LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR EEGION. 17 



reduced by 10 per cent. With a like experience during the second 

 year the rate for the following year is reduced by a similar amount. 

 This act resembles that of Washington in that employees are exempt 

 from assessments whenever the surplus in the fund has assumed 

 certain proportions. The act has been in force for such a short 

 period that it is not possible to state what it will cost the employers 

 on the average. 



TAXATION. 



The general property tax system is in vogue in Oregon and 

 Washington, and, with few exceptions, all property, both real and 

 personal, is taxed for State and local purposes. The levy varies con- 

 siderably by districts in a given year, and in a given district from 

 year to year, ranging from 20 to 30 mills in the suburban districts 

 where logging operations are located. 



The tax on logging operations, exclusive of their standing timber, 

 amounts to from 3 to 5 cents per thousand feet of output. 



SCALING AND GRADING. 



In Oregon and Washington the Scribner and Spaulding log rules 

 are in general use, the former being the preferred rule in Wash- 

 ington, the latter being almost universally used in Oregon. The 

 Scribner rule is used by the Puget Sound Log Scaling and Grading 

 Bureau, the Spaulding rule is the standard rule of the Columbia 

 River Log Scaling and Grading Bureau. The Forest Service in 

 national forest timber sales uses the Scribner Decimal C rule, which 

 is a slight modification of the old Scribner rule. 



In Oregon and Washington logs are always measured at the small 

 end inside the bark, unless some other arrangement is agreed to by 

 both parties to the sale. Logs are usually cut from 2 to 9 inches 

 longer than standard lengths of boards, to allow for waste in handling 

 and manufacture. This additional length is disregarded in scaling. 



Log rules give the number of board feet in logs which are straight 

 and sound. If logs are unsound, or otherwise defective, a certain 

 allowance must be made by the scaler and the determination of the 

 amount in board feet requires great skill. 



FOREST SERVICE SCALING. 



In a general way, Forest Service scaling practice is the same as 

 that of the log scaling and grading bureaus and independent scalers 

 of the region. It differs, however, in some particulars, which should 

 be thoroughly understood by applicants for national forest timber; 

 for the scale resulting from Forest Service practice, as a rule, is 

 larger than that resulting from commercial scaling. 

 61361°— Bull. 711—18 2 



