212 FORESTRY AND TIMBER 



Log Measure (The Woodsman's Handbook) 



In the United States and Canada logs are most commonly measured 

 in board feet. In small transactions standing timber is often sold by 

 the lot or for a specified amount per acre. Standing trees which are to 

 be used for lumber are occasionally sold by the piece. Hoop poles 

 and other small wood are sold by the hundred or thousand. Ties and 

 poles are sold by the piece ; piles and mine props by the piece or by 

 linear feet, the price varying in piece sales according to specifications 

 as to diameter, length, and grade. 



Firewood and wood cut into short bolts, as for small pulp-wood, ex- 

 celsior-wood, spool-wood, novelty-wood, and heading, is ordinarily 

 measured in cords. 



In certain sections of the East it has been the custom to use a stand- 

 ard log as a unit of measure. In the Adirondacks a common unit of 

 measure is the 19-inch standard, or, as it is often called, the " market." 

 In this case the standard log is 19 inches in diameter at the small end 

 inside the bark and 13 feet long. In New Hampshire the Blodgett 

 standard is in common use. This unit is a cylinder 16 inches in diam- 

 eter and 1 foot long. There were formerly other standards in use, 

 such as the 24-inch standard once used in New England, and the 

 22-inch standard in use in certain parts of Canada and northern New 

 York. The standard measure is decreasing in use. 



The cubic foot is the best unit for measuring the volume of logs. 

 It has gained a foothold in this country, and will unquestionably be 

 the unit of the future. Even now, red-cedar pencil-wood, wagon 

 stock, and other valuable hardwood material is occasionally sold by 

 the cubic foot in certain sections of the East. The unit is used by a few 

 companies in Maine for measuring pulp- wood. A special commission 

 on the measurement of logs has recently recommended to the legisla- 

 ture of Maine that the cubic foot be adopted as a statute unit of 

 measurement. 



The cubic foot has for a long time been used for the measurement 

 of square timber. Round logs are often measured in terms of cubic 

 feet, but the plan is to determine the contents of the square which can 

 be cut from the log, rather than the full contents, including slabs. The 

 cubic foot is in common use in the measurement of precious woods 

 which are imported from the tropics. 



