THE NORTHERN HARDWOOD FOREST. 



31 



The amount of increase serves indirectly as an index to the States 

 in which large supplies of conifers yet remain. Spruce in Maine and 

 white pine in Minnesota still hold first place. The relatively small 

 increase in the northern hardwoods out in Pennsylvania is due partly 

 to the influence of the large hemlock cut, and partly to that of the 

 southern hardwoods, especially oak. 



PRESENT SUPPLY. 



There is little hope of finding out the amount of standing northern 

 hardwoods except within a very wide " limit of error." The estimates 

 are given in Table 10, therefore, merely as rough approximations. 

 They are based on estimates of the total forest areas in the different 

 States, the proportions occupied by northern hardwoods, and the 

 probable average stand per acre (from 1,000 to 3,000 board feet). 

 Each of these factors is, of course, subject to wide error, and there is 

 the further error arising from differences in the closeness of utilization 

 and in the prevalence of defect. 



Table 10 —Estimated stand of hardwood timber in the northern hardwood forest. 1 



State. 



Stand. 



State. 



Stand. 



Maine 



Board feet. 

 7, 000, 000, 000 to 15, 000, 000, 000 

 4, 000, 000, 000 to 5, 000, 000, 000 

 4, 000, 000, 000 to 5,000,000,000 

 10, 000, 000, 000 to 20, 000, 000, 000 

 10, 000, 000, 000 to 20, 000, 000, 000 



Southern Appa- 

 lachian States. 

 Lake States 



Total 



Board feet-. 



NewHampshire 

 Vermont 



10, 000, 000, 000 to 15, 000, 000, 000 

 30, 000, 000, 000 to 30,000,000,000 



Pennsylvania. .. 



75, 000, 000, 000 to 110, 000, 000, 000 



i Acknowledgment is made to State Foresters A. F. Hawes, E. C. Hirst, and C. R. Pettis for assistance 

 received in the preparation of these estimates. For the Lake States estimates compiled by the Bureau of 

 Corporations in 1910 and published in its report on standing timber (1913) were used. These were brought 

 down to date by deducting an equivalent of five years lumber cut. 



VALUE OF STANDING TIMBER. 



There is normally a wide range in the stump age value of any species, 

 the price depending not only upon the accessibility and quality of the 

 timber, but also upon the condition of the market, the exigency of the 

 sale, and other matters common to all property exchange. Since, 

 however, the remaining virgin timber in the Northeastern and Lake 

 States is roughly uniform as to accessibility (a result of fairly similar 

 logging and trade conditions) stump age values for a given species 

 tend to approach a standard market value. Statistics of this nature 

 were obtained by the Forest Service through a canvass of timberland 

 owners in 1907, and again in 1912. The averaged results, with refer- 

 ence only to the principal species of the northern hardwood forest, 

 are given in Tables 11 and 12. 



