TITLES 137 



is also little practiced within this type for the very good reason 

 that the trees stand so close together that very little grass can 

 grow underneath thena. The only exceptions to this general rule 

 are occasional localities where the fir-larch subtype is open enough 

 to permit some grass growth but these are practically negligible. 



Hence it follows that taking the type as a whole the production 

 of timber is the highest use of the soil. There is only one unfavor- 

 able factor. That is the distance to market. But improvements 

 in transportation and growing scarcity of timber in other regions 

 are bound to lead to an increase in stumpage prices. In fact it 

 seems safe to figure that these prices will be at least $10 per M 

 within the next rotation of 100 years. With this assumption 

 and using an interest rate of 3 per cent the value of the land 

 within the type is $22 per acre. 



Titles. — Land titles present no special problems. In surveyed 

 sections they are easy to trace since the land has been obtained 

 from the Federal Government within a short period either thru 

 the homestead or timber and stone claim laws or purchased out- 

 right from the State or land grant railways. 



