The ability to estimate the volume of a tree based on a simple measurement, such as the tree's diameter, is important to the lumber industry, ecologists, and conservationists. Data on volume, in cubic feet, and diameter at breast height, in inches, for 70 shortleaf pines were reported in C. Bruce and F. X. Schumacher's Forest Mensuration (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1935) and analyzed by A. C. Akinson in the article "Transforming Both Sides of a Tree" (The American Statistician, Vol. 48, pp. 307-312). The data are presented on the WeissStats CD.
a. Obtain a scatterplot for the data.
b. Decide whether finding a regression line for the data is reasonable.