178 Forestry Quarterly. 



trees to become pitchy and burly, which renders them difficult to 

 work. Generally, however, western yellow pine is not difficult 

 to work but is heavy to haul. Douglas fir is usually sound, being 

 the least defective of the species used for ties. It makes the 

 most desirable ties because of its durability and lightness, but is 

 not liked by the majority of tie makers because of its hardness. 

 White fir is very soft and easy to work, and for this reason is 

 preferred by many of the tie makers. It is often seriously in- 

 fected with stump and heart rot. This policy of seldom mark- 

 ing white fir about 18 to 20 inches D. B. H. has been adopted 

 for this locality, because trees above this diameter usually show 

 considerable rot. White fir makes the least desirable tie because 

 the wood is soft, brittle, and does' not hold the spikes firmly. 

 When creosoted it makes a fairly satisfactory tie as evidenced 

 by the fact that the railroad company, in this section of the 

 country, accepts white fir ties together with those of the other 

 species without discrimination. 



Trees from 10 to 16 inches are suitable for hewn ties', al- 

 though the tie makers prefer those from 11 to 13 inches. At 

 the lower elevations where cutting is now in progress the trees 

 average 2.7 ties per tree. This figure is kept rather low, due to 

 the marking for cutting of all suppressed and defective trees, 

 from which at least one tie can be made, and the short-boled 

 timber toward the lower limit of the yellow pine type. 



Three classes of hewn ties are made; squares, firsts and sec- 

 onds. The butts of large trees are made into square ties, which 

 are not less than 10 inches on the face, and do not exceed 8 

 inches in thickness and 8 feet long. First class ties are 8 inches 

 wide, 7 inches thick, and 8 feet long. Only one inch increase is 

 allowed in thickness or length. Second class ties must be 7 

 inches thick, so long as the log is large enough to permit, and 

 under no circumstances less than 6 inches thick and 6 inches 

 wide. No ties under 6 inch by 6 inch, or over 1 1 inch by 8 inch, 

 are accepted by the tie inspector. 



The company's agreements with all of their tie makers con- 

 tain a stipulation which states that all timber of the proper size 

 for hewn ties' must be cut and if sound shall be made into ties. 

 If not sound, it must be cut into every four feet sufficiently to 



