rf 
52 BULLETIN 1496, U. §. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
sidered. A concrete illustration will help to analyze the financial 
basis of the calculations involved. It is assumed that a lumber com- 
pany is in the timber business permanently and is a going concern. 
It desires to engage in selective logging and remove at each opera- 
tion about one-third of the original volume, returning to the same 
land for another cut within about 20 years. The average stand per 
acre is, say, 9,000 board feet log scale. It removes in the first opera- 
tion 3,000 board feet, or about one-third of the stand. The present 
average stumpage price for hardwoods is in the neighborhood of 
$6.50 per thousand. Since it removes only one-third of the stand, 
two-thirds of the stumpage is tied up for 20 years. As the total 
stumpage value per acre is $58.50, that means that $39 is tied up for 
20 years and is entitled to earn at least 4 per cent interest. 
The returns, under selective logging, per thousand board feet, are 
much higher than those from ordinary logging, since only the large 
choice logs are taken. The average price for logs under selective 
cutting is from 50 to 100 per cent higher than the price for the 
average run of logs under clean cutting. The stumpage for the 
large trees cut must therefore be credited with a higher value than 
the ordinary stumpage. The stumpage of such trees may be placed 
at a low estimate at $15 a thousand. For this reason, although one- 
third of the volume of the stand is removed, nearly 77 per cent of 
the value of the stand is taken out, leaving only about $13.50 per care 
as an investment, or $270 for 20 acres. As selective logging involves 
marking of timber and general technical supervision, the cost of 
such service is included in the calculation. The cost of fire protec- 
tion, because of the small fire hazard, is low, while the taxes on the 
other hand are fairly high. The calculations are given in Table 12. 
TABLE 12—Costs and returns from selective cutting of 3,000 board feet annually 
out of a hardwood stand of 20 acres yielding 9,000 board feet per acre; 20-year 
rotation 
Item Costs | Returns 
3,000 board :feet cut annually onl acre, ali Siac oo 2k ee eee $45. 00 
Fire protection and technical administration on 20 acres, at 5 cents per acre___-__- $1. 00 
‘Raxesx ai 50) Cents POP ACTS 2b eas aoe ee ed eRe ee ee ee ee ere 10. 00 
Interest, at 4 per cent on: 
Land! yalue.at $2 per acre: 2° 325.6 (ae) st hs Peet Sete Se ee 1.60 
‘Pintber left: ($270) 2 22 = 2 as See oe ee eee ea ee see 10. 80 
Anmnuaaleost of carbying20 acres 2c Stas 3 ee eee ee eee ee ee ee ee 23. 40 
Nee TeLEEDION :20ArreS tt ES 25 eee SO ae eee ES ee ee ee es Soe ees 21. 60 
Net, return Per acre... 8: 285.0 Fy eee Be a ees ee ee ee ee ee 1.08 
NORWAY AND WHITE PINE 
CLEAR CUTTING 
Clear cutting of Norway and white pine, even with subsequent fire 
protection of the logged-off land, will seldom result in satisfactory 
second growth of the same species. When all the trees are cut, if the 
area is not immediately seeded and no white-pine seedlings are present, 
the ground is usually soon overrun by hazelnut and other shrubs, espe- 
cially if the soil is fairly good. This makes subsequent reproduction 
