MASSACHUSETTS WOODLANDS. 33 



to remain. A little time was sufficient to mark an area which would 

 take some time for the choppers to cover. 



The choppers were most efficient in gangs of three. One man, going 

 ahead, would under-cut tree just above the ground and on the side 

 towards which it was to fall. It is remarkable to observe the skill 

 some men have in directing the tree through any small opening by the 

 right position of this under-cut on the tree. The other two men fol- 

 lowing him would saw just above and on the opposite side of the 

 under-cut until the tree fell. It was the first man's duty now to trim 

 the tree of its side branches and mark the tree into logs with lengths 

 most economical for it to be sawed by the other two men. 



This system sounds bunglesome to relate, but, once started, one man 

 should not be interrupted or in the way of the others, and under 

 ordinary conditions the work would be about equally portioned. 



Frequently a tree was found so wedged in between its neighbors, 

 their limbs interwoven, or so balanced in regard to its necessary felling 

 direction, that some means was required to give the tree a start before 

 it would fall. This was overcome in large trees by wedging the stump 

 and bole in the saw-kerf, or in small trees by directing the men to throw 

 their weight against the tree. Other methods were: picking up small 

 trees and carrying them away at the bole in the opposite direction they 

 were to fall; felling other trees against the one which does not start; 

 and finally, the most useful method, that of turning the tree with a 

 cant-hook, twisting its top in the direction of least support until it gains 

 momentum sufficient to crash to the ground. 



The labor of chopping over the 12 acres required seven hundred and 

 forty-eight hours. Over this area many of the so-called " pasture 

 pines " were removed, which always tended to make the average cost 

 high, since so much time was required to rid them of their side branches. 

 The fact is that the more expensive trees were removed and the least 

 expensive to handle were left. 



Good woodsmen are obtained for $2 per day, or for 74.8 days an 

 expense of $149.60 over the whole work. The logs were sawed " live- 

 run " into 2 1 /8-mch plank with 1-inch siding's, and according to the 

 mill scale totalled between 125,000 and 130,000 B. M. feet. Upon the 

 basis of 130,000 feet, the average cost would be $1.15 per thousand for 

 the felling and sawing into logs. 



The ordinary contracting price when cutting clean is around $1 per 

 thousand, sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less; as a 

 rule, however, a little more, getting as high as $1.30 per thousand. The 

 chopping of this lot clean would have cost $1 to contract. 



Since it was foreseen that the removing of the " pasture pines " was 

 sure to add to the average cost of chopping the improvement thinnings, 

 a record was kept of the labor and the material removed from an area 

 where the work was entirely that of thinning. It required 112.5 hours 



