivating the trees 

 for two years will cost at least $12 an acre. At five per cent, 

 compound interest, this will, at the end of sixteen years, amount to 

 $45.52. To this must be added the cost of harvesting and rent on 

 the land. This cost will vary, depending upon the amount of ma- 

 terial to be cut and the cost of labor; however, it is a safe estimate 

 to say that it will cost $70 an acre to cut and market the crop. 

 Suppose the land on which the trees are to be grown will rent for 

 $5 an acre per year; in sixteen years this will amount to $80. This 

 makes the total cost of the crop of timber $195.52 an acre. In 

 other words, under the conditions assumed above, a plantation 

 must produce a yield worth $195.52 an acre or you cannot afford to 

 grow the trees. 



The cost of preparing the ground, planting and cultivating the 

 trees, the rent of the land, and the cost of harvesting and market- 

 ing the crop are items that will remain the same regardless of the 

 cost of the planting- stock. In the foregoing estimate, this cost is 

 $167.16 an acre. But inasmuch as the cost of the trees is often the 

 determining factor in the establishment of a plantation, let us con- 

 sider the difference in the final results. In lots of 10,000 and more, 

 the catalpa seedlings can be grown at home for $2.50 a thousand. 

 Nursery-grown trees can be bought in lots of 10,000 and more for 

 $5 a thousand and upwards, while certain nurseries are flooding 

 the State with agents selling catalpa seedlings at $25 a thousand. 

 The following table shows the difference that a few dollars in the 

 initial cost makes in the final cost: 



Table showing future value of cost of catalpa 

 planting-stock for one acre, on basis of 1777 trees 

 to the acre, and estimate of total cost per acre. 



