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FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 471 
are readily available in the accounts of the larger forests, though some 
adjustments may be necessary in case the sales in the basic years 
differ from the normal in proportion of different products. 
If proper accounts are lacking, or if the prices shown by the accounts 
are abnormal so that they are not applicable, a different method of 
obtaining the unit stumpage value of the wood must be used. The 
prices of the major product (Richtsortiment) for the common species 
in the different regions of Germany are well known or easily ascer- 
tainable. If the ratio of the stumpage price of all the marketable 
solid wood to the stumpage price of the major product were known, 
the price of the major product could be used to establish the desired 
value per cubic meter of the solid wood. ‘These ratios vary with the 
region, species, site quality class, and length of rotation. Such ratios 
for most of the State finance districts were furnished in appendix 4 of 
the above-mentioned circular of August 6, 1931, for use in the 1931 
valuation. This appendix consists of a table showing, by district, 
tree species, site quality class, and length of rotation, the ratios of 
prices per cubic meter of solid wood to prices of the corresponding 
major product. The unit values of solid wood obtained by applying 
these ratios to prices of the major product include the value of the 
incidental faggots. In case of exceptional conditions, judgment may be 
used to modify the result. The only common species not given in this 
table is oak, which is so variable as to marketable products that it must 
be made the object of a special price study in each locality where it is 
important. The circular of August 6, 1931, includes suggestions as 
to the procedure which should be followed to determine similar ratios 
for the State finance districts not included in appendix 4. 
The third step is to determine the net yield in money of the forest 
which is being assessed. The gross yield is obtained by multiplying 
the yield in wood by the average stumpage value. In order to arrive 
at net yield, it is also necessary to determine the average annual cost 
of management. The law requires that this cost be governed not by 
the actual figures for the individual forest concerned, which might be 
influenced greatly by the desires and purposes of the owner, but 
by the common business practice of the region. Thus the costs of 
management in typical forests in each of the five broad forest regions 
of Germany have been taken as the basis. The figures have been 
obtained from the investigations of the valuation council with respect 
to sample properties and from studies made by the State forest 
services. It was found that the costs could be related to gross yield, 
though naturally they are a much greater part of gross yield in the 
case of low-yield than of high-yield properties. This relationship was 
smoothed off by curves, from which tables were made showing the 
corresponding costs for different amounts of gross yield. For exam- 
ple, according to tables prepared in connection with the 1931 valua- 
tion, the cost of management in east and north Germany absorbed 
81.5 percent of a gross yield of 10RM per hectare (96 cents per acre), 
65 percent of a gross yield of 30RM, and 46.6 percent of a gross yield 
of 80RM per hectare ($2.90 and $7.70 per acre, respectively). The 
cost as taken from these tables is subtracted from the gross yield to 
give the net annual yield. 
Finally, the assessment value of the forest is found by multiplying 
the net annual yield by 18, as previously indicated. The work of cal- 
culation for each separate assessment is obviated by the use of tables 
based directly on the gross yield, showing for a wide range of gross 
