WHITE MOUNTAIN WINTER WORK 



FORESTERS who have just re- 

 turned from winter work in 

 the White Mountains of New 

 Hampshire re])ort tliat, while 

 some hardship is entailed, as much can 

 be accomplished in the dead of winter 

 as in simimer. 



In most of the Government's field 

 services it is usually thought best to 

 work in the north during the summer 

 months and in the south during the win- 

 ter, the idea being to do the work with 

 the least difficulty. In appraising lands 

 for purchase under the Weeks law for 

 the eastern national forests, however, 

 the Forest Service has had to disre- 

 gard latitude and season because it was 

 necessary to expedite the work in the 

 north. During the i)ast winter two 

 camps of men have been estimating and 

 valuing the forests which the Govern- 

 ment contemplates purchasing on the 

 slopes of the White Aloimtains. 



Because of the softness of the con- 

 stantly falling snow, the work was 

 done mainly on snow shoes. At times 

 the temperature has been around 20 

 degrees below zero for considerable 

 periods, and the parties now in report 

 some occasions when the thermometers 

 registered nearly 40 degrees below. The 

 crews were housed in winter camps like 

 those of the lumberjacks, and in order 

 to make full use of the short winter 

 days they were out by daylight and did 

 not return until dark. The work of 

 the crews required continuous walking. 

 Diameters of trees were measured and 

 the number of logs estimated in all 

 merchantable trees growing on parallel 

 strips 4 yards wide and 40 rods apart. 



From these estimates the full amount 

 of timber was calculated. 



One man, the crew^ leader, used a 

 compass to keep the men in the desired 

 direction, mapped the country traversed, 

 kept account of the distances covered 

 as determined by actual measurement, 

 and recorded all the information re- 

 garding timber. The other members of 

 the crew measured the timber and gave 

 their figures to the leader, who tallied 

 them. The actual work, however, did 

 not end with all-day climbs through 

 snow on the mountainsides, with fre- 

 quent exposure to the sweep of winds 

 on the higher ridges and divides ; dur- 

 ing the long winter evenings, or on days 

 when the snow storms were so severe 

 that outside work w^as impossible, the 

 figures gathered were tabulated and the 

 information grouped, so as to show the 

 quantities of timber suitable for various 

 ])roducts, such as saw timber, spruce 

 for paper pulp, or birch for spool mak- 

 ing. During the whole winter, how- 

 ever, it was noted that stormy days 

 caused no more loss of time than in 

 summer, and the health of the men in 

 the party was, as a rule, better than in 

 hot weather. 



It is said that the men became quite 

 inured to the cold and liked it, one of 

 the principal advantages being the abso- 

 lute freedom from insects, such as gnats 

 and mosquitoes. While these same 

 crews might appreciate an assignment to 

 the same region for the following sum- 

 mer, those who ha-ve the work in charge 

 say it mav be the lot of these same men 

 to be assigned to the pine regions of 

 the .south during the hottest weather of 

 August. 



Indian Fire Patrolman 



The Canadian government is using Indian fire patrolmen to protect the forests of 

 northern Manitoba. 



Walnut For Gun Stocks 



A Pennsylvania gun company is using the waste pieces of black and Circassian walnyt, 

 left after veneer cutting, for gun stocks. 



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