112 AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY OF AMERICAN FORESTRY 
Technical men from the offices concerned are attached to the party, and 
it is laid down that their number should be “large enough to obtain the 
technical data required and to develop trained men to take charge of other 
parties in the future.” 
A topographic draftsman is appointed to all main parties of more than 
six men. His duty is to keep the map material up to date and to co-ordinate 
the estimates made. 
The general district instructions are required to set forth in detail the 
duties to be carried out and the data to be collected by each member of the 
party. All are to be given an insight into the broader phases of the work, 
and its ultimate objects. 
In order to obviate his becoming “a mere administrative machine,” the 
carrying out of original work is encouraged in the officer-in-charge. 
The party is divided into crews. On most projects the two-men crew is 
adopted, although in grazing reconnaissance a one-man crew may suffice. In 
the former case, one man—the compassman—does the surveying, and the 
other—the estimator—the estimating and soil typing. 
Usually a crew is assigned to a block of about 320 acres (half “ section’), 
in order that “ its familiarity with one strip may help it on the next.” 
Compass and pacing or rough chaining, are the means employed in 
“tertiary control.” An error of 3 chains per mile or 5 chains in two miles in 
alignment is permitted. 
In pacing, a closing error of 6 chains in 2? miles is allowed. Errors, how- 
ever, must be noted on the sketch. 
Rough chaining is employed to obviate secondary control in dense brush 
and broken country, or when the new Abney is used. 
At the end of each 40-acre block a mark is left for checking purposes. 
The elevations are obtained by the aneroid and new Abney and are 
based on the secondary control. 
The compassman uses a small sketching sheet, with a transparent dupli- 
cate superimposed. Before leaving camp he transfers to the sketching sheet 
from the camp map the topographic data secured in primary and secondary 
control, so that he may tie his sketch into the control. 
On this sheet he enters the surveying data, stations, elevations, barometric 
readings, contours, cultural and topographic features. On the transparent 
duplicate he shows the soil, grazing, timber type and age, class, boundaries 
quality, sites, and names, etc. , ’ 
The complete sketch of the topography and culture is finished in the field. 
Contours are drawn in and made to fit with adjoining strips. Each sketch 
must be corrected at the end of each day's work before it is handed to the 
camp topographer for fitting with the sketches of strips of other crews into 
the camp map. 
The estimating is done by the rear man of the crew al stri ( 
within a half-chain of it on both sides. All the trees are ee oe te 
two inch diameter classes of species. Heights are obtained by estimating the 
number of 16 feet (the standard) logs in the tree or the total height. As a 
temporary expedient pending adoption of other plans. the following method is 
often used :— i : 
_ “Construct at the beginning of the work thr s i 
(in 16-feet logs cr total height) on diameter ae ie ee 
and ‘short’ timber. Then each 40-acre block is thrown into its 
proper class by the actual measurement of a few representative 
as which are recorded on the bottom or margin of the tally 
shee 
