INSTRUCTION IN TIMBER ESTIMATING 589 



and stayed on that side while the forty was marked after we had got the hang 



was being run. He tallied the diameter of the methods. 



and number of logs of every tree on This sort of work was, of course, 



the strip between himself and the com- altogether too slow for practical cruis- 



passman of all trees which had blazes ing and was really used with the idea 



on them — showing that they were of getting our eyes trained to the esti- 



above 10 in diameter. At the end of mating of the diameters, heights and 



the forty each estimator had the com- distances and to give us a little idea of 



plete tally of all of the trees on half of the sort of work we were to do. It 



of the area. On the re-running of the lasted only a short time, for within a 



area the men changed over to the other few days we began to alter the method 



side of the compassman and in this by which we ran the strips across the 



way got a tally of the rest of the forty, forty and to use some of the other sys- 



The compassman merely had to run terns of covering the area. The differ- 



the compass and pace off the different ent time-saving methods which we took 



distances across the forty so as to check up and gave a good trial were some 



up on his pacing, while the sixth man of those well known to cruisers such 



or checker carried a pair of calipers as the "log run" method, methods of 



and a height measure and his work widening or narrowing the strips, 



was to check up the estimates made by counting all of the trees on the strips, 



the others in diameters, heights and but tallying only one in five ; making 



in the width of the strips which they of a topographical map by the com- 



were running — i. e. the distance be- passman while the work was going on 



tween the estimators and the compass- and other methods and schemes to help 



man. At the end of the day's work make a cruise more speedy and more 



each of the estimators worked out his useful. All this work was done on the 



own tally and determined his own es- sample forties and of course we were 



timates of the amount of standing tim- shifted about every day so that we 



ber on the forty. He also had to add should not have to use the same forty 



up on his tally sheets the number of twice in succession. The check man 



trees in each height and each diameter soon was eliminated and each esti- 



class. When he had done all of this he mator had to carry his own calipers 



went to the instructor to check up his and do his own checking. And always 



work. This checking was very well we had the checking up system with 



arranged, for by this system a man was the instructor in the evening, 



not only able to find out how nearly his Finally individual cruising was intro- 



total estimate of the stand came to the duced and we had to run the compass, 



assumed true estimate, but he was able keep track of the pacing, count and 



by comparison of the tallies of the tally the merchantable trees all by our- 



diameter and height classes, to get a selves. Here we also tried the sample 



very good idea as to the errors that he acre system, the "Ward" method, and 



was making in his work and what he other schemes of getting the contents 



had better do to correct them. For in- of stands. But through it all we had 



stance a man might come out fairly to check our pace twice a day, our es- 



close in his total estimate for the forty, timates of diameters with calipers and 



but, on checking up his work with the our tally of heights and diameters in 



diameter and height tally, might find the evening. 



that he was over estimating his diam- At the end of two weeks of this prac- 



eters — which gave him larger log? — tice work the actual work of cruising 



and underestimating his heights — which the timber for the Lumber Company 



diminished the number of logs just began. A somewhat brief outline of 



enough to make the total estimate look this work is as follows : 



very well, whereas the real work was As stated in another part of this ar- 



far from being good. In this way we tide, the country around camp was not 



were checked up day by day and the surveyed by the governmental rectan- 



improvement in the work of the men gular survey and was broken up into 



