No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 313 



time the owners are often at a great disadvantage in arrang- 

 ing a sale, because tliey do not Icnow tlie amount of timber 

 standing on tlieir lots. 



In preparing the tal)les which follow, pains were taken to 

 make them as accurate as the nature of the tree growth will 

 permit, and also as general in their application as possible. 

 Where it was practicable to do so, the felled trees, after being 

 measured, were followed through the mill, and the amount 

 of lumber sawed out was ascertained. The data thus ob- 

 tained furnished a means of reducing the work to a thor- 

 oughly practical basis, and of checking any possible errors 

 of calculation. 



The tables give the average volume of individual white 

 pine trees of different diameters and heights. As various 

 units prevail in different parts of the Commonwealth for 

 measuring the contents of logs and trees, it has been neces- 

 sary to make a table for each of the principal units employed. 



In Bristol and Plymouth counties, for example, %-inch 

 boards are the standard unit among local lumbermen ; and 

 therefore one of the tables gives the volumes of standing trees 

 in %-inch boards. Throughout the northern section of the 

 Commonwealth the contents of the trees and wood lots are 

 usually estimated in cords ; and Table IT. is based on this 

 unit. The regular lioard foot, however, is the unit most 

 widely employed, and it was used in constructing Table III. 

 Since the measurements of the same trees were used in pre- 

 paring the tables, with uniform height of stump and cutting 

 limit in the top, the figures in the different tal)les can be 

 readily compared and the relations of the different units of 

 measurement established. 



Tables IV. and V. are of more scientific than practical 

 value. They give the volumes, in cubic feet, both outside 

 and inside the bark, of the merchantable portion of the trees. 



