34 THE woodsman's handbook. 



The Twenty-four Inch Standard Rule is based on a standard 12 

 feet long. The standard log contains 300 feet, board measure, 

 usually sold by the standard or by the 300 feet, instead of by the 

 thousand feet, as commonly; the logs are scaled by the Doyle Rule 

 and the total number of feet divided by 300, the unit of sale being 

 a certain sum per standard. To obtain the value of the odd num- 

 ber of feet, the latter are divided by 300 and multiplied by the 

 price per standard. 



The Canadian standard rules are based on logs 12 feet instead of 

 13 feet long, and 21 and 22 inches in diameter. These rules are 

 used in the same way as the American standard rules. 



LOG SCALING. 



The methods of scaling logs differ with the various log rules and 

 with such local conditions as the character of timber, the market, 

 and the habit of the individual scalers. 



In regions where the logs are cut into short lengths and piled on 

 skidways for winter hauling, as in the Adirondacks, the scaling is 

 ordinarily done by two men constituting the scaling crew. They 

 are provided with a rule or ''scale stick" for measuring the diame- 

 ters of the logs, a notebook, tally sheets or a "scale paddle" for 

 recording the measurements, a special marking hammer, and 

 crayons for marking the logs. One scaler measures the diameters 

 of the logs inside the bark at the small end; the other records the 

 results. The small diameter is recorded because the log tables 

 are based on this and the length of the log. It is not necessary, 

 however, to measure separately the length of each log, because there 

 are usually only a few standard lengths, as, for example, 10, 12, 13, 

 14, and 16 feet, and these the scaler can tell at a glance. If a log is 

 slightly longer than the regular lengths, the extra length is disre- 

 garded. For example, a log 16.5 feet long is scaled as a 16-foot log, 

 and if IS feet is the next fixed length, a log 17.5 feet long is scaled 

 as a 16-foot log. Therefore, though a log may be slightly longer 

 than the specified length, it is never shorter; thus, if a log is shorter 

 than the length of the shortest specification (ordinarily 8 or 10 feet) 

 it is discarded entirely. A great deal of this sort of waste is caused 

 by the choppers who are careless in their measurements of log 

 lengths. 



