10 



fire is burned to coals, and the stones and pieces of iron are red hot. 

 The pot of beans is then placed directly upon these, covered with hot 

 ashes and earth and left to cook overnight, usually twelve to four- 

 teen hours. In the morning- the beans come from the hole steaming 

 hot and are served for breakfast. 



SOURDOUGH BISCUIT. 



In the Maine lumber camijs cream-of -tartar biscuit are seldom seen, 

 but in place of these the cook makes what are termed sour-dough 

 biscuits, The method of preparing this sour dough is as follows: 

 In the fall of the year, at the beginning of the lumbering operations, 

 flour, water, and lard are mixed to a stiff batter and allowed to remain 

 near the fire from twelve to twenty-four hours. At the end of this 

 time active fermentation (due to wild yeasts) has taken place, and 

 the dough has a very pleasant spur taste and smell. This sour dough 

 is turned on the kneading board and soda and salt are worked into 

 it, after which it is shaped into biscuits and baked. Enough dough 

 is mixed at each baking so that some may be left over to serve as a 

 "starter" in souring the dough for the next baking. 



^t5 



THE LUMBERING OPERATIONS AND THE CHARACTER AND 

 AMOUNT OF WORK INVOLVED. 



The work involved in lumbering operations varies at different sea- 

 sons of the year in character, amount, and conditions under which it 

 is performed. Maine lumbering consists of three distinct operations, 

 viz, cutting and yarding, landing, and driving, each of which involves 

 severe work under more or less trying conditions. 



CUTTING AND YARDING, AND LANDING THE LOGS. 



In the early part of the season the trees are felled and the logs 

 dr.awn and put into piles (yarded) near where the trees stood. Cut- 

 ting and 3'arding usually begin the last of September or earl}^ in Octo- 

 ber and end in January before the deep snows come. The logs are 

 drawn to the " j^ards" on single bobsleds. 



The overseer or foreman naturally has less physical labor to per- 

 form than the men. He looks over the standing timber and surround- 

 ings to see where the lumber can best be drawn to the brook or stream 

 where the driving will begin later. ■ He "spots" the main roads and 

 yards and maintains a general superintendence of all the work. The 

 choppers simply fell the trees, top them off, and cut them into logs of 

 the desired length. The "swampers" clear a roadw^ay so that the 

 teams can get from the main woods to the newdy cut logs. The sled- 

 tenders limb, knot, and load the logs; the teamsters draw them to the 

 yards, and the yard-tenders build the j^ards by putting the logs into 

 piles. 



