I08 LOGGING 



width, a practice now recognized by the Courts. A large per- 

 centage of construction lumber is surfaced, and the basis of 

 measurement is the size of the rough board from which it is 

 manufactured. In many regions the required thickness of 

 i-inch lumber surfaced on one or two sides is || of an inch, 

 although in some sections it is || or -j| of an inch. The widths 

 vary with the character of the product and the width of 

 the board; for example, the size of a so-called 2-inch by 4- 

 inch scantling, surfaced on one side and one edge, which is 

 standard with manufacturers, is if inches by 3I inches, while a 

 2-inch by 12-inch plank, surfaced on one side and one edge, is 

 if inches by 11^ inches. One-inch flooring and like products 

 are usually surfaced to ^ | of an inch in thickness, and 2 j inches, 

 3I inches and 5I inches in width, exclusive of the tongue. The 

 buyer pays for the rough lumber from which the finished product 

 was made, namely, for a 3-inch, 4-inch or 6-inch rough board, 

 and the purchase of 1000 feet of such material secures a quantity 

 which covers 750, 812 and 916 square feet, respectively, if there 

 is no waste in laying. 



The reasons which have led to the custom are the saving in 

 timber effected by the manufacturer, and the impossibility of 

 cutting all boards of exactly the same width and thickness. 

 The latter would be useless, even if possible, because of the 

 uneven shrinkage in seasoning of boards of a given size, and 

 lumber scant in thickness is fully as serviceable for the majority 

 of purposes as it would be if manufactured full thickness. 



Lumber less than ^1 of an inch in thickness and veneers are 

 usually sold surface measure. Lumber quotations made on the 

 basis of the thousand feet are often assumed to refer to board 

 feet, which they do not unless so specified. 



LOG RULES ^ 



Contents of logs are chiefly calculated in board feet according 

 to some specified log rule. Many different rules are in use in the 



1 For a detailed discussion of log rules see Bulletin 36, U. S. Forest Service, 

 The Woodsman's Handbook, by Henry Solon Graves and E. A. Ziegler; also 

 Forest Mensuration, by Henry Solon Graves. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 

 1906. 



