Editor s Box. 503 



OUR ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Sir, — It being one of the standing orders of the Journal of Forestry 

 and Estates Management that contributions are invited on all subjects con- 

 nected with Forestry, I beg to make the following remarks in regard to 

 some of the " illustrated technics " which appeared in the October number 

 of the Journal. If such illustrations are to be worth anything for practical 

 reference, the outline and leading features of the tools should be as correct 

 as possible. If figs. 3 and 4 of a heavy felling axe are intended to serve as a 

 guide as to shape of axe and the mode of fixing the shaft or handle, I as one 

 who has wrought with tools for the last thirty years, and knows what it is 

 to break a shaft and likewise how to put one in, say unhesitatingly that it 

 is a most unpractical illustration. How any person can fell or hew timber 

 with such a tool I can't tell. There seems to be no edge to it at all- 

 only a piece of unshapen metal. Another thing, the axe is not properly 

 shafted and wedged. The " reed " of the wood which forms the shaft 

 should always be in line with the tool, being the strongest position for 

 resistance ; and the wedge which fixes -the shaft in the axe should always 

 be put in on line with the reed of the wood and blade of the axe. When 

 the shaft is put in and wedged as shown in the illustration referred to, 

 the shaft is more liable to break, and the wedge is sure to come out and 

 be an everlasting source of annoyance to the axeman. 



I have taken the liberty of making the above remarks, not as a 

 fault-finder, but for the credit of Foresters generally; and that the 

 illustrations may be more practically delineated. 



James Kay 



Bute Ustafe, Rothesay, October 12 th, 1877. Forester. 



[We have submitted our correspondent's letter to the author of "Technics of 

 Forestry," and give his explanation as being very much to the point. We 

 merely observe that " all subjects connected with forestry," and the various 

 modes in which its operations are performed, will receive due consideration 

 from us ; and all suggestions, such as that of our esteemed correspondent, are 

 of much interest and practical Yalne.— Ed. J. F.] 



Sir, — In subsequent papers I may give sketches of axes used for soft woods, 

 carpentry, wheelwright's work, &c. Tifr. Kay is evidently a soff-iuood axeman, 

 and has his ideas limited by his experience, which is valuable for its length, 

 but lacks breadth. I, however, like the vehemence with which he writes, 

 although he has not looked into the illustrations very closely ; and if he were 

 to send a rough sketch of his axe-head and the handle, saying where it is 

 broken, and why it broke, I have no doubt our views would not be very widely 

 different, at least about the shape of his axe-head for Scotch firs. I should like 

 him to see the Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone's reply to my letter, finding fault 

 with his using a soft-wood axe to fell an ash. I sent him the illustrations of a 

 bard- wood axe and bill, of which Mr. Kay complains, and he admitted that he 

 was using an old American soft-wood axe, and my observations were " perfectly 

 correct." I shall be pleased to hear again from Mr. Kay, but he must re- 

 member the Journal of Forestry has a wide range of usefulness, and hard- 

 woods take precedence, as felling such timber req-iires if anything better tools 

 —J". G. K. 



