Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1915-09-30
SHOULD NOT SELL
THEIR TIMBER
Timely and Wholesome Adj
vice Given To Owners
f., =. of Woodlands
PRICES OF TIMBER RISING
Illustration Given shqYlng Hqw One,
Farmer Lost $500 ThfSusR
sfies by Lump Sum.

(By ", R. Nation, Foresty specialist)
In spite of the rise in prices Of stand
ing timber and need for better farm
management, owners OF woodlands
continue to sell timber blindly and
with scarcely any idea Of its value.
The farmer is in reality the producer
of the timber, and owners should re-
alize this fact. A recent case in Roane
county illustrates well how farmers
almost give away their valuable tim
ber
A farmer sold for lump sum OF
$500 all the merchantable pine stand
ing on his farm which he had recently
bought, giving two-year term for cut
ting. The farm consisted OF ESQ acres
of mostly hill land. and the owner
needed some money to help pay for
the property. The location was 10
miles from a large town on trunk
line railroad, connected by first-class
piked road and mostly doWn-grade
haul. The bulk of the pine was IN
pure stands and the rest scattering
among hardwoods. A little was old
virgin yellow pine, but most OF 1t had
como up thickiy In old fields turned
out at various times, beginning about
20 wears before the war and conunu-
| ing down to a year or two after the
war. An average sample OF the 3D.
ysar-old pine was measured and yield
cd from 10000 to 10000 feet per acre;
fully stocked stands yielded up to
10000 board feet The older stands
undoubtedly yielded up to 4O,OoO
where we'll stocked with trees The
trees we're from 10 to 80 feet in height
and measured from II to Is inches in
diameter at breast height (<h feet
above the ground).
Nv August, 1915, the purchaser hao
cut something over 100000 board fee'
and still had not less than 100000 fee'
vet to cut. This made his stumpage
cost him less than 81 per thousand
feet. The value Of the stumpage wa'
carefully figured out with the assist
ance of one of the few most expert
enced men in the county. The items
of cutting, logging, saving and maui
ing. after adding rs per cent for prom
on the operation, made the cost OF TN
lumber at the railroad between So"
and $500 per thousand feet. mi
same lumber Is now worth $l2 durlni
the present low prices, but up to 81
at average prices for the, past lev
wears. The difference between the &c
tai cost of logging, saving and MAJ
keting, allowing for a liberal prom
and the selling price gives the stumI
ase value. or the value in the standm
, tree. At the lower selling price OF II
for the product. the timber IN the ire
was worth So to $3.50 per thousand.
The farmer thus sold for $500 TIN
bsr worth at least $1,000, thereby lo'
ing 81, 600 that he, as the virtual pr
Queer. should have had. This woul
have very nearly paid for the entif
= farm. Sales by the lump sum are orte
very deceiving, because the prle
named soands large to the owner WI
usually has no idea Of either tn
amount or value of his timber III
her should never be sold by the lun
or boundary, except an estimate al
4 appraisal has first been made by son
competent person. When this n
beep done the method Is to be recoi
q mended for use in many situation
where scaling the logs would De q
8cult or otherwise impracticabls.