SHOETLEAF PINE : IMPORTANCE AND MANAGEMENT. 



21 



price will be noted for States more distant from the region of pro- 

 duction. The figures thus represent only roughly the average cost 

 of lumber of the various species in the different States and regions 

 shown. 



STUMPAGE VALUE. 



The value of shortleaf pine stumpage is in general a little below 

 that of longleaf in the Gulf States and above loblolly in the Central 

 Atlantic States. The slightly higher market value of longleaf pine 

 lumber and the distribution of shortleaf pine over the more hilly 

 lands have a tendency to make the stumpage value for shortleaf 

 slightly lower than for longleaf pine. The closer proximity, how- 

 ever, of shortleaf to the markets of the Central and Middle Western 

 States gives it an advantage. 



The purchase of " timber rights " in the North Carolina pine region 

 by one company from 1896 to 1908, shown in figure 2, illustrates the 



YEAR 1896 1899 1900 1902 1904- 1906 1908 1912 



Fig. 2. — Cost of yellow-pine stumpage to one company in North Carolina, from 1896 to 

 1908 ("The Lumber Industry," Bureau of Corporations, p. 23), and estimate for 1912 

 (based on average price for North Carolina in 1912, plus increase of price in 1909 over 

 average value for State). 



general upward movement of yellow pine stumpage in the eastern 

 market. 1 



In the central Mississippi Valley region the stumpage values are 

 not essentially different from those in North Carolina. In Arkansas 

 stumpage for virgin timber was worth, in round figures, 40 cents in 

 1890, $1 in 1900, $2.50 in 1907, at the crest of the year's prices, and 

 in 1913 was reported at $3 to $4. Second growth in abandoned fields 

 reaches diameters of 10 to 14 inches in fifty years, with yields of 10 

 to 20 thousand feet. Such tracts, if located near good local markets 

 with railroad facilities, have stumpage values ranging from 50 cents 

 up to about $1.50, but otherwise values are small, ranging down to a 

 few cents, mostly a potential or holding value. 



1 PrlCM for 1890 from " The Lumber Industry, Purt I," Iiureau of Corporations, p. 23. 



