168 FELLING AND CONVERSION OF TIMBER. 



pay, and manner of payment. It should be signed by all the 

 workmen and by the forest-manager. 



4. Organisation of the Labour-Gang. 



(a) General Account. It is evident that the efficiency, as 

 regards quality and quantity of outturn, of the whole force 

 of labourers employed in a forest, leaving out of consideration 

 their special aptitude for the work, depends greatly on the 

 supervision the foresters and forest-guards can exercise over 

 them. The influence and the possibility of its leading also to 

 useful results depends on the relations of the woodcutters to 

 one another, and on their attachment to the forest and its 

 interests. All this varies considerably from place to place, 

 and in certain cases it is hardly possible for the forest-manager 

 to exert the desired influence, whilst in others he can do so 

 quite easily. In order, however, to do what is possible in this 

 respect and supervise the hundreds of woodcutters who may 

 be employed in any forest-range, as well as to distribute them 

 suitably among the different felling-areas and pay them pro- 

 portionally to their labour, a certain organisation of the whole 

 force of labour must be instituted, subdividing them into 

 gangs and parties, and appointing from amongst themselves 

 certain influential persons as foremen and heads of parties. 

 Usually the gangs are composed of all men coming from the 

 same village (or district), and their leader is termed a foreman. 

 A party consists of the number of men, not less than two 

 or three, required for complete felling and conversion of a 

 certain lot of trees. The party chooses its own leader, works 

 together and divides the payment for the work done into equal 

 parts among its members. 



Considerable importance should be attached to the choice of 

 the foreman, as he is the intermediary between the workmen 

 and the forest officials and is more or less responsible during 

 the absence of the latter for the conduct of the woodcutters. 

 On account of the indispensable nature of his services it is 

 advisable to attach him as much as possible to the forest and 

 to keep him constantly employed ; he should also have special 

 privileges. He usually settles the accounts with the men, 



