EXAMPLE III. A lot consisting of 16 acres of mixed hardwood. Proceeds from lumber sales.. Cost of cutting and marketing.. Net sales.. Price paid for lot... Profit $2,194 900 $1,294 500 $794 Cost of putting lumber on the market. The cost of putting lumber on the market is quite variable, depending on the kind of lumber and the distance that it must be hauled. The price is constantly rising as wages advance. An average of $10 per thousand board feet is perhaps a fair estimate for a farmer to make. Most of the timber cut in Tompkins County is sawed by portable sawmills. The lumber then has to be hauled to market. The distance to market varies greatly, but ordinarily it is two to six miles. The estimated cost of cutting the timber, sawing and delivering to market is as follows: This wood Each time The woodlot now a profitable farm crop. As an example, a farm on the hill lands of southern Tompkins County consists of 100 acres, 30 acres of which is in timber. lot was cut in 1907 for the third time in 90 years. it has been cut with entire disregard for the future. cutting on the 30 acres sold for $2,100, standing. In spite of the present high price of lumber, no attention was given to the future in this cutting. Young trees that were scarcely worth cutting, but that would be valuable in 10 to 20 years, were cut. Those that were too small to cut were broken down. This is the almost universal practice, in spite of the profits that come from such a woodlot. After "skinning" the woodlot, the entire farm of 100 acres, with buildings, was sold for $1,400. This farm would not rent for $1 per acre, as indicated by the selling price. But, in spite of the owners, it has grown $70 worth of wood per acre since the last cutting 30 years ago. If the $1 per acre rent were placed at compound interest at 5 per cent., it would not amount to $70 at the end of 30 years. In other words, the wood land pays better than the farm land. If the wood land were given a very little attention in cutting, so as to maintain a stand of the best kinds of trees, the returns could probably be doubled. As another example, a lot consisting of 35 acres composed of mixed hardwood was cut and the net proceeds from the timber sales amounted to $4,938. Men who knew the history of this woodlot asserted that 75 per cent. of the wood had grown in the past 22 years. That is, the lot was cut over 22 years ago and the greater part removed. According to these estimates, $3,704 of timber grew on the 35 acres in 22 years. This is $106 per acre or $4.82 per acre per year. This land would not sell for over $15 per acre. These examples are fairly typical of southern New York woodlots. Neither of them received any care. If the diseased trees and weed trees had been cut and the woodlot looked after as a farm crop, the income would have been much greater. These profits are based on what is made when lumber is sold, but the chief use of a woodlot is to supply posts and lumber for farm purposes. If lumber and posts have to be purchased, they usually cost much more than is received for those that are sold. So that the profits will be much greater than those given above. Suggestions on the care of woodlots. The first thing to consider in the management of a woodlot is to decide where one is wanted. There are some areas of land now in woodlots that are so rich and valuable that it may be best to cut the wood and use the land for pasture and later clear it. On other farms there is cleared land that is of little value and that had best be set to trees. On still other farms the woodlot is already in the right place. If it has been decided that a woodlot is desired in a certain place, this area should be devoted to woods. It should not be pastured. If it is needed for pasture it will pay better to devote half of it to pasture and half to woods. The pasture part will then be gradually cleared, leaving only enough trees for shade. Half the area devoted entirely to woods will probably grow as much wood as the entire area will if pastured. It is poor economy to try to grow trees and grass on the same land. After the area to be devoted to woods has been determined, the woods should be looked on as a regular farm crop. The dead trees, the ill shaped trees, and the undesirable kinds should be cut. The open spaces should be planted with good kinds of trees. Nearly all of this work can be done in winter or at other times when little or no work would otherwise be done. The planting can be done very rapidly and at small cost. White pine, chestnut, and black locust are the most desirable trees to plant. White pine will grow well in most of southern New York. Chestnut is particularly adapted to the poor soils. Black locust is good for posts. It is sometimes attacked by borers. It may not be quite so good for the poorer land as chestnut. The State encourages this planting by furnishing trees at cost. Directions for planting are sent with the trees. For these trees address the State Forester, Albany, N. Y. When the woodlot is cut the young trees should be saved so far as possible, and those that are not of fair size should be left for future years. HAULING FROM FARMS TO SHIPPING POINTS [AN example of the economic problem of place-value is found in the location of farms relative to the shipping points on railroads or on navigable waters. The Bureau of Statistics of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in Bulletin 49, issued in 1907, published the results of an inquiry in which replies were received from correspondents in nearly two thousand counties. Most of the explanation of the methods used in the calculations, and most of the detailed tables may be omitted, but the following extracts give the main results of the inquiry.] Rates of hiring and actual costs. The price for hiring a team, wagon, and driver for one day in a given community is taken, in this investigation, as the cost of hauling in that community-the cost to the farmer to perform that service for himself. It is known that farmers in the United States usually do their own hauling, and in many parts of the country the practice prevails of exchanging services, so that a number of men may on one day haul enough of one man's produce to load a railway freight car, and on another day they perform the same service for a second member of the group, continuing this until all members have been helped; but, as a general fact, it is rare that a farmer hires his produce hauled to a shipping point or local market, and in many communities the practice is unknown. In a few parts of the wheat regions of the Mississippi Valley farmers hire their grain hauled at certain rates per bushel; and professional "freighters" are important aids to the farmers and grazers between the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast. This region is one of great distances, and it does not pay all of the producers to keep enough horses, wagons, and drivers to move their wool, cotton, or other surplus over the long distances of 50, 75, 100, and even 150 miles from the ranch to the "local" shipping point or market. The "freighter" will take the produce for a moderate charge, and on his return trip will bring merchants' goods and farm supplies from the distant railroad station. Conditions affecting actual cost. Hauling in most cases may be regarded as a secondary employment for the horses, wagons, and drivers of the farm, the chief duties of the men with their teams being on farms themselves. . . . But the price paid for hiring may be regarded, generally, as subject to competition and, hence, tending to equal a sum which will just cover the actual cost of performing the service and allow a fair profit in addition. The actual cost to a farmer of performing the service of hauling for himself may in certain instances be less than the cost of hiring, and in other cases it may be more. The hauling may be done when no other farm work is pressing and when teams and wagons would have no other employment. One-half the cost of hauling may be saved when it is practicable to take full loads on the return trips. Sometimes farmers haul produce to market and return with loads of fertilizer, coal, or other goods. These back loads, however, may be regarded as rather exceptional, and their influence upon the average cost per load of produce hauled from the farm, as computed in the following tables, is not known to be important. On the other hand the farmer's expense of hauling may be increased on account of bad roads; he may be compelled to deliver his product at the local shipping point when prices are low or wait for a better market and run the risk of having to haul over rough roads with more horses to the wagon and a much lighter load. Some persons prefer to sell at a lower price than to wait for a better market and incur the expense of hauling under difficulties which may amount to double or even four times the normal cost. Taking into consideration the low and the high costs of |