CHAPTER XIII. 



TIMBER MEASURING. 



SQUARE OP QUARTER GIRTH 

 MEASUREMENT. 



THERE are various methods by which the contents of timber 

 may be measured ; but the method in general use for 

 measuring timber in the round in this country is that known 

 as the square of quarter girth measurement (or simply, as 

 quarter girth measurement). 



Stated briefly, the method is to take a quarter of the 

 girth in inches at the centre of an evenly tapering tree; 

 make an allowance for bark ; and then square this (under 

 bark) quarter girth ; divide by 144 to bring to feet ; and 

 then multiply by the length of the tree in feet. 



This method is sometimes known as the quarter 

 girth measure with 144 divisor in order to distinguish 

 it from a method often adopted by the railway com- 

 panies, and known as the quarter girth measure with 

 113 divisor; which latter method gives the true con- 

 tents of a tree ; whereas, the contents as computed 

 by the former method, are very much less than the true 

 contents. 



Now, when measuring large timber, as, for instance, when 

 it is sold at so much per foot, it is not usually the custom to 

 measure, as timber, anything that is less than 6 inches 

 quarter girth under bark (or sometimes 5 inches according to 



264 



