368 LOGGING 



the stream, and special devices for holding chains and cables 

 while the logs are being bundled (p. 387). 



On the tidewater of Puget Sound, where large numbers of logs 

 are rafted to the mills, a rafting works consists of an unloading 

 dock several hundred feet long projecting into the storage area. 

 The latter is enclosed by sheer booms which are held in place by 

 piles driven about 70 feet apart. A rafting pocket 75 feet wide 

 and 800 feet long is enclosed in booms and in this the rafts are 

 built in sections. 



Ocean-going rafts are built on tidewater along the Columbia 

 river. The usual storage area is provided and in addition, 

 cradles in which the rafts are built (p. 390). 



THE DRIVE 



The season in which logs are transported by water varies in 

 different regions. In the Northeast and the Lake States loggers 

 depend primarily on the spring flood waters that are caused by 

 the melting snow and hence the drive must begin as soon as 

 the ice goes out of the streams, since the water supply gradually 

 decreases as the season advances, and on the smaller streams 

 may be insufficient by early summer. 



In the Appalachians and in the South where the snowfall is 

 limited, reliance is placed on freshets or heavy rainfalls for water 

 to float the logs and the drive is conducted whenever water is 

 available. On large bodies of water like the Great Lakes, Puget 

 Sound, and the Ocean the governing factor is the storm period 

 and the summer months are preferred because there are a mini- 

 mum number of storms during this season. 



Conduct of Drives. — The business conduct of drives on streams 

 may be under the control of one man, a group of individuals, or 

 a corporation, depending on the ownership of the timber. Raft- 

 ing on the large rivers, with the exception of the Mississippi, on 

 lakes and on the ocean is usually undertaken by individuals or 

 corporations. 



Drives on large rivers often originate on numerous small 

 streams around the headwaters, from each one of which come the 

 logs of an individual or a company. Under these circumstances 



