150 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 



times as long as the stave, the length varying with the 

 different sizes of the barrels. 



Where a wagon shop is near by, it is often profitable to 

 cut smaller second-growth timber into wagon axles, bol- 

 sters, and wagon tongues, and sell small trees of elm and 

 birch for hubs. 



Lumber. Wherever a lack of pulp mills and other 

 factories makes it impossible or unprofitable to utilize the 

 larger logs in any better way, they can always be sawed 

 into lumber. Lumber is a general term for all kinds of 

 boards and timber shaped with the saw. 



Lumber in our country is generally, but not always, 

 cut in lengths of even feet, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, 

 etc., the most common lengths being twelve, fourteen, and 

 sixteen feet, and in widths of even inches. 



In thickness lumber varies usually by a quarter of an 

 inch, and ranges from one half to twenty inches ; the thinner 

 pieces, one quarter to one and three quarters inches thick, 

 being called boards (planks in the South) ; those two to four 

 inches thick are planks ; and thicker material is timber. 



Lumber is measured by the superficial foot, which is a 

 board one inch thick, twelve inches wide, and twelve inches 

 long, so that a board one inch thick, six inches wide, and 

 twelve feet long measures six feet board measure, 

 written six feet B.M., and a plank two inches thick, 

 twelve inches wide, and sixteen feet long contains thirty- 

 two feet B.M. 



