PERIODICAL LITERATURK 187 



The total output avcrag[es 100,000 lojj^s at l^iknamplio aiul '.^0,000 

 lojj;s at Moulmein (P.uruia) a year. The royalty and duly amounts to 

 ahout £110.000. 



Raj'tinij ill Japan 



Log driving in the forests of Kiso in Central Jai)an is carried on 

 when tlie water is low, directly opposite to that of Siam, which is done 

 during the big rises of the creeks. This is because the Kiso forests 

 contain mostly the valuable "Hinoki" (Cliamaecyparis ohtusa) which 

 is easily damaged by the rocky creeks in high water. Furthermore, the 

 logs are small in comparison with the Siamese teak logs and can there- 

 fore be driven in shallower water. The practice as developed has been 

 in use for centuries. These forests (Kiso) belong to the Emperor of 

 Japan and are the most intensively worked of the large forests of the 

 country. They are 120-150 km. north of Nagoya and about 1,000 to 

 1,.500 m. above sea level. 



After felling in autumn and winter the logs are rolled on the snow 

 'down to the small creeks where flumes are made of them without using 

 any nails or binding material. The rocky creek is thus turned into a 

 sort of a staircase down which the timber is floated. Gradually the 

 timber is worked down, one gang ahead making the flumes, the next 

 floating the timber, while a third gang wrecks the upper end of the 

 flumes and floats down the logs used in its construction. The w^ork 

 is (lone very cleverly without any other tool than the boathook used 

 everywhere by timber floaters. These men get 30 cents (35 sen) a 

 day and free rice. The work is very hard and they have to stand the 

 whole day in cold water with only the "Tabi" (cloth sock) and straw 

 sandals on their feet. 



On arrival at the main river Kisogawa the timber is mostly landed 

 near a railway station and forwarded by rail. Formerly it was rafted 

 to Nagoya, but now only from the lower parts of the forests. The 

 extension of narrow gauge railroads in the forests is gradually making 

 log driving less important. However, it is still practiced on a large 

 scale and is a beautiful example of a highly developed old-time method 

 which is possible only with a large number of well-'trained workers. 



E. R. H. 



Skogsvardsforeningers Tidskrift. 1010, Haft 12, pp. 2S1-304. 



