GO TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Fr^nzdorf (1770 feet) ; and then turning southwai-d, followed the 

 main valley of the Berzdva, until we reached the reservoir {2180 

 feet), above which a portion of the birch forest is being clean 

 felled. 



The cuttings are commenced at the end of September, con- 

 tinued throughout the winter, and completed in May or June, 

 when the logs are converted into billets 40 inches long. Between 

 July and September, a system of temporary dry slides is con- 

 structed of beech poles, about 6 inches in diameter ; and by this 

 means the billets are conveyed — during the period from October 

 to March — a part of the way down the valley. The temporary 

 slides cost about 7d. to 8d. per running yai"d. In winter, when 

 the frost is on the ground, a fall of 7 in 100 is sufficient for 

 them ; but, for work during the dry season, a slope of from 10 to 

 15 in 100 is required ; and if the billets do not run freely, the 

 slides must be wetted, so as to reduce the friction. Over the 

 last two miles above the reservoir, a system of wet slides has 

 been constructed in connection with the dry ones ; and down 

 them the wood is sent — between April and July — to a point 

 immediately below the dam. The main channel of the wet slide 

 is formed of planks from 2| in. to 4 in. thick ; it is 24 in. wide at 

 bottom, 40 in. wide at top, and has a fall of 1 in 100. If such 

 works are required to last for a single year only, the timber used 

 is fir ; if for five or six years, it is beech; oak will last for ten 

 years. The main portion of the existing slide cost 3s. per 

 running yard, the feeders, which are of smaller section, costing 

 2s. 6d. The slide, when in use, is full to the brim with water 

 and billets, and men are stationed at sharp bends, or other points 

 where obstructions are likely to occur ; in order to prevent a 

 stoppage, by pushing the wood along. Where an exceptionally 

 steep fall occurs, there is an ingenious arrangement for passing 

 the water into a sub-channel, by means of a grating in the floor 

 of the slide, and thus reducing the speed of the descending wood ; 

 the water re-appears lower down, where the fall is less. The 

 slide passes the end of the dam, the portion below which is 

 furnished with a number of outlets, each leading into a shoot, so 

 arranged as to throw the billets into the bed of the stream. 

 Each outlet has a door, which, when it is opened and thi-own 

 back across the main channel, bars the further passage of the 

 wood, and permits it to escape down one of the shoots. When 

 the first door has been open for some time, so that a large heap of 



