152 Forestry Quarterly. 



This automatically exempts from the sale valid claims and yet 

 it is the policy to examine all claims within any sale area, the 

 status of which are at all doubtful, since they would if continued 

 actually interfere with the National Forest interests. During the 

 advertisement of timber, it has occasionally happened that mining 

 claims have been located in order to hold up the purchaser. 

 Therefore, it has been the custom to cut the timber on these 

 clearly invalid claims without special examination, provided they 

 have been located after the initiation of the sale. Insect-infested 

 timber, or fire-killed timber on unsurveyed "claims" can, under 

 certain circumstances be cut and paid for pending the determi- 

 nation of ownership. 



2. No timber will be cut or removed until it has been paid for. 



Payment must not only be made in advance of removal, but 

 also in advance of felling or cutting. Hence the officer in charge 

 must keep close tab on the amount cut in advance of scaling, to 

 check when payments should be periodically called for. During 

 the business depression of 1907 cutting was allowed in advance of 

 payment as a relief measure, but this concession will probably not 

 be allowed again. The word "removal" in sales contracts has 

 been interpreted to mean removal from the forest so far as cost, 

 danger, or damage to federal interests is concerned, but not 

 necessarily physical removal if the operation of removal could be 

 completed without the attention of local officers. 



3. No timber will be removed until it has been scaled, measured, or 

 counted by a Forest officer. 



There is some chance of misunderstanding this clause since 

 scaling or measurement might be in the woods, at the skidways 

 or landing or at the mill yard. Where entirely practicable and 

 where it costs but little more scaling in the woods has the advan- 

 tage of enabling at the time of scaling, a careful and systematic 

 woods inspection. Scaling at the skidways is the usual practice 

 in most sales. Where logs are scaled at the mill, especially in 

 small sales there is danger of sawing in advance of scaling where 

 the purchaser is dishonest. Such thefts have occasionally been 

 detected. After scaling of course all logs are serially numbered 

 with soft black crayon, and are stamped "U. S." Culls are so 

 designated with crayon. 



