426 LOGGING 



C. LAKE STATES — WHITE PINE 



Period of Logging. — Railroad operations are conducted 

 throughout the year unless suspended on account of snow. When 

 logs are transported on sleds to streams down which they are 

 driven, the season is from thirty to thirty-six weeks long, be- 

 ginning in the late summer and ending with the termination of 

 hauhng. 



Labor. — The laborers are chiefly Swedes, Norwegians, Finns, 

 Austrians and Poles. Foremen are often native-born Americans. 

 The wage basis of payment is common. 



Camps. — On railroad operations camps are often board 

 structures although log buildings are also used. The latter 

 are employed almost exclusively on operations where the logs are 

 hauled on sleds and floated down streams. Workmen are 

 boarded and housed by the operator. 



Topography and Bottom. — The topography varies through- 

 out the region. In some sections the land is flat, more often it 

 is rolling and "pot holes," which present difficult logging prob- 

 lems, are common. The brush is often dense in the forest 

 where the pine is mixed with hardwoods, while in pure stands of 

 pine the undergrowth is usually scanty. 



Felling and Log-making. — This work is performed by a crew 

 of two or three men who operate under the direction of a saw 

 boss. Low stumps are cut and the bole is taken to a top diam- 

 eter of about 4 inches. Logs are generally cut into standard 

 lengths. The daily output of a crew of two men is from 6000 

 to 10,000 feet, log scale, depending on the size of the timber. 



Skidding. — Animal logging is predominant. Several meth- 

 ods are used for bringing logs to the skidway which is either 

 along a railroad or a sled road. For small logs and for distances 

 of from 300 to 400 feet snaking is common while for large logs 

 and rough bottom go-devils are employed. Logs are snaked 

 for 500 or 600 feet on snow bottom. High-wheeled carts are used 

 by some operators for logging to a railroad in summer, when 

 hauling for distances from \- to §-mile. In winter logging, 

 swamps are crossed and often hauls of |-mile are made by 



