FOREST COMMISSIONEK'S REPORT. 163 



fore l)adly drained and wet is frequently covered with thick 

 and spindlino- or well spaced and yet stunted spruce. There 

 are some f^rowths of spruce that are too thick, and the trees 

 small on that account. Thinning in that case would be a 

 benetit and followed l\v rapid growth. In many cases, how- 

 ever, that is not true. The small size of the trees is due to 

 defects of soil and drainage which cannot be overcome. The 

 yearly growth upon such land is very small, hardly worth 

 considerini>-. When the market is at hand, such growth can 

 be cut without scruple on account of any regard for its grow- 

 ing capacity. 



ON SCALING. 



Methods of measurino- round lumlicr in this State are so 

 unsatisfactory — cause so much trouble in business, and in 

 addition, as it seems to the writer, are responsible for so 

 much loss — that it has been thought advisable to look into 

 the matter with a view to ascertaining and recommending an 

 equitable method. 



A man coming to this subject with fresh mind and from the 

 outside would say without question that what is wanted in a 

 measurement of logs is a determination of their cubic con- 

 tents. This being the case, and cubic feet our standard meas- 

 ure of capacity, what we should need for appliance is some 

 simple apparatus to measure diameter and length, and give, 

 in form convenient for outdoor use, the contents to be derived 

 therefrom. In other words, the simplest and most natural 

 measure would appear likely to be also the most satisfactory. 



What we have in use, however, is something quite differ- 

 ent. It is a fact that large quantities of logs are yearly 

 bouijht and sold in this State without being measured at all — 

 that is to say like no other commodity logs are sold on a mere 

 judgment as to their amount — but when a measure is actually 

 put on logs it is not generally the natural and simple one that 

 an unsophisticated i)ers()n would expect. It is a measure 

 whose readings are in artificial terms. It is a measure, too, 

 that mechanically speaking is singularly limited in its use in 



