PRINCIPLES I?; SURVEY 47 



any later changes and inferences are guesswork and usually work 

 away from and not toward the truth. 



If properly prepared this man can see and estimate numbers, 

 sizes and other conditions and he can put down figures, etc., in fifty 

 columns in little more time than it takes to fill twenty-five. In fact 

 fifty columns, each asking one definite question, are more quickly 

 filled than fifteen columns in which more or less of a mixture of 

 information is asked, or in which matters of judgment are demanded 

 which require study on the ground. 



d. The printed form of description should ask the information 

 in definite questions, one point at a time and in one column ; it should 

 make the work as simple as possible, discount memory, avoid all 

 calculations and study and merely ask the field man to put down 

 what he actually sees. Inference and suggestions for the future 

 should be kept separate and not mixed up with recorded facts. 

 Whatever is not definitely asked for in the sheet, is certainly never 

 supplied regularly even by the best of field men. 



e. The man on the spot, if properly prepared, should be able 

 to make a few important suggestions as to the future, and future 

 treatment of the stand, and these should never be omitted. The man 

 in the office who plans from this report may never see this particular 

 stand. 



f . Wild woods are complex ; they vary from acre to acre and 

 a description such as is made by the German forester, where the 

 stand is pure, uniform, even aged, cared for, and where soil and 

 topography and origin and growth of this stand may have been 

 described several times before, does not suffice. . 



g. Forest estimates and descriptions are made under conditions 

 where it is difficult to control the work. The work, therefore, needs 

 well prepared, honest men. And even then it should be inspected 

 and verified all along ; the field sheets and maps should be examined 

 regularly. Men should be given ample time to do the work well ; 

 driving leads to mere thoughtless travel of the woods. 



3. The Description Sheet. 



In the past forms with ten or even less columns were common ; 

 today about forty columns are used in the complete sheet (merchant- 

 able timber and all) and the tendency is toward more columns. 



