are stripped. The proper tool for this purpose, the scraper, consists of a piece of iron about 6 in. broad in the face, which is semicircular, in order the more readily to fit the trunk of the tree. A handle of about 2 ft. in length is fitted to this, and is fixed at right angles to the iron. By moving the scraper up and down the stem, the moss can be easily removed; if this be not done, the bark will retain the moisture for a considerable time, and will be found difficult to dry properly. Any unnecessary beating with the mallet is exceedingly objectionable. Some woodmen use the mallet far too much, thus rendering the bark easily spoiled by damp, discoloured, and inferior both as regards quality and market value. In spreading the bark on the ranges, it should never be put on thickly, as if much be piled up in a heap it will take a long time to dry. If spread thinly on the stage and well attended to in the way of frequent turning and mixing, it will speedily be cured if the weather is at all favourable. When a stack of bark is being built, or when it is being chipped, the forester should provide strong waterproof covers, similar to those used for covering railway trucks. These should be thrown over the stack or the chipped bark when rain threatens ; for, if the broken stack or the chipped bark get wet, a great deal of trouble will be the result, and probably the loss of a quantity of the bark. With regard to whether bark-stripping should be performed by piece-work or by day-wages, it is difficult to give any general advice. Where good supervision can be given, piece-work will stimulate the woodmen to work as fast as possible; but, at the same time, it will also tempt them to a free use of the mallet, and this affects the quality and value of the bark. On the other hand, day-labourers have not the same pecuniary motive for pushing on with the work, and therefore require a greater amount of supervision to see that they do not trifle. Throughout Germany the usual method is to employ the men, women, and boys on daily labour under good supervision. The larger that trees are when stripped, the greater is the quantity of bark that can be taken from them in a given time, and the cheaper is it stripped per ton. Thus Oak timber-trees may be cut down and stripped at the rate of 28s. per ton for the out-turn in bark; while, on the other hand, in cutting and stripping young coppice-shoots, as high as 60s. per ton may have to be paid for the work before the bark is dried and ready for sale. But the costs, of course, vary according to the rate of wages in the district, and the size of the stems that are stripped. Contract prices likewise vary in the same way; but from 30s. to 40s. per ton may be taken as the general rate for piece-work. For chipping and bagging the bark about 6s. to 8s. per ton are usually payable. These rates refer only to Oak-bark, as Larch, Spruce, and Birch can be stripped and chipped and bagged for about one-third less. The selling price of the different kinds of barks varies from year to year, according to the demand and to the season. Oak-bark generally fetches from £4 to £7 per ton, whilst Larch and Birch bring from about £2 10s. to £4 per ton. Utilisation of Thinnings.-The stems felled during thinnings, whether they be large or small, young or old, should be at once removed to the nearest road, and arranged there, according to their kinds and sizes, for sale, or other method of disposal. The work of removal may either be done by boys or men, or horses may be employed to drag them out if this seems more economical. The work may be given out by contract, provided always that good supervision can be relied on; but by contract there is great danger of careless performance, and very often the standing crop is more or less damaged. In coniferous crops, wounds caused by the bumping of logs against the stems when being dragged out are frequently the means by which fungoid spores like those of Trametes radiciperda effect an entrance into the base of the trunk and the upper roots. In order to obviate damage being done to the crop through careless felling, the work should preferably be done by the proprietor's own men under the superintendence of the forester; but where there is a large area to thin, it is sometimes found desirable to give out the work by contract, as it can generally be performed about 20 per cent. cheaper than by daily labour. After the forester has marked every tree to be felled, the contractor should follow him with his men, and cut down and prune the trees; but he should in all cases be bound in a penalty not to injure any standing tree not marked to be felled. A removal contractor should follow him who fells the trees, and should extract all the felled stems to the nearest road; and he also should be subject to a penalty for any injury to standing trees. In thus doing the work by means of two contractors, it is accomplished at the cheapest possible rate within a given time; and if the operations are done under the eye of the forester or overseer, they ought to be satisfactorily executed. It is usually well to enter into a contract for the sale of the thinnings before cutting the trees, so that the nett returns may be clearly calculated. Timber merchants are usually willing to purchase wood of every description, when it can be had in large quantities. If the thinnings of a plantation are generally under propwood dimensions, a rate per 100 or per 1000 may be agreed upon. But if they are of propwood size, i.e., not less than 3 in. diameter at 6 ft. from the base, then they may be sold by the dozen, by the 100 trees, by the prop of 6 ft., or by the 100 lineal ft. as may be agreed upon. If they are above propwood size, but not classifiable as timber, i.e., if over 6 in. but under 8 in. diameter at the small end, then they may be sold either individually or by the dozen, or by the 100; and if they are of timber size, it is best to fix the rate per cubic foot, according to the quality and kind, and the other local factors affecting the market value of the wood. In any case the purchaser should be bound to remove all the stems by a certain day, or, failing this, to incur a penalty. By adopting this mode of procedure, cut stems are not left lying unsold in the woods; while, at the same time, exact calculations can be made regarding the work in a manner that is hardly possible when the thinnings are carried out first and the produce is only sold afterwards. In the disposal of thinnings in woods situated near populous districts, a public sale after the fall is generally found the best mode of realisation. The case is, however, very different in parts of the country at a considerable distance from any ready market; for foresters who have the management of extensive woods in far inland parts seem to have great difficulty in getting their thinnings disposed of advantageously, owing to their not making proper arrangements beforehand. When timber merchants are asked to tender for wood already cut, and therefore in a perishable state, they will only offer far under its value; but when asked to give offers for standing trees, they know that the proprietor is not compelled to sell in the meantime unless he pleases, and they are therefore more disposed to tender a fair price. Selling Timber.-Timber1 may be disposed of either by public auction or by private bargain, as may seem advisable when local circumstances are taken into account; but, generally speaking, where there is a large quantity of timber to dispose of at once, and more especially when it is of a mixed character, the greatest amount of money will be realised by the proprietor when he disposes of it by public auction. At public sales there are in all cases people collected who are in quest of various sorts of wood, from the smallest size to the largest, consequently a competition takes place among them, which tends to the realisation of the proper value for each lot. There are various methods of conducting sales: (1) by private bargain; (2) by calling publicly for tenders; (3) by exposing for auction at a reserve 1 The scientific methods of ascertaining when timber crops attain maturity, and of allocating the annual or periodic falls of mature crops, are specially treated of in a brief manner by the editor in chapters xiii. and xiv. price; and (4) by exposing for auction unreservedly. In different countries, and in different parts of each, one or other of these systems, or often two or more of them simultaneously, are to be found in operation at the same time. Local considerations alone can determine which method deserves the preference. And in the same way the timber may be sold either standing or in the log, each of which methods has advantages of its own that can only be weighed and balanced after due investigation into local circumstances in each concrete case. In Germany the usual method is to sell the felled timber; whilst in France sales of standing timber are very frequent. Sales by Public Auction.-Suppose, for example, that the timber to be disposed of consists of thinnings of various sizes, taken from woods of different ages, and formed of different kinds of trees, and also that the felling is to be done by contract after the stems have been previously marked by the forester, then the Contract for Felling would probably run in something like the following form: CONTRACT FOR FELLING, CUTTING, AND PREPARING TIMBER FOR PUBLIC SALE ON THE ESTATE OF DE, NOVEMBER 1894. 1. Only such trees are to be felled as are marked with (some distinctive mark); these will be pointed out to the contractor by A B, residing at the East Lodge, D— -e. 2. All the trees marked in the park must be cut down with the cross-cut saw. In the young plantations the trees marked may be cut down with the axe, excepting those that are of or above 6 in. in diameter at the ground, all which must also be cut down with the cross-cut saw. 3. Each tree, previous to being cut over with the saw, must be laid in with the axe to the level of the surface of the ground, and then cross-cut to that level. 4. Any unmarked tree that may be felled, or any damage done to standing trees by the felling of the marked ones, or otherwise, shall be charged against the contractor at the rate of double the market value of each tree injured; and any damage to the felled trees arising through the carelessness of the contractor's workmen, shall also be charged against the contractor at a rate equal to the deterioration in value caused by such damage. 5. Each tree, as it is cut down, must be neatly cleaned of all side branches, and the bole laid entire along the side of the road, in order for sale-no cross-cutting of the bole being allowed. 6. The side branches, as they are taken from the trees, must be arranged into lots in order for sale, to the satisfaction of the above-named A B, or any person named by the proprietor. 7. All implements, as well as horses, &c., that may be required for the performing of the work, are to be furnished by the contractor. 8. All the trees marked (with the distinctive mark) are, after felling and trimming, to be arranged into lots for sale, in the manner above detailed, for the sum of 3s. per pound sterling of the amount of roup-roll; the whole work is to be finished and the timber to be in readiness for sale on or before the 26th day of December next. 9. All disputes or differences that may arise as to the due execution and fulfilment of this contract shall be referred to the determination of Mr J. O. (forester or agent), at Mh, whose decision thereon shall be final and binding. E. F., witness. G. H., witness. A. B., Forester. The overseer placed in charge of such work should see that each species of tree is arranged into separate lots by itself. No individual lot should contain less than 25 cubic ft. of timber, in order that there may be a cartload for the purchaser; and each individual tree should be trimmed to its full length. Observation at sales of timber will show that when large trees are cross-cut and logged to a particular length for the sake of convenience in having them removed from the interior of the wood to the side of the nearest road, they do not, as a rule, sell nearly so well as others of the same dimensions and quality which had been left entire. The reason is that, when purchasers of timber have the entire bole, they can apply it to many more purposes than short lengths; hence this is a point that should be borne in mind in preparing wood for sale, because the market value of timber may be prejudicially affected by injudicious logging. Here again, however, it is only after full consideration of local circumstances that any sound opinion can be given in the matter. If, for example, a large local sawmill owner desires only timber that can be converted into scantlings, &c., he does not care to have to purchase top-ends of Spruce, Larch, Silver Fir, &c., and will not give so much for the logs if he is forced to buy what he does not wish in order to obtain what he really requires. Or if 18-ft. planking or 24-ft. beams have a constant good market, then 19 or 25 ft. logs will have practically no greater value to the sawyer than logs of the exact length; and for any purchaser who has a large contract for beams, &c., of given dimensions, it may often pay well to log to specified lengths. All timber of good quality should be arranged in separate lots and sold separately from that of indifferent quality; and if possible, whatever number of logs or stems may be put into a lot, they should be of nearly equal size. For, where each sort is arranged according to its particular use and quality, the full market value of each lot will be more readily obtainable from different people who may have a use for that specific class of timber. When trees are laid together in the way of lotting out for sale, the butts and tops should all be laid one way in a regular manner, so that the purchasers may see at a glance the size and quality of the wood exposed for auction. All lots of wood prepared for public sale should be removed from the plantations and ranged along the sides of the nearest road, both for the convenience of purchasers and for the benefit of the woods themselves. When coniferous logs in particular, and especially if unbarked, are allowed to lie long in the falls, they are apt to form breeding-places for noxious bark-beetles (Scolytida); and in crops of broad-leaved trees the subsequent removal of logs is apt to damage any young growth that may be on the area. After the wood has been all arranged in lots, each lot should be numbered and entered in a sale-book, stating the kind of wood forming each lot, the number of trees in it, and the average value or upset price of the lot. Such a sale-book may be in the following form:— |