170 ON DIFFEKENT MODES OF DISPOSING OF 



gained by this system, as the same object may be attained by selling 

 the whole together, and allowing the purchaser to leave the oak lots 

 until spring. Our practice here is to thin the woods where the 

 underwood has been previously sold; and we always begin to pre- 

 pare for timber sales as soon as sufficient underwood has been 

 cleared to enable us to proceed with marking the trees. This is 

 done by myself and two assistants in the following manner: — I 

 first mark the trees with a racing-iron, and one assistant follows with 

 a bill-hook with which he shaves off part of the bark, in readiness 

 for the second assistant, who numbers the trees with white paint. 

 When there are more than one lot in the same plantation, we 

 distinguish them by means of capital letters. For instance, we 

 begin by marking the letter A on several of the first trees in the 

 first lot, and then proceed to number from 1 to 50, or any other 

 number fixed upon for lot 1. Towards the end of the lot a few 

 more trees are marked with the letter A, to indicate where A 

 finishes and B begins. Lot 2 is numbered on the opposite side of 

 the trees, and several of the first and last trees of the lot are marked 

 E — the numbers again running from 1 to any number fixed upon. 

 Lot 3 is marked C on the same side of the trees as lot 1, and lot 4 

 is marked D on the same side of the tree as lot 2, and so on with 

 all the lots to the end of the plantation. Sometimes the timber 

 varies considerably in size and quality, and when such is the case, 

 it is necessary to have one or more lots of small inferior timber in 

 each place. As these lots run through all the other lots of good 

 timber, the distinguishing letter ought to be marked on every tree, 

 so as to avoid confusion when the trees are being cut. We dis- 

 tinguish the lots in the catalogues in the following manner : — 



Lot. Great Penwood. 



1. Fifty fine oaks, 



2. Sixty navy oaks, 



3. Kinety small oaks, . 



Another system of marking often adopted in the south is to carry 

 on consecutive mimbers to the end of each plantation. Thus, lot 1 

 would be numbered 1 to 50; lot 2, numbered on the opposite side 

 of the tree, would begin with 51 and end with 110, and so on 

 through all the lots. The system of distinguishing the lots by 

 figures instead of letters is not understood in the south, and is 

 seldom adopted. It is, however, a convenient method of mark- 

 ing trees, especially if there are many lots in one plantation. It is 



