564 Forestry Quarterly. 



times built on rafts of logs held in place by boom-sticks and chains 

 fastened to the shore. The slope of the land varies from 5 to 10 

 per cent, to 50 degrees or more, and the surface is often broken 

 by rocky bluffs and ledges. 



The forest along the coast consists principally of a stand of 

 Douglas fir, Western red cedar {Thuja plicata), Western hem- 

 lock (Tsuga heterophylla), grand fir {Abies grandis) locally 

 known as larch, Sitka spruce {Picea sitchensis) , yellow cypress 

 {Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) and occasionally Western white 

 pine. Douglas fir and cedar are the two principal species, the 

 former occurring in almost pure stands at the lower elevations 

 and south of Cracroft Island in Johnstone Strait (50° 30' North 

 Latitude), while the cedar predominates at higher elevations and 

 farther north. The trees of these two species are of large size, 

 individuals of from 6 to 12 feet in diameter being frequently 

 found. Single trees scaling 24,000 board feet are on record. The 

 per acre stand is heavy, usually averaging from 25 to 60 M board 

 feet over large areas, and logs scaling 200 to 300 M are said to 

 have been cut from exceptional individual acres. 



In hand-logging the trees on the steeper slopes are felled in 

 such a manner that they can be made to slide into the water by 

 force of gravity. If the slope is steep enough the tree, in falling, 

 will jump and slide a long distance and may reach the sea with- 

 out any more effort on the part of the loggers. In most cases, 

 however, the tree will stop before it reaches the "salt-chuck" (or 

 ocean) and it then becomes necessary to help it along in its down- 

 ward course by means of a jack-screw. When once it gets a good 

 start there is nothing that will stop it, except a depression in the 

 slope, and it will cut a clean swath down hill by its own weight, 

 sweeping away all obstacles, uprooting stumps and shattering 

 good-sized trees. In the process of sliding the tree effectively 

 limbs and trims itself, at least on one side. Should the tree slide 

 into a depression in the surface of the ground, it will either be 

 smashed or else it will bury itself for a distance in the ground. 

 By judicious bucking and lifting with the jack-screw, it may be 

 possible to save such a tree, but in many cases the hand-logger 

 will prefer to let it go to waste, and spend his time and energy 

 on a new tree. 



The distance which a tree can be made to slide by this opera- 

 tion is trulv remarkable. In favorable situations records of half 



