102 



LOG SCALING FOR BOARD MEASURE 



This per cent cannot be varied from log to log according to value of 

 contents to favor the millman, or to location of log to favor the logger, 

 but is arbitrarily set at an average figure applicable to all logs of a given 

 species. Different per cents are permitted for species having different 

 average values, the greater the value the lower the per cent of sound 

 lumber accepted. As between the logger and the millman, the use of 

 the board-foot scale favors the latter, but its application regardless of 

 grades of lumber in the log is a concession to the logger. The rejection 

 of cull logs is a concession to the millman but the adoption of a fixed 

 percentage for each species simplifies administration and aids the logger, 

 who does not have to determine the profit in a log but only the cost of 

 logging. Contract loggers are favored, then, by a cubic basis, no 

 deductions for cull, and reduction of logging costs by leaving inaccess- 

 ible logs in the woods. The manufacturer considers the additional 

 factor of profit or value of the log, which the logger himself would 

 have to consider if he were selling his logs. Only by determining aver- 

 age total costs and average values for a given logging operation can 

 the actual specifications of a merchantable log be determined, and the 

 average agreed upon. In the U. S. Forest Service the custom is quite 

 widely adopted that logs of the more valuable species must scale 33^ 

 per cent of their sound contents, and those of inferior species, 50 per 

 cent to be merchantable. 



The limits of merchantability will vary widely in every region, unless standard- 

 ized as is the case in the Pacific Northwest. The average conditions for different 

 regions for the year 1917 are indicated below: 



These limits apply to saw logs. For pulpwood, bolts are taken down to between 

 3 and 4 inches. 



Tests on spruce logs in the Adirondacks showed that 5-inch logs had a relative 

 value per board foot of 56 per cent compared with 11-inch logs at 100 per cent, 

 while the relative value of 20-inch logs was 126 per cent.^ 



The following legal decision is interesting: 

 'A merchantable log is one that contains sufficient lumber to make it profitable 



