Burt P. Kirkland
Published: 2015-07-21
Total Pages: 32
Get eBook
Excerpt from Cost of Growing Timber in the Pacific Northwest, as Related to the Interest Rates Available, to Various Forest Owners Since the timber is not an annual product, the interest cannot be secured annually, but must accumulate until the timber is cut. Hence compound interest is used. What this will amount to at rates applicable to forestry will be discussed later, and shown specifically in the tables forming part of this discussion. Cost of Stocking Land With Trees While space is not here available to take up in detail the cost of stocking the land, there is good evidence that $5.00 per acre is a fair average figure. Although planting on a bare area will cost nearer $10.00, few areas need be chosen which do not bear some young growth or contain some seed trees which will assist artificial regeneration. Areas that have not been cut over can seldom be stocked any cheaper by natural regeneration than by planting, since the value of the seed trees that must be left will usually bring the cost up to the average figure mentioned above unless there are an unusually large number of worthless trees of the desired species which may be used as seed trees. A skillful combination of planting with natural regeneration from stands not yet cut, and artificial regeneration by planting or seeding should bring the operation within this cost Unlike the land cost, the expense of stocking the land with trees has to be repeated every time the timber is cut. This amount must, therefore, be charged against the product of each planting. Interest on Cost of Stocking Land The interest on the cost of stocking the land might have been included with the foregoing item, but it is here treated separately in order that all interest charges under various kinds of ownership may be segregated. As in the case of interest on the land value, compound interest must be used. The amount of this item at various rates will be shown specifically in tables forming part of this discussion. The Annual Cost of Administration and Protection Kellogg and Ziegler maintain that the annual cost of administration and protection can be handled for five cents per acre. An analysis of the actual conditions will show that five cents is not sufficient for safety. It must be remembered that this includes office expense, supervision, fire patrol, patrol against trespass, and all other overhead expenses. Although forest fire insurance is not at present one of the expense charges included in this item, the practicability of insuring forests by an enlargement of the scope of the forest fire protective organisations is such that it is bound to come in the near future. Hence this figure should also be high enough to include forest fire insurance. In the case of the state or the federal government, the losses from fire must be charged to this item. Whatever amount accumulates between planting and cutting a single crop must be charged to that crop. The writer does not therefore, believe that the low figure generally assigned to the annual cost of administration and protection is sufficient, but will assign 20 cents per acre per annum as a reasonable, though entirely sufficient amount. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.