THE PRODUCE OF WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. 101 



money than if valuable trees are used to decorate trees of inferior 

 quality. It is often asserted that the good timber aids the disposal 

 of the bad, but this is a fallacy I need hardly refute. Every practical 

 forester is aware that timber will realise more money when arranged 

 according to size and quality, than if clean grown trees are mixed 

 with rough blemished timber. Having arranged the lots adjacent to 

 good roads, the next thing to be done is to have them numbered 

 and measured. In regard to measuring timber, I may remark that 

 the system generally adopted is often fallacious. If a tree tapers 

 gradually it is considered sufficient to girth it in the centre, but the 

 true contents cannot be ascertained with less than three girths. In 

 order to measure correctly with a centre girth, the tree ought to be 

 cut in two where the small end is half the circumference of the butt 

 end. This, however, entails extra labour, and depreciates the value 

 of the timber, and consequently the trees are invariably kept their 

 full length. A forester who measures with one girth will often 

 increase the contents of his trees by allowing the purchaser eight or 

 ten feet off the small end. The more a tree tapers beyond half the 

 circumference of the butt, the more will the vendor loose by measuring 

 with a centre girth. One girth is invariably in favour of the buyer, 

 who naturally adheres as much as possible to that system of measur- 

 ing. If he pretends not to understand any other system, the best 

 plan is to measure the timber in two or three lengths, which is the 

 most correct way. The other day I measured a larch tree which 

 tapered gradually, with a centre girth, and at 20 feet long the tree 

 contained 1J foot more than when measured to its full length of 30 

 feet. I measured the same tree with three girths, and the contents 

 were increased 4 feet. I then measured it in two lengths of 15 feet 

 each, and this gave me 1 foot more than with three girths, and 5 

 feet more than with one girth. These hints are sufficient to show 

 the necessity of measuring carefully when selling timber at so much 

 per foot. 



In selling timber privately it is difficult to meet with a purchaser 

 who will give full value for the whole of the lots. He will regulate 

 his price by the local demand for the sort of timber offered for sale. 

 In one district a certain description of produce may be comparatively 

 worthless, while in another it is the most profitable crop that can be 

 grown. If there is no demand for any certain class of timber, it is 

 a wise provision to make inquiries in regard to a profitable market 

 previous to cutting the crop. When this is not attended to, the 

 vendor must necessarily sell at a sacrifice to a purchaser who pro- 



