102 THE LOG OF A TIMBER CRUISER 



here to advantage and as we were all pretty tired at 

 the time Frazer decided to spend a week or ten days 

 in the locality, going over the O'Brien timber sale 

 area and gathering tree growth data. During this 

 whole period the rain obligingly held off, nor did it 

 begin again till we had moved to another camp 

 higher in the range. 



Growth study, a science in itself, we found most 

 interesting. The work involved counting the annual 

 rings on each tree stump left by the wood-cutters and 

 a measurement of the stump height. From these 

 figures, compiled for a large number of trees, the 

 size of a tree at any given age can be determined, 

 or conversely one can estimate how many years it 

 would take a yellow pine or Douglas fir to attain, on 

 the average, a specified diameter. An examination 

 of "reproduction" was also made by which the av- 

 erage height of a seedling at various ages was esti- 

 mated. 



While stopping here we almost lost Bert, a calam- 

 ity which would have changed the whole aspect of 

 things for us for the rest of the season. 



The trouble all started with O'Brien's hogs. 

 They developed from the very start a detestable 

 penchant for hanging around camp. And though 

 Bert was able to keep them at bay during the day, at 

 night they made sleep impossible with their snort- 

 ings and gurglings and squealings and the loss of 

 self-respect we felt at their propinquity. 



Every evening after supper we would gather 



