174 FOREST commissioner's report. 



scaler may upset all their calculations and chanoe expected 

 profit into a loss. And when that happens it is for them a 

 genuine disaster. Tliese men are a part of the sinew of the 

 country. From them largely will its next generation come. 

 Whatever will promote their interests, whatever at any rate 

 wall help to secure to them steady and even-handed justice, is 

 well worth the consideration of the law-makers of the State, 

 of asattsffic- ^ systcui of Scaling cannot here be formulated. 

 tor>'sys- Some of the principles that should guide it, how- 

 ever, may well be mentioned. It should in the first place be 

 simple ; as few measurements as possible should be taken to 

 get at the contents of a log. This is economical ; it prevents 

 errors also, and makes the measurement all round more satis- 

 factory and open. Secondly, quality should be kept distinct 

 from quantity. Behind every trade in lumber should be a 

 recorded measurement, free from complications, of the tree's 

 contents. Quality is another matter. If it is to be passed 

 on by the same man well and good, but the two thino-s should 

 not be lumped together. 



Here we get a suggestion as to the measurement of our 

 spruce, a large and growing proportion of which is being- 

 manufactured into pulp. For the pulp mill, cubic contents is 

 what we really want to know. Wh}^ not get that for all lum- 

 ber, and consider its adaptability and yield to the saw as a 

 matter of quahty? Measure the actual cubic contents of the 

 logs in your landing or your boom, and such of them as are to 

 be sawed judge of, or measure again if necessary, from that 

 point of view. Certainly that is more natural, and will when 

 established be more satisfactory, than the reversed practice 

 which is now in vogue. 



menrby a Neither is this suggestion without support, per- 

 caiiper rule. gQ^al or in experience. Some of the most practi- 

 cal and experienced men with whom I have talked hope to see 

 present practice torn up from the bottom and simple cubic 

 contents substituted, to be measured with a caliper lule. The 

 great advantage of this system is its simplicity, the certainty 

 with which it gets at a fairly accurate result. All that is 



