TIMBER CRUISING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



271 



topography, streams and 50-foot contours, and the stumpage value of the timber is arrived at by determining the 

 cost of logging the tract, and the value of the logs at the mill. 



The estimating of timber is far from being a mechanical undertaking. Concerning his methods, Mr. Billings 

 says, "To be a successful estimator of timber in the Puget Sound country requires much experience in actually 

 logging said timber. A person should have had experience in felling and sawing into proper log lengths and measuring 

 same after the hearts have been exposed, and carefully examining all the different indications of defect which 

 appear on the surface of the tree, and which can be detected only by 

 a person having knowledge of said signs, which indicate the condition 

 of the interior. I have had seventeen years' experience in estimat- 

 ing the standing timber and have been able to check my estimates with 

 the actual cut on many thousands of acres. I have compiled a table 

 of the contents of standing trees which have several butts based upon 

 a butt measurement four feet above the ground and under the bark, 

 from thousands of measurements of different trees having different 

 lengths and tapers. All measurements were made upon windfall 

 timber or trees felled and cut up or sawed into log lengths in the log- 

 ging camps. The top diameter of the first 32-foot log in very large 

 trees is generally reduced about 14 inches for the butt dimension. 

 Taper on each log above may be as much as 6 inches. 



" Nearly all the different 

 stands of timber differ owing to 

 soil, exposure and altitude. 

 Some have much longer and 

 smoother bodies with less taper 

 and a greater per cent of No. 1 

 logs. All this must be deter- 

 mined by the estimator when on 

 the work. 



"I do not pretend to know 

 all about the work. Ten years 



MATURED DOUGLAS FIR 

 Stands of this age begin to decline in vigor and are ultimately 

 replaced by hemlock and cedar unless logged or burned. 



MORE YOUNG DOUGLAS FIR 



In this dense st ar.d the trees average about forty 



inches on butts, three feet above the ground. 



ago I considered I knew more 

 about it than I do now. I have 

 since concluded that there is much 

 yet to learn." 



The character of the stands 

 requiring this detailed estimate 

 may be judged by the accompany- 

 ing photographs, which were taken 

 by Mr. Billings on the various 

 plots. There was found to be a 

 total stand of 41,611,000 board 

 feet of timber on this one section, 

 or an average of 65,000 feet per 

 acre, valued, on the stump, at $92,974.20 on the basis of stumpage 

 prices varying from $3.00 per thousand feet for No. 1 fir logs, to 50 

 cents per thousand for hemlock. 



Mr. Billing's work is an example of the highest type of skilled 

 timber estimating in which the cruiser combines the system and routine 

 employed by a technically trained forester with knowledge of the 

 character and defects of the timber. This report and the accompany- 

 ing photographs were obtained through the courtesy of Mr. E. G. Griggs, 

 of Tacoma, a vice-president of the American Forestry Association. 



GIANT RED CEDAR 

 This tree is seven feet in diameter and is in 

 a mixed stand with hemlock. Note typical 

 undergrowth of brake. 



