6 BULLETIN 24, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
If properly treated, cottonwood should prove valuable for mine 
props, especially where only short or moderate lengths are required. 
The large proportion of the wood now wasted in tops and removed 
in thinnings could be used for this purpose. 
Siding or rough lumber exposed to the weather can be made resist- 
ant to decay by the application of paint containing a large propor- 
tion of oil. The smooth, hard surface of the cottonwood board takes 
paint readily without absorbing a large quantity. 
STUMPAGE VALUES AND LOGGING COSTS. 
SAW TIMBER. 
The greater and wider use of cottonwood has naturally resulted in 
a gradual and steady upward course of its stumpage value. Twenty- 
five years ago well-formed cottonwood trees standing almost at the 
edge of the river and often containing more than 2,000 or 3,000 board 
feet of high-grade lumber could be purchased for 50 centsatree. Even 
more recently cottonwood could be obtained almost anywhere along 
the Mississippi River for 50 cents a thousand feet board measure on 
the stump, and logs were often delivered at the mill for $4 per thou- 
sand feet. In the early days the idea was generally prevalent that 
the cottonwood in the Mississippi Valley bottom lands was almost 
inexhaustible. Even to-day many stumpage owners are not aware 
of cottonwood’s true value, and often sell merchantable cottonwood 
timber, accessibly situated, at extremely low prices. 
It appears to be a Eaten view among representative millmen in 
the lower Mississippi Valley that a stumpage price of $5 per thou- 
sand is none too high for average cottonwood timber accessibly situ- 
ated near the river bank and requiring no longer hauls than from a 
quarter of a mile to a mile. Stumpage prices as high as $8 are re- 
ported as actually being paid for standing timber of the best quality 
when especially accessible. 
The money value of timber on the stump, as of any other com- 
modity, should be determined by the actual cost of producing it, plus 
a fair profit to the producer. In artificial plantations the true stump- 
age value can be readily determined. In virgin timber, which is a 
free gift of nature, the cost of production can not be determined, and 
the actual stumpage prices are controlled chiefly by demand and sup- 
ply. Theoretically the stumpage value of virgin timber is the differ- 
ence between the actual market value of the lumber and the cost of 
producing it. The latter figure should include not only the costs of 
logging and manufacturing, but also the operator’s profit. In other 
words, if a lumber company must be assured of a profit of p per 
cent on all money invested in stumpage, logging, and manufacturing, 
