26 



HARDWOOD RE CORD 



as iiiatt'i-ial for the niaiiufai-turo of articles of small size. A tenta- 

 tive list is given of such commodities, few of which are now manu- 

 factured in the state. A list of 165 woods is also given, as pros- 

 |icctive sources of material for the following articles: Athletic 

 goods, balls, billiard cues, brackets, brush backs, canes, carved 

 ornaments, castors, chairs, clothes pins, curtain rings, dyewoods. 



easels games, grilles, handles, inlay, insulator pin, knobs, mani- 

 cure sets marquetry, mathematical instruments, medicinal extracts, 

 musical instruments, pallettes, panels, parquetry, picture frames, 

 rulers, shuttles, small furniture, souvenirs, .spindles, sporting goods, 

 tovs trays, turnery, umbrella handles, veneer, and many kinds of 

 wooden ware. 



< {:xaitiim^i^^imm\mmmmmm!m:m^ 



Proper Handling of Logging Horses 



Editor's Note 



Tlir following paper was read by J. W. Gloason of the Goodman Lumber Lompany. Goodman, ^ is., before 

 tbc nioctins of the AliclilKun and Wisconsin loggers at Green Hay on Saturday, December t.. the article Is here- 

 with printed m the belief that the horse as a logging factor will always be of importance either m connection 

 with tlie operations of steam logging machinery or where the employment of such methods is not practicable. 



1 deem it a privilege and an honor of no small consequence to 

 lie selected to appear before this honorable body to discuss a ques- 

 tion that, no doubt, many of you have given considerable thought. 

 To the modern logging operation in Wisconsin and ^[ichigau the 

 horse is an absolute necessity. Good machinery is very important 

 but more important still is a good force of able-bodied horses. 

 Efficiency is the greatest requirement — a term which applies to 

 every branch of the logging game. 



My experience has been that too little attention is given the 

 care and handling of horses in the lumber woods. In the old pine 

 days or before modern methods were known, horses were worked 

 during the winter months and turned out to pasture all summer 

 to recuperate. Everyone had the idea that they could not do any 

 logging unless they half killed their horses. A man was not con- 

 sidered a teamster unless he could make a team eat three bushels 

 of oats every day and could pound them on the head for eighteen 

 or twenty hours every day. There are more horses ruined by over- 

 feeding than by any other cause. In that respect the average 

 teamster of today is like the newly married young lady who, upon 

 entering the meat market, was asked: "How much steak do you 

 want?" she replied: "I don't know whether I want a pound or a 

 whole cow." The teamster does not know whether a horse needs 

 a quart of oats for supper or a whole bag full. To get the best 

 results, horses should be kept in good condition. Their teeth should 

 be gone over at least once a year by a competent veterinary. AVe 

 keep a man at each camp whose sole work is to look after the 

 horses. He feeds them three times a day; keeps the barns in good 

 sanitary condition; looks after the harnesses, in fact ever3'thiug in 

 connection with the horses, and he gets to know every horse. He 

 is the only one around the barns who has access to the oat bin 

 and the harness room. We find that by having one man in charge 

 who has gained his knowledge by actual exjierience we get better 

 results. It eliminates, to a certain extent at least, acute diseases 

 such as spinal trouble, cholic, etc., which are common among 

 horses. We buy the best oats and liay; feed bran only once a 

 week (Saturday night) and we do not feed any stock foods of any 

 kind whatever. We work our horses all the year around — or an 

 average of 300 days of ten hours each. Will give some facts and 

 figures to show what horses can accomplish if properly cared for 

 and handled. 



We operate two camps, having twenty-four teams in the logging 

 service, or twelve teams in each camp. One team is used ft) haul 

 water to the horses and lunch to the men; one team is used for 

 railroad work exclusively. This leaves ten teams in each camp 

 tt do the skidding. They do not do any loading as we operate 

 two MeGififord loaders. The following includes the two camps or 

 twenty teams skidding 312 days, or 6,240 days for one team: 

 Logs, Doyle scale, number of pieces 228,349, 13,948,.'5.'50 feet, which 

 tallied over the trimmer board measure 21,090,562 feet; 12,578 

 cords of four-foot chemical wood (birch and maple) ; 1,754 cedar 

 telegraph poles and 8,569 cedar posts. 



I will give you the different items of horse feed, etc., and what 

 they cost — in other words, what it costs us for horse flesh and 

 the amount of work done. AVe value the teams at $600 each or 



$14,400. One thing we have learned by experience is that the 

 average life of a horse, in the lumber woods, when worked the 

 year around, is from four to six years, and one thing we do claim 

 is that to keep a man driving a team that is broken down is a- 

 waste of human energy, which is the most expensive commodity 

 that is used today in every successful lumbering operation. Human 

 energy and brains go hand in hand; no lumbering operation is suc- 

 cessful without both. 



Depreciation, interest, etc., 2.t (ler cent $ 3,600.00 



Oats consumed— 11.305 bushels 4,809.37 



Hay consumed— 106 tons 2,828.70 



Bran consumed — 12 tons 218.30 



Veterinary services and medicine 221.00 



*ll,707.:i7 

 These figures are absolutely correct for I made them myself. 

 Our company has the best accounting system under the sun. It 

 does not use the old debit and credit system; it just charges every- 

 thing and credits Bothing. We have a little accounting system of 

 our own in connection with the woods department: Supplies pur- 

 chased, supplies on hand, inventory every month, distribution of 

 labor, material, etc. We don't wait until the fifteen or twentieth 

 of the following month to see "where we aie at," for about that 

 time the general manager calls a fellow in "on the carpet" and 

 shows him a little slip of paper containing some figures, then he 

 straightens up in his chair and says: "John, it is costing too 

 much to log; too much to build railroads; too much to feed the 

 men, and this, that and the other thing are costing too much, ' ' and 

 nine cases out of ten a fellow has to sit there like a bump on a 

 log, not knowing what to say, so the only way is to keep an accu- 

 rate tab on everj'thing as you go along and when you find that any- 

 thing is costing too much "cut it out" before the boss gets next 

 to it. 



AvF.RAr.F. Cost of Logging pee M Fkom Nov. 1. 1912, to Nov. 1, 1913. 

 Doyle Scale, 12 Months 



Sawing $1.10 



Swamping 7."> 



Slddding 1.28 



Loading :!0 



Tools and repairs 2."> 



Depreciation, horses, equipment, etc 90 



Roads and spurs l.od 



Supervision overhead i-'."" 



?5.S3 

 The average cost according to the general books for ten mouths, 

 everything included for the twelve months, Doyle scale, $5.94. The 

 difference between Doyle scale and lumber tally was forty-four 

 per cent, so that the net cost for the ten months was $4.13, lum- 

 ber tally over the trimmer. 



We may not like them, but just the same we have to face and 

 complj' with workmen's compensation laws. So it pays to know 

 just what and when they are. 



.\s a first aid to steam boiler efficiency when the colder weather 

 comes try a round of cleanliness — inside and out. 



Conservation means one thing and preservation means something 

 else, but the difference is not always plainly seen by some. 



