148 A MANUAL FOR NORTHERN WOODSMEN 
The ratio between cords and standards is nearly con¬ 
stant in logs of all sizes if cut of equal length. In the 
Adirondack woods 2.92 standards are commonly reckoned 
as one cord. 
SECTION VI 
SCALING PRACTICE 
Logs are best scaled when they are.being handled over, 
as on a landing or mill brow, for then all parts can be seen 
and got at. Measurement in the pile, especially for long 
logs, is both difficult and unsatisfactory. 
1. Length. A tape worked by two men is an accurate 
measure of length. Short logs may be accurately measured 
with a marked pole, and for long logs a carefully adjusted 
wheel with brads in the ends of its spokes is cheap to u^e 
and reasonably accurate. Measurement with a four-foot 
stick has a very wide range of accuracy, according to 
the way it is done. 
German Numbering Hammer 
Valuable timber cut into standard log lengths is com¬ 
monly allowed two inches extra to permit trimming at 
the saw, this amount being disregarded in the scale. If 
logs are cut without measuring, in which case they are as 
likely to be ten inches over foot lengths as two inches, the 
extra inches are commonly thrown off just the same. That 
practice, however, means in 16-foot logs a loss of 2§ per 
cent on the scale or the timber. On 30-foot logs, it means 
1^ per cent. 
2. Diameter. The diameter measure for any board rule 
is obtained at the small end of the log and inside the bark. 
It is important in large and valuable timber that an aver¬ 
age diameter be taken. In dealing with fractional inches, 
