MANUAL LABOUR. 163 



Timber may be measured by its dimensions, and the 

 diameter of different pieces may be used as a unit. Such a 

 measurement of his work is more easily appreciated and 

 calculated by the woodcutter than when the cubic foot is the 

 unit for measurement, and it is also a fairer measure of the 

 work done than the latter. It has not yet been decided whether 

 it is more profitable, or not, for the forest-owner to measure 

 the work for payment by the diameter of the piece, or by the 

 cubic foot, but experiments made in Saxony are in favour of 

 the former system, which is much the commoner of the two. 

 Wherever logs are sold by their length and the diameter of 

 the smaller end, these latter should also be taken as the units 

 of work. 



Whatever unit of work may be chosen, the pay-unit must 

 now be calculated, and naturally this varies more or less with 

 the time and locality, and depends chiefly on : the supply of 

 labour ; the extent and variability of the demands for labour 

 in a district for manufactures, agriculture, public works, 

 traffic, etc. ; the actual cost of the necessaries of life ; the 

 value of money measured in commodities ; the economic 

 condition of the people ; the inclination of workmen for forest 

 work, etc. Different measures may be taken to rectify the 

 greater or less variability of the circumstances which affect 

 wages. Either a permanent table of average wages is 

 compiled, the wages being increased or diminished when 

 necessary, or new tables of wages may be prepared annu- 

 ally, according to the price of labour. In the latter case a 

 written agreement to hold good for a year between the 

 forest-owner and the workman must be made, and signed 

 by both parties. 



Besides the fact that it really furthers economy to secure 

 fair wages to the workman, it is also clearly in the interest of 

 the forest-owner, as contented workmen will avoid waste in 

 felling and converting timber, and damage to young growth. 

 Care for the welfare of the forest depends more or less directly 

 on the woodcutter's work, and the latter will always turn the 

 rate of pay to his own advantage. The amount of care he 

 takes of the forest will be always the less, the lower his wages 

 are driven by the competition of other workmen. In forest 



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