74 REPORT OF THE 



One or two men take the diameters and call them out, giving the species where 

 several are present. A tallyman keeps record of the measurements upon blanks 

 suitably prepared for the purpose. A note-keeper can generally keep two men busy 

 measuring, but in densely stocked young stands, only one. In order to avoid 

 measuring trees twice, or overlooking any trees, they may be marked by the caliper 

 men after the measurement has been taken. This can be done with an iron instru- 

 ment or with a piece of chalk. 



The work should proceed in strips, and on mountain slopes in a horizontal 

 direction, in order that the breast-high measurement may be the mean between the 

 heights on the mountain side and on the valley side. The strips should not be too 

 wide. Thirty to forty feet for each caliper man is usually a convenient Avidth. 

 The tallyman goes ahead of the measurers, and, if there are two, he may mark the 

 line between their strips by means of a strong cord fastened to his clothing. A 

 cord, or chalk line, as it is called, such as is used for laying shingles, would be found 

 quite suitable. While running ahead the length of the string, one hundred feet, for 

 instance, he follows a direction as indicated by a compass which he carries. While 

 noting down the dimensions called out, he may give heed to the manner in which 

 the calipers are placed upon the trees, and to the correction of any gross errors that 

 may be made in reading off the diameters. This is advisable, however, only to a 

 very limited extent, for the tallyman, diverted from his own work, easily forgets to 

 note down the dimensions. 



The United States Bureau of Forestry, in measuring last year for the New 

 York State Forest, Fish and Game Commission the timber on townships 5, 6 and 

 41, Hamilton County, New York, employed parties of four men each — a tallyman, 

 two caliper men, and a man who ran the compass line and made a general descrip- 

 tion of the territory gone over. Instead of the cord a chain was used, and each 

 caliper man measured a strip half a chain wide. The strips were run in the same 

 general direction, a quarter of a mile apart, giving thus a measurement of one-twen- 

 tieth of the whole forest. A separate tally was kept for each acre measured. That 

 is, whenever the strips reached the length of ten chains a new tally was begun. 



Large forests may, in order to facilitate measurement, be divided into smaller 

 parts by lakes, rivers, roads, ditches, etc., that may be present. Each part can then 

 be measured by itself. 



In the measuring itself, due regard should be given to the following : 



1. Before the work begins, and while it continues, one should see to it that the 

 movable arm of the calipers is not too loose. 



2. The calipers should be placed on the tree at right angles. 



