than in hewing pine ties, since it takes aboiit^ 11 cubic feet of hard- 

 wood timber to produce one tie, and only 9 cubic feet of pine wood. 

 This is due not to any greater waste necessarily involved in hewino- 

 hardwood ties, but to the smaller taper and proportionately longer 

 clear length of the pine as compared with oak. . 



With no inspection of the sizes and characters of the trees cut, the 

 tie makers are guided in their choice of tie timber and the portion 

 of each tree to be used for ties merely by their own convenience and 

 by the ease with which the trees may be hewed into ties. By taking 

 each tree to a top diameter of 9 inches outside the bark, cutting 

 stumps not higher than 2 feet from the ground, and splitting into 

 ties all logs large enough, an increase of from 67 to 185 per cent 

 can be effected in the yield of individual trees above 15 inches in 

 diameter. This is shown in Table 2, which compares the average 

 number of black oak ties obtainable under the present practice and 

 the number possible under more economical methods of tie cutting. 

 The possible yield of ties per tree is based on the taper measurements 

 of black oak. 



Table 2. — Comparison of the average numher of hlacl- oak ties per -tree ohtained 

 under present praetiee icith the numher possible nncler more economical 

 v]icthods of tie cutting. 



Diameter 



breast- 

 higli. 



Ties cut. 



Incxease. _. 



Under 

 present 

 practice^ 



Under 

 more eco- 

 nomical 

 methods. 



Inches, 

 fll2 

 13 

 14 

 15 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 



Number. 

 2.7 

 3.0 

 3.3 

 3.6 

 3.9 

 4.2 

 4.5 

 4.9 

 -5.4 



Number. 



3.0 



3 6 



4.3 



5.9 



6.5 



8.0 



11.1 



13.5 



15.4 



Per cent. 



11 



20 



30 



64 



67 



90 



147 



176 



185 



« Trees under 12 inches can not be used economically for ties. 



Under more rigid supervision the present yield in ties per acre 

 could, in a great many cases, be doubled and even trebled, if all trees 

 large enough were made into ties. Ki present many trees are left 

 uncut, not out of consideration for the future of the forest, but 

 because they are too large, tough, or crooked to be easily hewed into 

 ties, while the straightest and youngest trees are taken because they 

 yield the greatest number of ties with the least effort. Table 3 gives 

 the actual yield of 15 sample acres and an estimate of what could 

 be obtained from them if all the trees of tie size were maiie into 

 ties under present methods and under more economical methods. 



[Cir. 118.] 



