LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 39 
tion between the loss through breakage and the value of the stump- 
age ; loss through breakage should decrease as stumpage increases in 
value. In this connection it should be remembered that as a rule 
it is the top log or logs that are broken, and that these logs are rela- 
tively less valuable. On the other hand, breakage increases the cost 
of felling and bucking, also the cost of several other departments of 
the logging operation. 
If it is true that operators who have purchased their timber out- 
right not infrequently lose money through careless felling, it would 
seem that the Forest Service in basing the selling price of a block of 
timber on the amount logged and scaled should make sure that 
purchasers of National Forest timber exercise reasonable care in fell- 
ing it. Forest Service timber sale contracts deal in a general way 
with the matter of felling, and on some features of the work state 
specifically what shall or shall not be done. Where the contract is 
not specific, the assumption is that the purchaser will do the work in 
accordance with the practice of progressive operators who are work- 
ing in similar shows and own the timber. 
WASTE IN BUCKING. 
IMPEOPEE TEIMMING LENGTHS. 
It is necessary to cut logs a few inches longer than the standard : 
(1) Because it is not possible for buckers to cut exactly at right 
angles, especially in large timber and on rough ground; (2) because 
logs are often damaged on the ends when being yarded, roaded, 
chuted, or driven, particularly in the last two methods of transpor- 
tation; (3) to facilitate the work of the trimmer man at the mill, and 
to allow for the kerf cut by the trimmer saws. As a rule, the fol- 
lowing allowances for trimming should be ample: Logs up to 32 
feet in length, 5 inches; 32 to 48 feet, 7 inches; 48 feet and upward, 
9 inches. In general, the allowance may be less in small than in 
large timber, less on good than on bad ground. 
Workmen frequently become careless and cut the logs into im- 
proper lengths. This is due, for the most part, to the use of a meas- 
uring pole of the wrong length, the careless use of the pole, and the 
use in some places of a pole instead of a tape. Where less than 
2 inches is left for trimming, 2 feet of log length may be lost at the 
mill; while on logs that are several inches too long, the loss is also 
considerable. Though no systematic study of this matter has been 
made, there are good reasons for thinking that the loss to the indus- 
try is worth considering. The measuring of 523 Douglas-fir logs at 
a mill on Puget Sound showed that only 139 logs were of the proper 
length, that 24 were too short, and that 360 were from 4 to 18 
