Where only dead timber is purchased, and no living trees are cut, or where patches of forest are to be cut clean, Forest officers, instead of marking every tree to be removed, blaze and mark a boundary of the cutting area or patch and instruct the purchaser accordingly. Where individual trees are marked they are blazed and stamped "U. S." next to the ground on the lowest side of the stump. Additional blazes may be made several feet above the ground whenever desired by the purchaser for the convenience of his "fallers" or where deep snow may conceal the lower mark from the "fallers." Where both kinds of blazes are used, one man, in fairly dense pine timber, can mark from 500 to 1,000 trees in a day. Under no condition may unmarked or undesignated trees be cut by the purchaser.
The system of marking and the proportion of the timber to be cut is explained to purchasers by marking sample areas before the contract is executed. The cost of logging under the methods of marking adopted is compensated fully in the stumpage appraisal.
_Scaling, Measuring, and Stamping._ Unless timber is sold by estimate, it must be scaled, counted, or measured before it is removed from the cutting area or place agreed upon for this purpose. In addition it must be stamped by a Forest officer with a regulation marking ax or similar instrument. Payment is made upon the actual scale, count or measure, with due allowance for defect.
All National Forest timber is sold under specifications which are in accordance with those in commercial use, such as logs by the thousand board feet, ties by the piece, poles by length and top diameter, shingle bolts by the cord, and mining timbers by the linear foot. All logs are scaled at the small end.
[Illustration: Figure 62. A big Sugar pine tree about six feet in diameter. This is the most valuable timber species in California. Photo by the author.]
[Illustration: Figure 63. A Western Yellow pine forest in California. These trees are from four to six feet in diameter and from 150 to 200 feet high. Note the Forest Service timber cruiser measuring the tree at the left. Photo by the author.]
All saw timber is scaled by the Scribner Decimal C log rule. In order to permit scaling at reasonable cost to the Forest Service, purchasers may be required, where the cost of logging may not be unduly increased, to skid and pile the logs for scaling. Piles and skidways must be constructed so as to permit economical scaling and when necessary and practicable the purchaser is required to mark the small ends of the logs to avoid misunderstanding when they are scaled on the pile.