A man who has been scaling in one of these types and who jumps 

 suddenly into the other should watch the logs cut out at the mill in order 

 to get a proper knowledge of all the different classes. Again, take the 

 iowland cedar; here we have a type of timber which as a rule is sound, 

 depending, of course, upon age, fire and other conditions, but as a rule 

 has very little defect excepting the characteristic hollow butt. On the 

 other hand, we might go only a short distance to a slope or rocky soil 

 and find just as large cedar, but upon being cut we find the butt is honey- 

 combed with dry-rot. This may extend through the entire tree and cause 

 a heavy breakage, splitting, etc. How far does the rot extend into the 

 wood in the first type compared with the second? As a rule the wood 

 of the first type is sound a short distance from the hole in the center of 

 the log, but in the second type the dry-rot may render the first or butt 

 log useless or cull. This type of cedar should be followed through the 

 shingle mill and the process of sawing observed closely. This is the only 

 way to learn to judge timber. Follow it through the mill, watch the dif- 

 ferent pieces cut up and see where the waste comes and what kinds of 

 defects may be utilized for the different lower grades, and what parts go 

 to the burner. 



What has been said here of Douglas fir and western red cedar is 

 equally true of the other species, such as western hemlock and Sitka 

 spruce. So much for scaling. We now come to another phase of our 

 Government timber sales; viz., the sale supervision. 



The sealer often is not only a sealer but also sale supervisor, or the 

 one who looks after different points of the contract, such as utilization, 

 fire prevention, marking of seed trees, etc. 



Silviculture has been defined by one forester as the science of estab- 

 lishing, growing and harvesting the timber crop. The sealer here has an 

 opportunity to determine which trees shall be "harvested" and which ones 

 shall be left as seed trees to "establish" the next crop. In order to do 

 this in the proper manner he must exercise good judgment and take into 

 consideration such factors as species, topography of surrounding country, 

 height of seed trees, and direction of the prevailing wind. All these fac- 

 tors must be considered in order to determine the number and location of 

 trees to be left. 



Another phase of sale supervision is utilization. This is also pretty 

 well laid down in the various contracts, but contracts are more or less 

 general and each sale presents numerous problems peculiar to that par- 

 ticular locality. Just what material should be taken and what should be 

 left is a problem for the logger as well as the Government. Proper 

 lengths must be measured in order to utilize the tree to best advantage. 

 Where ground rot is prevalent, "long-butting" must be done, and just 

 where to long-butt the tree is a question of judgment. 



The marking of logs for bucking should be done by someone familiar 

 with defects and what is required under the terms of the contract. If 

 such work is done by such transient labor as the ordinary bucker, as a 

 rule, the results are unsatisfactory. The desirable thing, it seems, is for 

 companies working under Government contracts to employ a competent 

 bull-bucker. This is a practice followed by'a number of the larger camps. 

 Close inspection of this phase of the work by the sale supervisor should 

 be made and free discussion upon questionable points made with the fore- 

 man, or bull-bucker, or both. 



In most questions of utilization the interests of the Government and 

 the logger are mutual, but it is a well-known fact that when lumber 

 prices are good the mills can cut a larger percentage of low-grade material 

 than when prices are poor. It follows, then, that the utilization question 

 presents more of a problem for all concerned when prices are poor than 

 when they are good. Oftentimes when the price of shingles is especially 

 good, and where cedar has been one of the principal species in the stand 

 the logger may let sub-contracts to small operators, who may follow the 



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