Approximation, Evaluation, and Extension of the Lake States Composite Taper and Volume Tables

USDA Technical Bulletin 1104, "Composite Volume Tables for Timber and Their Application in the Lake States" by Gevorkiantz and Olsen (1955) is used extensively for prediction of individual tree stem volumes in the Lake States region of the United States. Much of the work in the bulletin was done without the aid of contemporary statistical techniques, making it difficult to accurately extend the tables contained therein. Application of cubic spline interpolation and numerical integration provides a means of efficiently utilizing the bulletin's information in modem computer systems while simultaneously extending the tables to a range of utilization standards. Close inspection of this analysis revealed some anomalies and inconsistencies in the original bulletin tables. The inspection also uncovered the implicit use of techniques attributed to more modern biometrics research. Several timber sampling aids requested by field foresters were derived using the system developed. North. J. Appl. For. 16(2):65-71.