ALLOWANCE FOR BARK. 101 



taken as sufficient, it is not so in most cases, as we 

 have more than once proved. Then, again, an allow- 

 ance must be made for the bark, and this in oak, ash, 

 and elm is usually taken at one inch from each foot of 

 quarter girth. Some prefer a sliding scale ranging 

 from \ to i-Jr inch, but I inch may in practice be 

 taken as satisfactory. The height in most cases may 

 be ta^en by a jointed rod, 20 feet in length ; or in the 

 case of very high trees one or two may be felled and 

 measured, which will enable the forester to judge of 

 the rest. It is possible, of course, to take the height 

 by the sextant, but this we pass by, as being beyond the 

 power of the ordinary forester or agent. In measur- 

 ing felled timber the method is to take the length of 

 the entire tree, or, if the length is divided, according 

 to size and shape of each portion, and measuring back 

 to obtain the exact half; here the girth is taken with 

 a string, the string is then folded into four, and laid 

 along the rule, which will give the quarter girth in 

 inches. Here it will be noticed no allowance for 

 fall is required, as the girth in the middle has been 

 taken. 



In the case of a larch plantation, we have found it 

 best to assume that all the trees are 20 feet in height, 

 then by taking the girth breast-high and making no 

 allowance for fall, the saleable contents will be ap- 

 proximately found. 



Now it will be seen that this method of quarter 

 girth divides the waste between the buyer and the 

 seller. If the die square be taken, a large quanity of 

 saleable waste will be obtained, and which would be 

 lost to the seller; on the other hand, if the full con- 



