66 FOKKATION OF COMPAETMENTS. 



of the standiDg crop, and by the relief of the ground, and always 

 keeping that portion constantly to the right or to the left of us, as 

 the case may be, we arrive at last, after having made a complete 

 circuit, at the point from which we started. If, while making this 

 circuit, we have taken the precaution to blaze the trees or fix flags 

 or signals at short intervals, the compartment is marked out on the 

 ground. There is nothing more left to do than to clear a narrow 

 provisional line along this perimeter, which may also be at once laid 

 down on the boundary map. 



Next we must traverse the interior of the compartment in 

 order to be sure that it is homogeneous throughout, or, in the con- 

 trary case, to note the dissimilar portions of which it is composed, 

 and which it may be necessary to form into separate compartments 

 if they differ to a sufficient extent for that purpose. In the latter 

 case, when the sight is unimpeded for any distance, it is generally 

 sufficient to cut the compartment in two by a transverse line or path. 



In hilly and mountainous country it would often be extremely 

 fatiguing and, it may be, useless to make a circuit round each com- 

 partment. In that case, on steep slopes it is enough to make hori- 

 zontal traverses one above the other, closing the quadrilateral with 

 lines of steepest descent, with gullies or other good boundary lines. 



Frequently we come across gradual transitions which may be 

 very embarrassing. Thus a slope with a northern aspect may 

 gradually end by looking south-east ; or the density of the stand- 

 ing crop may decrease by very slow gradations until from completely 

 canopied forest we get amongst a few scattered trees ; or again the 

 age of the stock may decrease continuously, so that we may by 

 imperceptible degrees pass from full grown high forest to a crop of 

 poles. Under such circumstances where are we to draw the line between 

 two contiguous compartments 1 Is it to be exactly midway betv^een 

 the two ends of this embarrassing piece of forest ? Certainly not. 

 This line must pass through that poiut at which the crop has chang- 

 ed sufficiently to require a different treatment ana a different date 

 for its exploitation from that first examined. This is an infallible 

 rule to follow ; but its application, whenever the necessity for it 

 arises, requires the exercise of no little judgment. In any case, the 

 essential point to keep in view in forming the compartments is to 

 be sure that they mainly follow the natural lines of the ground. 



