REVIEWS 



Logging in the Douglas Fir Region. By W. H. Gibbons. Bull. 711, 

 U. S^ Department of Agriculture. Contribution from the Forest Serv- 

 ice. Washington, D. C. 1918. Pp. 256. 



A person undertaking to write a volume describing the logging indus- 

 try of the Pacific Northwest is confronted with an immense mass of 

 details and a ramification of methods which renders the full presenta- 

 tion in a readable form exceedingly difficult. The author of the bulle- 

 tin, however, in his preface, frankly states that "the subject is broad 

 in scope, and only the more important features of Douglas fir sawlog 

 operation, as a rule, are covered.'' The first portion of the bulletin is 

 devoted to a brief description of several very important matters con- 

 nected with the logging industry, such as the organization of Pacific 

 Coast logging operations, labor and wages, camps, workingmen's com- 

 pensation acts, taxation, scaling and grading, accounting, and log prices. 

 There then ensues a detailed description of the various steps involved 

 in converting the standing tree into logs and transporting the logs to 

 the sawmill. Falling, bucking, yarding, loading, railroad transportation, 

 unloading, rafting, and towing are discussed in detail in the order in 

 which they take place in the woods. Much of this information has 

 been secured from the Proceedings of the Pacific Logging Congress and 

 various Pacific Coast lumber trade journals, but the bulletin is none the 

 less valuable, as it, for the first time, sets forth in a logical printed form 

 a complete survey of the industry as carried on in the Pacific North- 

 west. 



The author is to be complimented on the freedom from inaccuracies 

 that have appeared in some other publications dealing with the logging 

 industry which have been written by men not intimately connected with 

 the industry. Two exceptions to this statement were noted. At one 

 point a diagram shows ground yarding roads radiating out from the 

 landings, whereas in practice they radiate from a lead block attached to 

 stumps located a convenient distance on either side of the landing. In 

 another place the salary of a logging engineer is listed at $100 to $125, 

 which is just the same rate as given for the scaler and bookkeeper and 

 less than for some of the skilled workmen of the operation. In other 

 words, the logging engineer, who has spent four years in college, or the 

 equivalent in practical work, is worth no more than a bookkeeper, who 

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