56 SOUTHEASTERN PINE TYPE 



Timber Valuation. — On the whole estimating in southern 

 pine is simple and comparatively inexpensive. A strip estimate 

 covering 15 per cent ought not to cost more than eight cents per 

 acre. This is because the surface is level, the stands are not 

 dense, there are few species, and the trees are generally of about 

 the same size and quahty. This uniformity means that only a 

 small percent of the total area need be actually covered in the 

 estimate. Hence large tracts will give good results with a 5 per 

 cent estimate, while a tract has to be less than 30 acres in extent 

 to justify a 50 per cent estimate. In fact the only factor that is 

 Hable to cause difficulty in estimating is the boundary Knes and 

 even this source of possible error is not present except in one of 

 the original thirteen states. Unfortunately the rectangular sys- 

 tem of land surveys was not used by the colonists so that the 

 property Hnes do not run in a uniform manner but form an intri- 

 cate maze of Hnes which is often very difficult to unsnarl. Where 

 such conditions exist the cost of appraising the timber is pro- 

 portionately more expensive. 



The limits of merchantability are commonly uniform because 

 the purposes to which the timber is devoted do not vary greatly 

 from region to region. It is usual to convert the bole into logs 

 up to a top diameter inside the bark of not less than five inches. 

 Of course where there are large limbs to interfere with the clear 

 length there are fewer logs and the top diameter is greater. Tops 

 and limbs may be used for firewood or even pulp where there are 

 favorable market conditions. Rarely there is a demand for the 

 stumps in destructive distillation plants which secure turpentine 

 and its by-products in this way. 



The remarks concerning estimating which have gone before 

 apply merely to the estimating of timber for lumber and cord- 

 wood. With longleaf and slash pine turpentine is frequently the 

 more important product so that every southern timber cruiser 

 should be able to estimate the number of " cups " or " boxes " 

 that a tract of pine will yield. This is determined by counting 

 the number of cups or boxes which can be placed on a given 

 sample area which is representative of average conditions within 

 the tract. As with ordinary estimating it is better to take this 



