THE LIFE OF A FORESTER 85 



tricts the Land Office surveys have not been completed 

 so if a classification of the land is desired a survey must 

 first be made. The reconnaissance crew by means of 

 transit and chain lay off the unmapped regions into 

 townships six miles square, each township being later 

 subdivided into thirty-six sections each of which is 

 again divided into four quarter-sections of one hundred 

 and sixty acres each and a map of the timber made 

 while the lines are being run. 



As described in the first chapter, most of Uncle Sam's 

 holdings are far back in the mountains, the best timber 

 land having been acquired by the far-sighted lumber- 

 man, so that life in a survey party may be rather soli- 

 tary. The high elevations make the air invigorating 

 but frosty and the men come out of the mountains at 

 the end of the summer in perfect physical condition. 



In some forests a large amount of timber estimating 

 is done in the wintertime. Ordinarily the activities 

 of the forests slacken up at that season and if the 

 ground is extremely brushy a snow cover makes winter 

 travel much easier. In the mountains of California 

 where winter reconnaissance has been tried the results 

 have been quite good. The snowfall is very heavy 

 and drifts form of almost unbelievable depths forty 

 to fifty feet is the depth ascribed to some drifts. Snow- 

 shoes or skees of course are necessary and fast time 

 can be make as long as the snow crust is hard, but 

 woe betide the forester if he loses his shoe and falls, 

 for a good floundering time is ahead of him. 



In practically any phase of work in the Forest 

 Service hard physical work is the rule but the pleasure 

 of life in the open, the invigorating mountain air, the 

 occasional hunting and fishing trips not so frequent 

 as are imagined give zest to the life and make the 



