TIMBER GROWING AND LOGGING PRACTICE 11 
the farm the best he knows how to obtain the largest cash return 
each year. 
On good soils, it is true, the value of timber growth in a year is 
not equal to that of most agricultural crops. Estimates of men 
familiar with the region make it appear improbable that the aver- 
age growth of timber per acre on the very best alluvial bottom-land 
soil and in stands fully stocked with trees exceeds 500 or 600 board 
feet per year. Unfortunately, authentic comprehensive figures 
bearing on this are lacking. On the poorest uplands, annual growth 
probably does not exceed 100 board feet per acre; on soils of inter- 
mediate quality, it will probably lie between 200 and 400 board feet. 
If growth in some cases considerably exceeds 600 feet an acre a 
year it will be on bottom lands in stands running heavily to Cot- 
tonwood, red gum, or soft maple. 
The prices paid for timber on the stump ordinarily range from 
$3 a thousand feet to $50 or more. The best specimens of black 
walnut, old virgin high-quality growth, command much higher 
prices. Second-growth white ash and hickory suitable for handle 
stock commonly bring $25 to $40 on the stump. Old-growth yellow 
poplar and white oak suitable for veneer or quarter-sawing often 
sell for $25, $30, or more on the stump. For mixed hardwoods — 
everything in the stand of timber — buyers rarely pay more than 
$10 to $15 per 1,000 feet and usually less. 
Using these stumpage values and the foregoing figures of growth 
as a basis for calculations, it can be seen that the yearly value of 
timber growth on an acre will vary considerably. On the poorer 
upland soils where the timber is rather small, scrubby, and con- 
sists mostly of oak and slow-growing hickor}? - , the stumpage value 
of the yearly growth of fully stocked stands would probably not be 
over 30 to 50 cents an acre. On better soils it would vary between 
$2 and $6, and if the stand were largely second-growth white ash, 
or a mixture of thrifty clear white oak, yellow poplar, and black 
walnut, it might range from $4 to as much as $16 a j^ear. 
These returns do not represent an average for the region because 
the timberlands, except in a very small percentage of instances, 
are not bearing a full* crop of trees ; they are not bearing haif a 
crop. The farm wood-lot owner has not been taught to consider 
his woods as a crop; he has not thought of how desirable from his 
own financial standpoint it is to have his woods fully stocked with 
trees as he wants his cornfields to be fully planted without gaps. 
He does not know how to increase the percentage of more valuable 
species in the stand and finally how and where to market the timber 
to the greatest advantage. He is not, accordingly, realizing on its 
full possibilities as a revenue producer, and if he gives it any 
thought at all doubtless feels justified in permitting the woods to 
die out gradually and be superseded by pasture land and plowed 
fields. 
While the returns indicated are not equal to those ordinarily ob- 
tained from agricultural crops on good soils, it should be remembered, 
that these figures are based on the product as it stands in the woods 
before cutting and hauling to a market. If the returns were to be 
compared with those from a crop of corn, the value of the corn should 
be figured as it stands in the field before it is picked. Further, it 
