FOREST UTILISATION 113 



portance may need only to be formed of coarse gravel bound 

 together with a little clay, sand, or peaty earth, as the 

 foundation may require. The drawback to poorly con- 

 structed roads is that it is impossible to use them in any but 

 the driest weather in summer, and in time of frost in 

 winter. Carting over them at other seasons soon renders 

 them impassable, so that their utility is obviously restricted. 



Occasionally forest material has to be taken across low, 

 marshy land, and then the fascine road or path proves useful 

 It consists of bound bundles of branchwood laid horizontally ; 

 sods of grass or heather make a suitable covering to the 

 fascines. 



When tracks are required only for temporary use, as, for 

 example, in the clearing of a recently felled area, the only 

 preparation generally given is the removal of a few awkwardly 

 lying stumps of trees. Thus, while the more important 

 forest roads are practically as well made as public highways, 

 others of more occasional utility need be of only the simplest 

 construction. The latter can be much more steep and have 

 sharper curves than are permissible on the main roads. 

 Whereas the maximum gradient for public roads should not 

 exceed five or six per cent., that for forest roads may be 

 seven per cent, or more. Auxiliary roads and tracks may 

 have a fall of ten per cent, where the traffic with laden carts 

 is only downhill. 



The length of the timber to be removed often regulates 

 the degree of abruptness of a road's turnings. For short 

 pieces a minimum radius of twelve yards is sufficient, while 

 for the removal of long logs it must not be less than thirty to 

 forty yards. At the time of a road's formation insufficient 

 attention is apt to be given to the matter of suitable curves. 

 Especially is there a tendency to curtail these, to an incon- 

 venient extent, when there is no immediate prospect of an 

 output of lengthy timber ; a word of caution to the engineer is 

 therefore necessary, so that he may allow sufficiently for the 

 future growth of the forest. Much forethought is necessary in 

 laying down the whole system of roadways and intersecting 



