FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 469 
methods of establishing the old valuations, upon which most of the 
State taxes were until recent!y based, vary in the different States, and 
little information as to these methods is available. Although now 
(1933) obsolete, the methods which were used in obtaining valuations 
for the land tax in two large States, Prussia and Bavaria, may be of 
interest. 
VALUATIONS FOR THE LAND TAX 
In Bavaria the valuation for the land tax was an appraisal of the 
annual possible revenue or gross yie d.rom stumpage. ‘This appraisal 
was made during the period 1818-40 and the work was done in great 
detail, at a total cost of 70 million marks (17 million dollars). Each 
parcel was numbered on a cadastral map, and its yield in wood or 
other products was determined. The yield was multiplied by an 
average unit value to obtain the gross yield for the parcel. In the case 
of forests this annual value was the same regardless of the age or con- 
dition of the stand and was intended to represent the productivity of 
the soil. 
In Prussia the land tax was based on a valuation of comparatively 
recent date. This va uation, as ascertained in the supplementary tax 
assessment of 1917-19, was calculated on the basis of the net yield 
which the property might earn under sustained-yield management, 
capitalized at 4 percent. Corrections to remove inequalities caused 
by the inflation period were made as of February 1, 1927. 
THE UNIFORM ASSESSMENT (EINHEITSWERT) 
GENERAL 
The uniform assessment, prescribed in all the States for national 
taxes and ultimately for local taxes, was first made in 1925, again in 
1928, and was repeated with further refinements in 1931. This 3-year 
interval was made necessary by the rapid changes in the general level 
of values which have taken place in recent years. It is expected that 
when normality is restored a revaluation will be made not oftener than 
every 6 years. 
The principle of valuation as applied to forest lands for the purposes 
of uniform assessment is that the value shall be based on the actual 
net money income realizable under sustained-yield management from 
the property following the common and ordinary bus ness practices, 
this income to be capitalized at a proper interest rate to be fixed from 
time to time by the minister of finance. The capitalization factor 
thus far used is 18, making the assumed rate of interest 5.556 percent. 
An elaborate procedure has been evolved for the purpose of securing 
uniformity in the application of this valuation throughout Germany. 
The law contemplates that all farm and forest property valuations 
shall be made by comparison with standard valuations of properties 
carefully selected in each State tax district (Landesfinanzamtsbezirk) 
and valued by the council as sample of good, medium, and poor prop- 
erties in that district. There are 26 such districts, and in general 
their boundaries are the State lines, except that some of the larger 
States are divided into two or more districts. This plan works well 
for the appraisal of farms, but the factors entering into the valuation 
of forest properties are so complicated and variable that the compar- 
ison method has not been found entirely practicable. Nevertheless 
