142 FARM FORESTRY 



its just tax each year on the basis of its productive capacity 

 the same as plowland, and the timber should pay its tax when 

 cut. The paying of a tax each year during the life of a grow- 

 ing crop of trees makes the total tax paid out at the time the 

 timber is cut, out of all proportion to the actual value of the 

 timber, especially since the money paid out each year must 

 run at compound interest up to the time the crop is harvested. 



Many of the states have given some attention to the taxa- 

 tion of growing timber. In some of them legislation has been 

 passed by which growing timber is placed in a separate classi- 

 fication for purposes of taxation. The plans dififer in many 

 respects, but all advocate that the land should be assessed 

 on a basis of its earning capacity and that the timber should pay 

 a yield tax when harvested. In New York State the timber 

 when harvested pays a yield tax of 5 per cent of the value of 

 the crop. Michigan lays a tax of 5 per cent on forest planta- 

 tions when mature, Massachusetts 6 per cent, and Vermont, 

 Connecticut and Pennsylvania 10 per cent, with different pro- 

 visions for forests already established. In Pennsylvania the 

 land must be classified by the State Forestry Department as 

 auxiliary forest reserves, and thereafter the land cannot be 

 assessed for purposes of taxation at a higher valuation than $1 

 per acre. The state compensates school and road districts for 

 the loss of revenue by paying into the local funds for each of 

 these purposes state moneys at the rate of 2 cents per acre 

 on land so classified. Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecti- 

 cut provide for a valuation of the land separately from the 

 timber and when this valuation has been made it must stand 

 for a long term of years. There are many variations in the 

 details of the laws, but they all agree in embodying the prin- 

 ciple of a tax on the yield separate from a tax on the land. 

 In some states reforested lands are exempted from the pay- 

 ment of taxes for a certain number of years, while in others 

 bounties and rebates are given. 



Damages. — When timber in a woodlot is injured by fire 



