816 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The Log Pond. 



late in the season special attention is given to filling the log pond at the mill to provide for a busy 



winter's work. 



the camps. Just before this time the 

 mill cut is materially reduced and 

 special attention is given to filling the 

 log pond. So, when the shrill whistle 

 of the donkey engine in the woods toots 

 its last "pull-her-in" signal, the log 

 pond is generally full and logs are 

 decked high on the banks. This supply 

 of logs will enable the mill to begin 

 cutting before the woods are opened up 

 the following Spring. The camps close 

 down and outgoing trains are loaded 

 with men bound for town. To almost 

 every man will come a new suit, a hat 

 and new pair of shoes, a week of bright 

 lights and player-pianos, a good time 

 and then, unfortunately, to many of 

 them, a long winter of existence by 

 this means or that. 



Soon after the closing of the camps the 

 mill shuts down and the jackladder 

 chain gets rusty again. The Sierras are 

 silent during these months — usually 

 from the first of December to the latter 

 part of March — silent and deserted save 

 for the lone trapper or prospector who 

 decides to breast the heavy mountain 

 storms. In his solitary fight against 

 the cold he takes pleasure in counting 



the days until the time when his 

 departed friends, the lumbermen, will 

 return; to the time when the camps will 

 open again and the scent of logging will 

 fill the summer air; to the days when 

 credit will be given at the camp com- 

 missary; and to the clear summer 

 nights when the gang around the camp- 

 fire will listen intently to his tales of 

 the winter's adventures. 



Some winters in California are less 

 severe than others; but, it is not safe 

 to count upon a light annual snowfall 

 until Spring actually comes. Heavy 

 snow storms occur in the Sierras and 

 well below the timber-line, not infre- 

 quently, as late as the middle of April. 

 Spring comes and clear weather enables 

 the farmers in the valleys to cultivate 

 the soil and plant their early crops; but, 

 the lumbermen in the Sierras still wait 

 for the deep snow to disappear. In 

 some sections the lumberman is indeed 

 fortunate who is able to resume opera- 

 tions by the middle of March. The 

 nature of methods employed in western 

 logging render early operations difficult. 

 Power logging requires the manipula- 

 tion of extremely heavy machinery and 



