CHAPTER VII 

 FELLING AND LOG-MAKING 



SEASON 



The period of the year in which felHng is done is governed by 

 climatic conditions and by the method of logging followed. 



Where loggers rely on a heavy snowfall to furnish a bottom 

 for transporting logs, felling begins in the late summer or early 

 fall and continues until the snow becomes too deep for profit- 

 able skidding, which is about the middle or latter part of 

 December. 



On railroad operations in the Northern States felling is 

 carried on throughout the greater part of the year, ceasing only 

 when the snow becomes too deep for operation, or when deemed 

 advisable because of market conditions. 



In the coniferous forests of the South and in the Northwest 

 felhng is carried on the year round as weather conditions seldom 

 interfere with logging. 



Hardwood felling may continue throughout the year. Owing 

 to the fact that the sapwood of species such as hickory is subject 

 to insect damage^ if cut during the summer months, the season 

 of felling may be restricted to the resting period of the tree, 

 although hardwoods can be cut safely at any season if they are 

 manufactured in a short time and the lumber well piled and 

 seasoned. The galleries made in sapwood by insects furnish 



^ Certain species of ambrosia beetles, sawyers and timber worms are very de- 

 structive to the sapwood of felled hardwood and coniferous timber during a portion 

 of the year. The danger of attack is greatest in timber cut during the fall and 

 winter and left on the ground or in close piles during the early spring and summer; 

 also in trees cut during the warm season. The presence of bark is necessary for 

 infestation by most of these insects and the danger can be largely avoided by not 

 allowing the logs to accumulate during the danger season, or by barking such as 

 carmot be removed within a few weeks. (A detailed discussion of these problems 

 may be found in various publications of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology.) 



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