The Biltmore stick is a tool used to measure various tree dimensions, such as diameter at breast height and height. It looks much like an everyday yardstick. A Biltmore stick is considered to be only marginally accurate. Some foresters use the tool regularly, however, many prefer to use more accurate tools such as a diameter tape to measure diameter at breast height (DBH) and a clinometer to measure height. On the other end of the spectrum, some foresters consider the use of a Biltmore stick to be no more accurate then their own visual estimates (based on experience estimating the height and DBH of trees), and make it practice for their surveys to be largely completed in this manner.
Read more about Biltmore Stick: Principles of Operation, History
Famous quotes containing the word stick:
“The Indian remarked as before, “Must have hard wood to cook moose-meat,” as if that were a maxim, and proceeded to get it. My companion cooked some in California fashion, winding a long string of the meat round a stick and slowly turning it in his hand before the fire. It was very good. But the Indian, not approving of the mode, or because he was not allowed to cook it his own way, would not taste it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)