Part II

young forester strongly objected to a main hauling road following the valley of a stream where there was much softwood growth. He advised shifting it to the ridge top. His technical education told him to save the young growth of the more valuable species, but common sense and experience were wanting or he would have known that it was not profitable to yard logs up hill, and that heights of land are not good places for main roads! In the efforts of such men to get their bearings, and modify their theoretical training with the wisdom of practical experience, much harm has been done by creating in the minds of practical men the idea that technical training hits wide of the mark. There has perhaps been more pleasure in circulating anecdotes to illustrate the mistakes of the newcomers than in telling how technical knowledge was able to teach old dogs new tricks. Human nature is not different in this respect than in all other departments of life where innovations of any kind are met with misunderstanding and consequent opposition. But science has triumphed too frequently over the prejudices of human nature to be retarded in its advance by a few mistakes and the misunderstanding of their import. Although forestry is as yet but a new profession in America, and the first generation of trained foresters is still young, these men are quickly absorbing the wisdom of experience and mixing it with their technical knowledge, and are demonstrating the definite commercial value of the science of the woods. The future of forestry as a profession is a matter of which no one can speak with assurance, and yet it is but reasonable to say that greater and greater reliance must continue to be placed on more scientific methods, and that efficient administration of forests must naturally take the place of guess work and rule of thumb methods, and that the present wasteful tendencies will eventually be turned to practical and scientific conservation. Technical men mis" In years to come It is a far cry from the explorer of fifty years ago measuring his lumber visually from a mountain tree top to the trained man of the present day measuring individual trees with calipers. The change which has brought about this contrast in measuring forest values has brought many new standards and methods, and will continue to evolve towards the maximum of intelligent effort in forestry. Heavy Burn in Northern Forest. 10 OUR FORESTRY SERVICE EXPLAINED The owner of forest property, desiring to obtain definite knowledge of his forest values, and to know if his operations are in line with conservation both for himself and the nation, will wish to know something of the services he may be able to obtain from experienced foresters. The operator or the mill man will also desire to know how to arrive at an accurate knowledge of the forest values of a given territory. To such we offer our services as foresters. Our wide ex- perience in forestry work, together with the obviously logical methods of our procedure, will commend themselves to the judgment of men experienced in the broader aspects of busi- ness, appreciating the value of technical knowledge, but being obliged to depend upon others for its application. Our service is as varied as the needs of the problem to be considered, and but a general idea of these methods can be given, leaving it to the individual owner or operator to see what portion thereof can be applied with profit to his own business. The consideration of a typical case will serve to illustrate. iii There is a tract of wild land, about which little is known. t It was surveyed and the outer l- lines run fr orty or cr fifty years ago, and it has been cut on more or less ever since. An examination of it had been made by several local cruisers, and rough plans turned in. It is desired to know something definite about this property. There may be an offer from a prospective buyer, or the owners may desire to log it in such a manner that the lumber will last and bring in a continuous income. Parts of it may be burnt and it is desired to know how much. We may think the taxes are too high. Perhaps it is desired to borrow money on the timber value, and erect a mill to get the profit that has hitherto gone to others. Or a buyer may wish to know what he is getting, or what price to pay in order to receive proper interest on his capital. Such are some of the conditions which usually call for our services. After agreeing on general ideas, the procedure is as follows, according to the work necessary to be done: A varied service A specimen of applied 17 Fording in the South. If the land requires surveying we first do that. Records and data of the original survey will be obtained, and the old indistinct lines plainly marked on the ground. Lost corners will be found or relocated, and properly set. Careful measurements will be made to ascertain the true acreage, and posts set or trees marked at intervals, usually every quarter mile or half mile, for future reference. Lines of sub-division, according to the wishes of the owner, will be run through the tract, blocking it up into small units of area, as for example the square mile. These lines also will be well and accuratelv made and marked. Wading in the North. iS No nails or rope in this raft. The instruments used in wood surveying are usually the magnetic compass and the Gunter's chain. Transit lines are sometimes run, and the solar compass is sometimes employed, but the element of cost must be considered, and the ordinary compass is recommended as being accurate enough for all -practical purposes. An error of one rod to a mile, 1:320, is considered allowable in forest surveys. The compass is the only instrument with which lines can be run in the woods at a reasonable rate. The usual method of marking lines is by well defined blazes on the trees which the line intersects, and of quarter-spot blazes on trees standing near the line. Posts set at the corners are surrounded with stones, when practicable, and witnessed by trees being blazed down about them. The posts are properly marked for the corner with the timber scribe or marking iron, and both posts and witness trees bear the date and the surveyor's mark. Where lines cross important roads and waters, the usual method is to plainly indicate them by witnessings or posts so that they may readily be picked up. A stadia attachment to the compass is a convenient chain supplement, avoiding the necessity of triangulation of inaccessible distances, such as water or gorges. 1 he cost of well made compass lines in ordinary country varies between $12 and $25 per mile. Such lines need not be renewed for a period of twenty to twenty-rive years. Methods used in surveying 19 The exploration As an adjunct to surveying, dependent on the desired degree of accuracy, and the desired results called for, instrumental traverses are made of the principal waters and roads on the tract. The transit, with stadia attachment, is the instrument most generally employed on this part of the work. The cost approximates $6 per mile. After the necessary surveys are made, and in actual work, while they are in progress, exploring parties gridiron the tract at stated intervals, usually from one-sixteenth to one-half mile apart. These parties keep exact records of all the natural and -- artificial features they meet with roads, streams, heights of land, growth, conditions of growth, burns, bogs, etc. These are all located on their lines of travel. If a topographical plan of the tract is desired, and such a plan is usually to be recommended except in very flat country, aneroid barometers are carried by these explorers, and read at numerous intervals. From this barometric work eleva- tions of various points are obtained, and a rough contour system can be drawn. As the exploration party travels it also takes a record of the diameters and kinds of trees, by measur- ing with calipers those on specified areas. For instance, a strip 66 feet wide is meas- ured right along the line of progress; or measured acres, halt- acres, or quarter-acres are taken at regular Spotted line in a Canadian forest. Note the heavy, well-defined spots. intervals along the party route. Where timber is very valuable this method may be varied to an actual count of every tree. Usually in such latter instances the subdivisions are smaller than the square mile, the forty acre tract being perhaps the standard. As in any other expenditure for knowledge the degree of expense must vary with the value of the principal about which information is sought, and the higher the intrinsic value of that principal the more refined can be the methods of determining facts about it. These results are tabulated on specially prepared sheets. Calipering work is done in order to obtain a sample acre of tree facts for the tract or