FELLING RULES. 227 



during a gale, which prevents the men from hearing what is 

 going on around them, that most felling accidents happen. In 

 felling a tree, the woodcutter is safest near the stump and at 

 right angles to the direction in which the tree will fall ; the 

 most dangerous place in felling uphill is behind the stump, as 

 already explained, especially in the case of crooked trees. 



v. Great care must be taken that no trees intended to form 

 a shelter- wood, or to be left standing for any reason, 

 are injured by the fall of the trees marked for felling. 



If such an accident should happen, a few marked trees should 

 be left unfelled from which the forest-manager may choose 

 substitutes for those injured. This should be done also in case 

 windfall or theft has removed any of the selected shelter-trees. 

 Poles or saplings bent by the felling should, if possible, be set 

 straight, or if too much injured for that, should be cut-back 

 level with the ground, with a sharp instrument. 



When a tree falls out of the proper direction, it frequently 

 happens that it rests or remains hanging on another tree. 

 Such a tree usually may be brought to the ground by cutting 

 it away from its stump, to which it is often still attached 

 in such cases; or one or two short logs may be cut away 

 from its base ; or use may be made of the screw-jack to 

 release it. If, however, no other means of releasing it are 

 available, a man must climb the trees on which it is resting 

 and lop off the branches which impede its fall. 



[In tropical countries, where large lianes abound in forests, 

 these should be severed near the ground, two years before 

 felling, so that the steins of the lianes which frequently 

 enlace several trees may become rotten before the felling takes 

 place ; otherwise a whole group of trees may have to be felled 

 at once, if it is desired to fell any of them. Tr.] 



vi. Trees exceeding 6 inches in diameter, chest-high, should 

 be felled always with the saw and axe ; smaller trees 

 and very large trees may be felled with the axe alone. 



In all cases the cut should be as near the soil as possible, 

 and, as a rule, the height of the stump should not exceed the 



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