A SHORT-CUT METHOD OF CRUISING TIMBER. 

 By C. S- Judd. 



There was recently brought to my attention a short-cut method 

 of cruising timber or what might be called an easy method of 

 check-cruising which has frequently been used by a prominent 

 timberman on the Columbia River in the State of Washington. 



When purchasing stumpage on the basis of an estimate this 

 timberman has made use of this method on occasions when he 

 has desired a better check-cruise than merely his own ocular 

 estimate and has desired to base the results of his field work on 

 some tangible figures. 



The timber that he purchases is usually of good quality, uni- 

 form in character, and as a rule is found on accessible valley bot- 

 toms which are readily reached by wagon roads. He drives along 

 the road carefully scrutinizing the timber until he comes to a 

 spot where it appears to be of average density and average size. 

 Here he begins at any convenient tree picked out at random and 

 estimates and records its diameter outside the bark at breast 

 height. He then looks in all directions and mechanically select- 

 ing the nearest tree, irrespective of what direction it is found in 

 relation to the first tree, paces the distance between the first 

 and the second tree and records this distance and the diameter of 

 the second tree. 



The process of selecting the next nearest tree and recording 

 its diameter and its distance from the tree just measured is re- 

 peated until the diameters of about twenty-five trees have been 

 recorded. Each time the nearest tree is mechanically selected 

 unless, of course, it has already been measured. In other words, 

 the measurement of the diameter of any particular tree and of 

 the distance between it and a tree that has already been measured 

 is never repeated. 



The course that is taken in going from tree to tree has no ref- 

 erence to the points of the compass and may be described as a 

 series of connected straight lines, each line varying greatly in di- 

 rection according to the location of the trees. 



The timberman then goes back to his vehicle and carefully not- 



