76 THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOG RULES 



secured by modern band saws but the rule is fairly consistent, as are 

 all well-constructed diagram rules. 



70. Maine or Holland Rule, 1856. Synonym: Fabian's. This 

 is the most accurate and consistent diagram rule in common use (§ 55). 

 It was constructed in 1856 by Chas. T. Holland for 1-inch boards, 

 allowing for a J-inch saw kerf and for a minimum width of board of 6 

 inches. Fractional parts of a foot amounting to over .5 are reckoned as 

 a whole foot, those less than .5 are rejected. This resulted in a more 

 consistent rule from the diagrams. The rule is applied at the small 

 end of log and disregards taper, so cannot be applied to the scaling of 

 long logs without considering them as sections. The best practice now 

 limits the length of these sections to 16 feet. (§ 43). 



71. Canadian Log Rules. The practice of adopting standard log 

 rules by statute has been followed by New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario 

 and British Columbia. Their use is practically universal in the pro- 

 vinces. 



The New Brunswick Rule, 1854. This rule is the statute rule of 

 the Province and is probably based on diagrams. Values for from 5 to 

 10 inches were added by later regulations. Logs 26 feet and over are 

 measured in two lengths. The small end is used and the rule is based 

 on 1-irich lumber. 



Quebec Log Rule, 1889. To construct this rule, diagrams of logs 

 from 6 to 40 inches in diameter were divided into 1-inch boards. A 

 second set was divided into 3-inch deals, using j-inch kerf. The mean 

 of the two resultant contents was taken, and from this an arbitrary 

 deduction was made, ranging from to 17 feet. Taper was neglected. 

 This scale is applied at the small end for logs up to 18 feet in length, 

 above which the average diameter of the two ends is taken. The rule 

 is the statute rule of the Province. 1 



The British Columbia Rule is discussed in § 61. 



72. Hybrid or Combination Log Rules. The inconsistency of the 

 Doyle rule by which small logs are under-scaled and large logs over- 

 scaled has led to its combination with the Scribner rule. The values 

 of the latter rule drop below the Doyle rule at 28 inches. 



Low values in the log rule favor the buyer of logs. In purchasing 

 large logs, especially hardwoods, the Doyle rule was considered unsafe. 

 The combined rule, termed the Doyle-Scribner, retains the low values of 



1 The statute rule of the province of Ontario is the Doyle Rule which was 

 adopted in 1879. In spite of the facts brought out in an investigation in 1904, 

 that in that one year the Province lost 134 million board feet on the scale, equiv- 

 alent to 23 per cent of the contents of the logs cut, by reason of this rule, the 

 influences in favor of its retention were too strong to be overcome and it is still 

 the standard rule of the Province. 



