1H WOOD TRANSPORT BY WATER. 



favour of the mode of floating with a chain of logs explained 

 on p. 405. Wherever on large rivers the floating of firewood 

 is not allowable, it is conveyed in barges,* or as ballast on 

 timber-rafts. Logs are bound together by means either of 

 withes or poles. 



(a) Rafts of Logs. 



i. Raft-sections made up with Withes. 



A very convenient method of binding logs into sections is 

 by means of withes. First the logs are stranded, being rolled 

 along two pieces of wood gently inclined into the water, and 

 arranged as in Fig. 272 ; the triangular holes are then cut in 



Fig. 272. Fixing rafts with withes. 



deeply with a special hatchet. The corresponding holes 

 (a a, a a) are then completely bored, and the logs pushed 

 back into the water and tied firmly in raft-sections by strong 

 withes. 



These withes are generally spruce branches, or dominated 

 spruce or hazel saplings, which have grown for a long time 

 under the shade of larger trees ; they are first baked in ovens 

 and then twisted, their thick ends being held by a special 

 contrivance. The withes are from 1 to 6 centimeters (J to 2 

 inches) thick, and their preparation for sale in many districts 

 forms a special trade. On the Vistula, ropes made of lime-bast 

 are used for tying the logs. 



The number of logs which are bound-together into a raft- 

 section depends on the breadth of the rafting-channel, and in 



* Specially low, broad barges are built for the purpose on the Danube and 

 other rivers. Those from Russia are 200 to 250 feet long. 



