70 THE woodsman's HANDBOOK. i 



A METHOD USED IX OPEN WOODS. 



In portions of the southern pine belt a less systematic method is 

 used. The cruiser has a compassman who runs a line through the 

 center of the ''forty'' while he himself, usually mounted, rides back 

 and forth and views, estimates, or, if possible, counts all of the 

 timber on the ''forty," being guided by his ability to estimate dis- 

 tances and by the position of the compassman. By the use of the 

 Doyle Rule, the contents of the average tree is guessed at, and the 

 total estimate thus obtained from the count. 



Covering Only Part of the Area. 



In many regions the brush is so thick that it is useless to attempt 

 to count all the timber; and where the growth is small and the 

 individual tree comparatively unimportant, the labor involved 

 in counting is not justified. A\Tien a survey of the whole tract is 

 definitely abandoned, and it is decided to measure accurately only 

 a part of it, the total area of the tract must be known, and also the 

 exact area to be covered by the cruiser. Also the stand on this 

 subarea must typify the stand of the whole tract. Any difference 

 between the two is the chief source of error, and this liability to 

 error can be minimized only by increasing the proportion of the 

 area covered to a point where the resulting average tallies with 

 that of the whole stand. 



A METHOD USED IN THE LAKE STATES. 



A method in common use by cruisers in the Lake States as giving 

 good results in all classes of timber is as follows : The cruiser through 

 practice is able to judge his pace, so that he takes 2,000 steps to 

 the mile. Starting from the corner of a section, or a forty, he paces 

 along the line of the "forty" a distance of 125 steps, or one-fourth of 

 the length of it; then he turns at a right angle along the center line 

 of one-half of the "forty," and goes 2,000 steps, or the I mile to the 

 edge of the section. (Fig. 2.) All the trees are counted on a strip 

 8 rods wide, or 25 steps on either side of this line across the section. 

 Then on the side of the section o})posite to the one on which he 

 started an offset of 250 steps is made, or 40 rods, and a strip run back 

 through the center of the next half. The area of two 500-foot strips 

 in each forty is equal to just 20p«r cent of the "forty, "or 8 acres. The 



