A Comparative Study of Log Rules. 391 



1903.* This rule appeared to be based on principles entirely 

 sound ; and when compared with other rules, it seemed to have 

 escaped the errors which are often so noticeable. It was de- 

 cided, therefore, to test the "Universal" Rule in a way which 

 would prove its accuracy when applied to logs of various dimen- 

 sions, and afford a comparison with some other rule in com- 

 mon use. 



The opportunity came when a small portable mill was found 

 in operation not far from Ithaca. Three students* were assigned 

 to a study involving a test of the "Universal" Rule and the Scrib- 

 ner Rule. The method consisted in scaling numbered sound 

 logs of different sizes by both log rules, and then comparing 

 these results with the actual product of those same logs, when 

 measured as lumber. In this way it was possible to discover 

 whether the differences were constant, and if so in what degree, 

 so that some definite conclusions could be drawn as to the 

 relative accuracy of the rules when compared with the mill- 

 cut. While it might be argued by some that a portable saw- 

 mill hardly affords ideal conditions under which to study a 

 problem of this nature, let it be said that the logs that are 

 bought and sold in New York state to-day are more likely to 

 be sawed at a portable mill than at a large stationary mill. The 

 day of big lumbering operations in New York, except for a 

 few in the Adirondack Mountains, is past. A great deal of 

 work in other sections of the state, where woodlots rather than 

 large forests are the rule, is done by portable saw-mills. And 

 they are operating in some remarkably good pieces of timber, 

 woodlots that have been protected and preserved for two gen- 

 erations or more, where stands of 25,000 feet, B. M., per acre 

 are occasionally met with.* 



In the case now under consideration, the mill was a small 

 one, with a 52-inch rotary saw cutting a kerf of ^ inch. The 

 logs were mostly White Pine and Hemlock, although a few 

 hardwoods were also included. The logs were sawed into inch- 

 boards or two-inch planks, the proportion of the latter being ap- 



* See also Forestry Quarterly, Vol. Ill, p. 339. 



*Messrs. H. B. Steer, C. S. Hahn and P. C. King. 



*The stand per acre in the present instance averaged 25,000 bd. ft. The 

 writer knows of one acre of nearly pure pine in New York State, that 

 was cut a few years ago, yielding 50,000 bd. ft. 



