SORTING AND STACKING. 265 



therefore, be conversant with the state of the supply of different 

 classes of material from other forests wliich compete with their own. 



(d) The rarer and more valuable any assortments, the greater 

 care must be bestowed on their conversion. This is especially 

 the case with oak and large coniferous timber. 



(e) Conversion of timber is often better effected when different 

 classes of workmen are employed for the different works. Thus, 

 in broad-leaved forests the work commences with the felling and 

 conversion of the large timber trees, and after all the best timber 

 is ready, what is left is converted into firewood and other inferior 

 assortments. In coniferous forests it is often customary and 

 advisable first to prepare the various cloven wares, such as 

 shingles, staves, &c., then the butts for sawmills and the logs, 

 and finally the firewood. 



(f) The forest manager should always ascertain the wishes of 

 timber-merchants, manufacturers and craftsmen of the neigh- 

 bourhood, and they may be encouraged to visit the felling-area for 

 this purpose, but he should be on his guard lest by following the 

 advice of any of them competition for the produce may be reduced. 



(g) Although it is justifiable, when the prices of wood are low 

 and wages high, to attempt only a very rough conversion of 

 firewood, or abandon converting it altogether, yet this should 

 never be done with valuable material. Any carelessness in its 

 preparation will do more injury to the forest revenue than paying 

 high wages for good work. 



(h) It is usually advantageous in forests where petty delin- 

 quencies are frequent, for the manuger to compete with the 

 thieves by selling better and cheaper material than they do, such 

 as hop-poles, bean- and pea-sticks, Christmas-trees, &c. 



Section VI. — Sorting and Stacking Converted Material. 

 1. Goicral Acctmnt. 

 The rough conversion of the felled trees must produce many 

 pieces of the same class, but of different qualities, shapes and 

 dimensions, especially among the timber where scarcely two 

 pieces are identically alike. As every producer keeps his wares 

 of different kinds and qualities apart, so each kind of converted 

 forest material should be separately arranged. In this way only 



