CHAPTER XIV 



FELLING AND MEASUREMENT OF TIMBER 



ON a large estate it is best to have a staff of woodcutters 

 who are given permanent employment, as temporary men 

 may not take the same interest in their work, and are then 

 not likely to do it so well as the home staff. On small estates, 

 where permanent work cannot be given, only experienced 

 woodcutters should be employed. Whether the timber is 

 sold standing or felled it should be cut by men employed by 

 the owner, except perhaps where the area is to be clear cut, 

 in which case the purchaser may be allowed to employ his 

 own men, as they do not have much chance of doing harm. 



Woodcutters should be paid by piecework for all ordinary 

 work, but when they are cutting standards over natural 

 regeneration or are thinning young woods, where special care 

 is required, payment should be made by the day, as other- 

 wise sufficient care will not be taken to prevent damage to 

 standing trees. 



Fellings in uneven aged woods, such as those managed 

 under the selection method, where the trees are of different 

 height, are always more difficult to carry out without damage 

 than in woods of even age. 



Fellings should take place in winter, as timber felled at this 

 period is more durable than that felled in summer. The work 

 is usually done with axe and saw combined, there being far 

 less wastage than when the axe alone is used. 



No amount of reading will enable the young woodman to 

 cut a tree, and no description will therefore be attempted here 

 as to the method of felling. Practical experience must be 



