18 BULLETIN 711, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



Briefly, scaling, as practiced by the Forest Service, is the measure- 

 ment of sound material in the log and relates to quantity rather than 

 quality. National forest timber, therefore, is scaled in accordance 

 with the defect in the log and not in relation to any particular grade 

 of lumber it will produce. On the national forests in Alaska and 

 west of the summit of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, logs up to and including 32 feet in length are scaled as one 

 log; lengths from 34 to 64, inclusive, are scaled as two logs as 

 nearly equal in length as possible in even feet, and increasing the 

 diameter of the second log according to the taper of the first. 

 Greater lengths than 64 feet are scaled as three logs, making the 

 division as nearly equal as possible in even feet. 



Timber sale contracts si^ecify a definite overlength for trimming. 

 This allowance is adapted to different logging conditions and to 

 large and small timber. Three inches overlength may prove suflS- 

 cient in small timber where danger from brooming is slight, while 

 9 inches or more may be reasonable in sales of large timber or where 

 the danger of brooming in driving or chuting is great. 



All diameters are measured inside the bark at the top end of the 

 log, being rounded off to the nearest inch above or below the actual 

 diameter. Logs which have a diameter exactly halfway between 

 inches are thrown to the next lower inch. If logs are not round, 

 they are scaled on the average diameter. Several diameters may be 

 measured where necessary to obtain a fair average. 



The Forest Service has formulated a number of rules for making 

 discounts for defects, realizing that the effect of rot and other de- 

 fects upon logs of different species and in different regions varies 

 so greatly that no rule for making deductions can be applied in- 

 flexibly, and that the constant exercise of good judgment by scalers, 

 based upon an accurate knowledge of local timber secured by seeing 

 defective logs opened up under the saw, is essential. 



Every timber-sale contract defines exactly the material to be classed 

 as merchantable under its terms. 



The methods of manufacture of particular purchasers are not 

 taken into account by scalers. No attempt is made to adjust the 

 scale to losses due to poor equipment or inefficient methods, to match 

 up gains from exceptionally close utilization, or so modify the scale 

 as to eliminate losses resulting from selling the log product on a 

 different scale. The function of a Forest Service scaler is to deter- 

 mine the amount of sound material in the log as uniformly as pos- 

 sible, whatever the mill tally or the selling scale may be. The For- 

 est Service gives no assurance or promises on the amount of the over- 

 run. Systematic checks on the local scale are made by more experi- 

 enced scalers of special competence. In case of a serious complaint 



