1925 Ranger Examination
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Series No. 21
Oct., 1925
Sheet 2
UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
________________
FOREST RANGER EXAMINATION
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
SECOND SUBJECT-PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
DIRECTIONS TO THE COMPETITOR-READ CAREFULLY
Place of Examination _________________________ Examination No. _______________
Date _______________ Time commenced ______________Time finished ___________
One sheet of scratch paper will be issued with this sheet.
Three hours are allowed for this sheet.
Insert your answers in the spaces provided.
RATING
________
GENERAL
1 to 5. Give in the blanks below the names of five leading breeds of beef cattle suitable for open range grazing.
1. _______________________________________
2. _______________________________________
3. _______________________________________
4. _______________________________________
5. _______________________________________
6 to 22. In the following statements supply the missing words:
6. A good 1,100-pound saddle horse doing average work requires _____ pounds of oats per day.
7. Such a horse requires _____ pounds of hay per day.
8. A horse of this kind should carry a 160-pound man with 50 pounds of equipment an average of _____ miles per day for 20 days each month.
9. An 800-pound pack mule will in an emergency, without injury, carry _____ pounds for 5 miles over trails with slopes not exceeding 20 per cent.
10. Such a mule will without injury carry _____ pounds for 20 miles per day over similar trails for 20 days each month.
11. A team of 1,400-pound draft horses hitched to an ordinary farm wagon should be able to pull a load of _____ pounds, not including weight of wagon, on a dirt road with occasional adverse grades up to 15 per cent.
12. A team of heavy draft horses, hauling lumber from a sawmill to a railroad a distance of 7 1/2 miles, should be able to make _____ round trips per week.
13. For a ten-day trip in the mountains with two companions I would take along _____ pounds of flour, assuming that no other breadstuffs were taken.
14. For such a trip I would take _____ pounds of sugar.
15. I would take for this trip _____ pounds of cured meat provided no fresh or canned meats were available.
l6. It takes about _____ tons of hay to winter 40 head of cattle through a 4-months' feeding period.
17. A sound log 16 feet long, with a top diameter inside the bark of 10 inches and butt diameter of 14 inches, contains _____ board feet.
18. It would require _____ feet of flooring for a room 12 feet by 16 feet.
19. Ordinarily _____ poles per mile are used for a single telephone line.
20. A seasoned man on moderately rough trails can carry about _____ pounds on his back on a five-days' walking trip.
21. One of the two principal sources of revenue of the national forests is from timber; the other is from ____________________.
22. On a day's trip over good trails in a rolling mountain country, a good, sound saddle horse will average about _____ miles per hour.
FIRE
23 to 27. In working a crew of 150 men from 3 camps on a fire, the number of men needed in addition, in the following capacities are (enter the number you would employ)
(23) _____ cooks, (24) _____ general foremen, (25) _____ straw bosses, 26) _____ time keepers, (27) _____ water boys.
28. Since it is better to prevent forest fires than to suppress them, this is the chief aim of Federal fire protection. Many fires are started through carelessness of tourists and campers. To secure more care on the part of these people, the following means have been suggested. Check the one which you would consider most effective:
_____ Spark arresters. _____ Fire breaks. _____ Public education. _____ Closing forests to visitors.
29. As a ranger you find a fire burning in the woods in old timber with little undergrowth, but considerable leaves and duff and some grass. What tool would you prefer to put it out with, provided only one were allowed? (Enter below.) _______________________________
30. One of your duties as ranger is protecting a large area from fire. You receive notice that a fire has just started at X. There are three roads to the locality: (a) You may go by A, get 10 additional men, and reach the fire in 1 1/2 hours; (b) you may go by B, got 15 additional men, and reach the fire in 2 hours; (I) you may go by C, pick up 2 men en route, and reach the fire in 1 hour. Check the one you would choose: _____ (a). _____ (b). _____ (c). 31. Most forest fires which are not caused by man are caused by __________. Supply the missing word.
FORESTRY
32. Mark with an X one of the following trees which sprouts readily from the stump:
_____ Pine. _____ Spruce. _____ Oak. _____ Douglas fir. _____ Cedar. _____ Redwood. _____ Hemlock.
33. Mark with an X one tree whose seeds are scattered readily by the wind:
_____ Oak. _____ Hickory. _____ Chestnut. _____ Douglas fir.
34. Mark with an X the tree whose seeds are not readily scattered by the wind:
_____ Pine. _____ Juniper. _____ Ash. _____ Elm.
35. Check the tree which occurs chiefly in wet soils:
_____ Juniper. _____ Pinon pine. _____ Western yellow pine. _____ Alder.
36. Of the following species, check the one which grows readily on hillsides or flats away from streams or wet places:
_____ Cottonwood. _____ Bald cypress. _____ Pine. _____ Willow.
37. From the following reasons check the one which you believe of greatest importance in making 3-year-old spruce nursery stock preferable to 1-year-old stock for field planting:
_____ Large tops. _____ Low cost. _____ Large roots. _____ Long needles.
38. Coniferous seedlings planted for forest purposes are ordinarily spaced _____ feet apart each way. Supply the missing word.
WOOD
39 to 42. Mark X before the word which completes the thought:
39. Ax handles are preferably made of
_____ oak, _____ cedar, _____ yellow pine, _____ hickory, _____ beech, _____ chestnut.
40. Telephone poles are preferably made of
_____ oak, _____ cottonwood, _____ cedar, _____ spruce, _____ white fir, _____ larch.
41. The most desirable wood in the manufacture of news print paper is
_____ gum, _____ pine, _____ spruce, _____ oak, _____ maple, _____ redwood.
42. The most durable fence posts are made from
_____ pine, _____ oak, _____ cedar, _____ aspen.
43. Check the quality which makes cedar most desirable for shingles:
_____ Color. _____ Durability. _____ Light weight. _____ Soft texture. _____ Price. _____ Hardness.
44. Check the quality which makes oak most suitable for flooring:
_____ Softness. _____ Hardness. _____ Price. _____ Twisted grain. _____ Light weight. _____ Rapid growth.>p>
LUMBERING
45 to 50. By what unit measure are the following forest products commonly sold?
45. Logs _________________________
46. Pulp wood _________________________
47. Hewn railroad ties _________________________
48. Fuel wood _________________________
49. Fence posts _________________________
50. Piling _________________________
5l. The following operations are necessary to convert standing trees into logs and to get them to the sawmill. Check the operation which is performed after a tree has been cut and has fallen to the ground:
_____ Felling. _____ Skidding. _____ Loading. _____ Undercutting. _____ Bucking. _____ Hauling.
52. From among the following mill operations check the one which is performed after a log has been cut into boards:
_____ Sawing. _____ Planing. _____ Grading. _____ Trimming. _____ Edging.
53. In the following list check a condition for which a deduction is made in scaling a log:
_____ Live limbs. _____ Twisted grain. _____ Hollow butt. _____ Sapwood.
54 to 60. In the following statements supply the missing words:
54. A log which has a top diameter inside the bark of 10 inches and butt diameter of 12 inches, with width of bark 1/2 inch, should be scaled as a _____ -inch log.
55. A tree which has the following dimensions -- small end, least diameter 8.2 inches, greatest 9.4 inches; large end, least diameter 10.2 inches, greatest 11.6 inches -- should be scaled as a _____ -inch log.
56. A board foot is a piece of lumber _____ inches long, _____ inches wide, _____ inches thick.
57. The principal tool used in felling timber is the ____________________.
58. The principal tool used in limbing is the ____________________.
59. The principal tool used in bucking is the ____________________.
60. Pine lumber is ordinarily seasoned for a period of about _____ months after sawing before it is shipped.
GRAZING
61 to 66. Supply the missing words in Questions 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and 66:
61. A 2-year old steer should gain _____ pounds in four months on good mountain range.
62. A lamb going onto range three weeks after lambing should gain _____ pounds in 60 days on good open grass and weed range.
63. A dry cow should gain _____ pounds in four months on good mountain range.
64. In a rolling mountain country there is a summer range which is stocked with 500 mixed cattle. In order to handle this outfit _____ bulls should be put on the range.
65. To handle this outfit would require _____ riders.
66. For these 500 cattle _____ pounds of salt should be placed on the range each month to handle it properly.
67. Check one of the, following plants which is poisonous to cattle:
_____ Wild pea. _____ Larkspur. _____ Wild rose. _____ Wild onion.
68. Check one of the following plants which has value for cattle (that is, one which is preferred or relished by cattle):
_____ Pine grass. _____ Blue grass. _____ Slender wheat grass.
69. Check one of the following plants which has value for sheep (that is, one which is preferred or relished by sheep):
_____ Foxtail. _____ Yarrow. ______ Vetch.
70. To utilize a high mountain sheep range properly for 5,000 head, it is necessary either to shorten the season 10 days on account of storms on the present high open driveway, to allow the use of a low driveway with an annual maintenance cost of $70, or to improve a new driveway at a cost of $1,000. Using the present low driveway would further increase the cost of administration $15. The grazing fee is 5 cents per head per month. All other conditions on the three driveways are similar. Check the course which you would choose:
_____ Use low driveway. _____ Shorten season and use present driveway. _____ Improve new driveway.
LANDS
71 to 80. Supply the missing word in the following:
71. There are _____ acres in the NE. 1/4 NE. 1/4 of section 16.
72. There are _____ acres in the S. 1/2 SW. 1/4 of section 16.
73. The E. 1/2 of section 8 contains _____ acres.
74. The E. 1/2 SE. 1/4 of section 8 contains _____ acres.
75. There are _____ acres in the NE. 1/4 SW. 1/4 SW. 1/4 of section 8.
76. It is _____ miles on section lines from the NE. corner of section 8 to the SW. corner of section 15.
77. A section corner is found with three notches on the east and three notches on the south. It is the northeast corner of section _____ .
78. A field 10 chains wide and 80 chains long contains _____ acres.
79. There are _____ chains in a mile.
80. There are _____ feet in a mile.
