SCALING PRACTICE 149 



there is a variety of practice. Some sealers read uniformly 

 from the inch nearest the exact diameter ; some disregard 

 all fractional inches and take the next inch below; some 

 vary the practice according to length and taper of the 

 individual logs. 



Probably, the most just practice to follow, as a general 

 rule, is to throw off all fractions of inches up to and in- 

 cluding one half inch, and to read fractions over one half 

 as of the inch above. This practice, in logs under 16 

 inches in diameter, gives results from 7 to 10 per cent 

 greater than if all fractions of inches are thrown out. 



3. Culling for Defects. Defects in logs consist in irregu- 

 larity of form, in shakiness, and in decay. Knots are not 

 properly considered as defects, but as a factor in general 

 quality. All these matters vary with the species, with the 

 locality, and with the individual log. They are matters 

 which have to be dealt with locally and individually, and 

 little can be written that is likely to be of service and not 

 liable to do more harm than good. 



The curved or sweeping form is a common defect in 

 logs. Sealers frequently have rules for allowing for it, 

 but these differ so widely that they cannot be transcribed 

 here. (See page 145 for the result of this defect in logs of 

 different sizes.) 



Irregular crooks in logs cannot be classified. A man can 

 sight along a log and estimate what proportion of it can be 

 utilized by the straight cuts of a saw, and this guided by 

 mill experience is the only way of dealing with the matter. 



Seams caused by frost and wind form another class of 

 defect, more frequent in northern woods and in trees grown 

 on exposed places. Sometimes these are shoal and have 

 little or no effect on saw product. Sometimes they reach 

 nearly or quite to the heart of a log. 



A fairly general practice on northern spruce cut for saw- 

 mill use is to discount 10 per cent for straight, deep seams, 

 and for twisting seams up to 33 per cent, or even to throw 

 out the whole log. 



It is to be remarked that these defects have, when reck- 

 oned in percentage, a far greater eftcct on small logs than 

 on large ones. Thus a three-inch sweep in a 15-inch, 12- 



