STATUS AND VALUE OF FARM WOODLOTS. 



41 



The care of woodlots requires practically no work beyond the 

 amount necessary to get out the year's supply of firewood, posts, 

 etc., which, as thinnings and " improvement cuttings," may be made 

 to improve the condition of the stand. The value of wood cut and 

 sold therefore comes nearer to being a net value than that of grain 

 crops, a large part of which each year is the cost of labor. While 

 the gross returns per acre from most crops are usually larger than 

 from wood the two are really much closer together when the labor 

 cost is deducted. Furthermore, the woodlot is ready for cutting at 

 any season, so that farm labor can be utilized on it when unoccupied 

 with other farm work, as in the winter. There is little risk of loss 

 from wind storms, heavy rains, hail, frosts, or droughts; and, in 

 addition, the farmer has the advantage of wood for farm use ready 

 at hand, of protection to adjacent crops, to stock, and, possibly, to 

 buildings, and of by-products which the woodlot affords, such as 

 maple sugar, nuts, etc., all of which tend to increase the selling value 

 of farm property. 



The value of land which can be used for w T oodlot purposes, judged 

 from the standpoint of wood production alone, would be the capi- 

 talized value of the net income to be expected each year. The com- 

 putation is practically the same as for any field crops. It consists 

 simply in dividing the estimated net annual income by the desired 

 rate per cent. In the following table net incomes of from 25 cents 

 to $3 per acre per year are capitalized at 3, 4, 5, and 6 per cent, and 

 the result in each case represents the true valuation of the land which 

 will produce the corresponding net annual income per acre: 



Table 13. 



-Values of land for wood raising, representing net annual incomes of 

 various amounts capitalized at 3, 4, 5, and 6 per cent. 





Land values, capitalized at — 



Net income per acre per year from the woodlot. 



3 per 

 cent. 



4 per 

 cent. 



5 per 

 cent. 



6 per 

 cent. 



$0.25 



$8.33 

 16.67 

 25.00 

 33.33 

 50.00 

 66.67 

 83.33 

 100.00 



$6.25 

 12.50 

 18.75 

 25.00 

 37.50 

 50.00 

 62.50 

 75.00 



$5.00 

 10.00 

 15.00 

 20.00 

 30.00 

 40.00 

 50.00 

 60.00 



$4.17 



$0.50 



8.33 



$0.75 



12.50 



$1.00 



16.67 



$1.50 



25.00 



$2.00 



33.33 



$2.50 



41.67 



$3.00 



50.00 







Since the net income is only the amount remaining after deducting 

 all costs of labor, interest, taxes, etc., it is not an easy figure to de- 

 termine. It depends also upon the amount of wood produced each 

 year on each acre of woodlot, which is the amount that could be 

 removed without cutting into the producing capital of the woodlot. 

 For example, a farmer finds out that his wood is growing at the rate 



