THE USE BOOK. 99 



execution of the timber-sale contract should be marked for cut- 

 ting in the same manner as the remainder of the timber. 



Marking the timber for cutting is the most important part of 

 any sale. If possible, a forest assistant should be assigned to 

 the work. Timber should be marked when it can be done most 

 economically. The work should not, however, be done too far 

 jri advance, and the cut-over area should be watched for mis- 

 takes.. In no case should timber be marked outside the area 

 designated in the contract. In a sale for a definite amount, only 

 timber enough to yield that amount should be marked. The 

 marking should be done thoroughly, and no groups of mature 

 trees should be left on the area unless so isolated that the pur- 

 chaser can not reasonably be required to log them. 



Forest officers will not mark for cutting any witness trees or__ 

 a rr^tree blazed to mark the lines of a Government survey. The 

 destruction of such trees by anyone is, under the act of June 10, 

 1906, a serious offense. 



The following instructions for marketing are general, and can 

 not all be applied in any specific case. Modified to meet local 

 conditions, they should serve as a basis for marking in all sales 

 and in free use. 



All mature and over-mature trees should be marked, since 

 they have practically finished growing. Unless needed for seed, 

 all trees which show such defects as punk knots, spike tops, bad 

 crooks, low forks, fire scars, cat faces, or frost cracks should be 

 marked. The officer doing the marking should not be unreason- 

 able in requiring purchasers to take defective trees, but as a 

 general rule those which will yield one merchantable log should 

 be marked. 



An approximate diameter limit, JjL^one is givejj in the con- 

 tract, should be flexible Thrifty, young, rapidly growing trees 

 of desirable species should not be marked even if larger than 

 the stated diameter. Defective trees of any usable size should 

 be marked. 



Where the danger of windfall is great, the removal of a few 

 trees only should be allowed. This rule should also be followed 

 where a dense forest cover is needed for the protection of a 

 watershed or to prevent erosion. The probable harm from too 



