222 FOREST VALUATION 



223. Quality of Timber. To judge of the quality of the 

 timber, attempts have been made to grade logs, according to 

 the relative value of their contents, into perhaps four classes. 

 This is actually done in Puget Sound where a well-established 

 log market exists and logs are purchased on the basis of the log 

 grade or class. The difficulty with such a basis ordinarily is 

 that logs vary in value from several sources; knots or sap in 

 young timber, rot and wind shake in old trees. A dividing 

 line or standard is not sufficiently definite, nor, except under 

 the conditions cited above, are logs ever sold on this basis. 

 They are paid for at a flat rate, according to the average value 

 of the contents. The only recourse of the cruiser is to attempt 

 to size up the quality of the trees by their size, apparent age, 

 clearness or freedom from knots, and soundness or freedom from 

 interior defects. With a knowledge of the average per cent 

 of grades produced in mills cutting similar timber, the cruiser 

 estimates the per cent of each grade that the stand will cut. 

 Should the timber be older, larger or better than the average 

 stands, he increases his estimate of the higher grades to corre- 

 spond. 



224. Reports. The information which should be given in 

 a satisfactory report on a tract of timber is shown under the 

 following heads. 



I. Area. 



1. Description or location of specific tract. 



2. Area. 



3. Subdivisions of area. 



a. Blanks. 



Water. 

 Barren. 

 Burns. 



b. Reproduction or immature timber. 



c. Forest types. 



d. Age classes, where distinguishable. 



