FOREST COMMISSIONER'S RErORT. 17;') 



What is objeetionjiblc in the ]\Iiiine scale rule miiiht bo 

 summed up as follows : 



1. Its readings are irregular and not based on present 

 methods of sawing. 



2. In ofivino- the yield of lumber at the saw, it is made by 

 that means an unfair measure of logs destined for use as pubi 

 or any other use which looks simply to cubic capacity. 



3. It was not devised for the measurement of long logs 

 such as now are generally cut, and caimot without change of 

 form and extra labor be conveniently used for that pur})ose. 



4. The attempt to use the rule to do work which it Avas not 

 designed for has resulted in the building up of complicated 

 practices differing among themselves. For this reason the 

 scale of one region is unlike that of every other. A business 

 man moving from one region to another would have to study 

 the scaling methods prevailing before he could make a trade in 

 lumber. These practices too, with the original limitations of the 

 rule, make scaling very uncertain and unsatisfactory. Too 

 much is left to the scaler's judgment. Negligence, incom})e- 

 tence and interest are given too free a chance to influence the 

 result. 



5. The actual working of the rule is such that a larger quan- 

 tity of wood often scales less than a smaller amount. For 

 this reason great quantities of luml^er are left to I'ot in the 

 woods. The waste of this nature amounts to a considerable 

 percentage of our lumber cut. 



Under these circumstances the estal)lishment by the State 

 of a just system of scaling will be a highly connnendable 

 action. It will promote the public interests, and those of 

 individuals as well. It will be of particular help to the lumber- 

 men themselves, those I mean who do and direct the work in 

 the woods. These men have the hard part of the business. 

 They take much of the risk, do the hard work, face the cold 

 and the wet, and they get as a rule but little for it. These 

 are the men on whom the uncertainties of scaling bear particu- 

 larly hard. The proportion of their profit is often within the 

 limits of variation in measurements by the scale rule. A new 



