182 A MANUAL FOR NORTHERN WOODSMEN 



or employer, and it makes possible a close acquaintance with the 

 trees which shows up the defects. No cruiser sees the timber alike 

 every day. His judgment varies as the man himself varies each 

 day. The caliper eliminates this trouble, as it always measures the 

 trees just as they are. 



Care should be taken to get the smallest diameter at the base ; 

 many trees, especially on slopes, are flat and measure several inches 

 more one way than another. Trees that show much defect are an 

 unknown quantity and should be thrown out entirely. 



Two active men will get over a half-section in a day, and do it 

 well if the timber is not too small and the undergrowth is not too 

 dense. 



Sometimes I am called upon to give a rough estimate of a tract 

 in a hurry. I handle this in the same way that I have shown above, 

 except that I do not use the calipers, but guess at the diameters as 

 well as at the length. In this manner one can get over the ground 

 as fast as the assistant can tally the trees, and we usually estimate 

 about 12 lots per day under this system. Of course the results are 

 not so accurate as when the caliper is used. 



The above is illuminating in many directions, suggestive 

 of varying conditions and requirements, and varying 

 methods of treatment in response. Further under this 

 subdivision there will be included only a reference to the 

 "horseshoe" plan of cruising employed by many Lake 

 States and Southern cruisers. Diagrams of a northeast 



quarter- section and of a forty illustrate the plan of travel, 

 so designed as to reach into all parts of the subdivision 

 concerned. Along this route the cruiser commonly covers 

 by detail estimate a strip 50 paces wide, which gives a 

 large percentage of the whole area. 



5. The field of ocular estimate is to be found especially 



