108 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



the end of the supply of first growth timber is in sight, 

 a different attitude is taken. Many concerns, especially 

 paper companies with large sums invested in their 

 manufacturing plants and costly machinery, are taking 

 measures to derive a sustained yield of timber from 

 their forest holdings. That is, by cutting each year no 

 more than the forest actually grows, their supply of raw 

 material will be continuous. The German forests have 

 long been cut upon this principle and as a result of 

 their careful methods the annual yield of saw timber 

 has vastly increased during the past fifty years. Studies 

 of this kind require scientific methods, so trained 

 foresters are largely replacing the old timber cruiser, 

 whose experience and judgment were his stock in trade. 

 "Crnising" the Forest. Let it not be thought that 

 the young fledgling forester can beat the cruiser at 

 his own game, for he cannot. A lifetime spent in 

 the forest has trained the faculties of the old "land 

 looker*' until his judgment and intuition are un- 

 canny. He can find his way without a compass 

 through the thickest forest. He can trace old 

 boundary lines and discover old corners where the 

 young forester sees nothing. He can pace distances 

 with exactness, estimate heights and diameters with the 

 greatest accuracy and when it comes to allowing for 

 hidden defects in a tree, the college-trained man is a 

 tyro beside him. Such an eye and such judgment will 

 come only after years of experience and upon his own 

 ground his practical experience is far superior to 

 theoretical training. However, take the cruiser outside 

 his own region and his experience is useless ; conditions 

 are different, the trees are shorter or more tapering 

 and his judgment is at fault. Here is where the use of 

 a system comes into play, for a well-trained forester can 



