102 THE LOG OF A TIMBER CRUISER 
here to advantage and as we were all pretty tired at 
the time Frazer decided to spend a week or ten days 
in the locality, going over the O’Brien timber sale 
area and gathering tree growth data. During this 
whole period the rain obligingly held off, nor did it 
begin again till we had moved to another camp 
higher in the range. 
Growth study, a science in itself, we found most 
interesting. The work involved counting the annual 
rings on each tree stump left by the wood-cutters and 
a measurement of the stump height. From these 
figures, compiled for a large number of trees, the 
size of a tree at any given age can be determined, 
or conversely one can estimate how many years it 
would take a yellow pine or Douglas fir to attain, on 
the average, a specified diameter. An examination 
of ‘‘reproduction’’ was also made by which the av- 
erage height of a seedling at various ages was esti- 
mated. 
While stopping here we almost lost Bert, a calam- 
ity which would have changed the whole aspect of 
things for us for the rest of the season. 
The trouble all started with O’Brien’s hogs. 
They developed from the very start a detestable 
penchant for hanging around camp. And though 
Bert was able to keep them at bay during the day, at 
night they made sleep impossible with their snort- 
ings and gurglings and squealings and the loss of 
self-respect we felt at their propinquity. 
Every evening after supper we would gather 
