UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR NO. 75 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



OCTOBER, 1926 



HARVESTING TIMBER CROPS IN THE NATIONAL 

 FORESTS OF THE EAST AND SOUTH 



By R. M. EVANS, Assistant District Forester, Forest Service 



CONTENTS 



Page 

 Headquarters of the eastern district- n 



How does the Forest Service sell 



timber 1 



Fireproofing the sales area 3 



Three sales principles 1 3 



The crops of far-flung timber farms. 



Through an industrial cycle 



Products for many needs of man 



Forestry principles in practice 



Page 



4 



G 



10 



11 



HOW THE FOREST SERVICE SELLS TIMBER 



How does the Forest Service sell timber? Without going into 

 great detail, the answer might be about as follows : 



When sales business develops or bids fair to develop in some part 

 of a national forest — a major watershed, perhaps, or the territory 

 tributary to a permanent transportation system — a timber-manage- 

 ment plan is prepared. This plan takes stock of the timber, de- 

 termines the rate of growth, sets forth when, where, and at what rate 

 cutting shall take place, and outlines the silvicultural and timber-sale 

 policies to be followed; in short, gives the forest supervisor or other 

 officer a clear-cut statement of how he is to manage the timber for 

 which he is responsible. 



The supervisor, then, upon receiving an application for the pur- 

 chase of timber, knows what tracts he has for sale; and after inter- 

 esting the would-be purchaser in some one of them, he makes a care- 

 ful estimate of the amount of timber on the tract and an appraisal 

 which sets a fair value for the stumpage, taking into account all the 

 costs of the harvesting or lumbering process. This fair value is the 

 least that the Government will accept. The timber is then adver- 

 tised for 30 days or longer, in local papers if the sale is small and of 

 local interest only; in trade journals and papers of wide circula- 

 tion if the sale is large enough to be of regional interest. Every ef- 

 44l':>,°_26 i 



