The Work of a Forest Engineer 



61 



different valleys the location of the line 

 is often a very difficult matter, especially 

 ■when there are two or more possible 

 routes. Usually, however, the location 

 will include the lowest summits and high- 

 est low points, such as river-crossings, etc. 

 Hence the elevations of summits and sags 

 and the distances between them, together 

 with the constructive character of the 

 country, must be determined. Low ruling 

 grades are always desirable, whether the 

 road is to be for sleighs, wagons, traction 

 engines or locomotives. Where there is a 

 prospect of the road being sold later on 

 as a link in a railway system, it is well 

 to spend considerable time and money in 

 securing the best possible location. A few 

 hundred dollars spent on preliminary sur- 

 veys will in such cases be repaid an hun- 

 dredfold. For such work as this it will, 

 of course, be necessary to use transit, 

 level and stadia rod. 



Logging by Cable. 



In the large timber of the Pacific 

 coast and the cypress swamps of the 

 South the long logs are hauled in to the 

 railway or other landing place by bull 

 donkey engines. A light line pulls out 

 the heavy cable to be attached to the log, 

 or string of logs, which are then drawn 

 in by the winding-in of the heavy cable. 

 Often each log is capped by a steel cone 

 80 it will come more easily around ob- 

 structions and through soft mud. In the 

 cas^e of cypress, the logs are generally 

 snaked out to canals along which they are 

 then rafted — the bull donkey being 

 mounted on a scow which is anchored or 

 snubbed at convenient points along the 

 canal. Where a cableway skidder is used, 

 the head spar is the mast of the scow and 

 the tail tree off in the swamp a conven- 

 ient distance. 



In the more mountainous districts, the 

 cableway skidder is an exceedingly use- 

 ful device for the bringing in of logs, 

 pulpwood, tan bark, etc., to the railway 

 or other road at a minimum cost. In 

 many cases it is the only practical meth- 

 od of yarding the timber at all; as for 

 example, where it is in 'pot holes', 

 across deep ravines, or up slopes where 

 the construction or cost of roads or slides 

 wonld be prohibitive. Even in country 

 where it is ea.sy to construct railways, the 

 cableway skidder is coming largely into 

 use. The princij i objection to it, from 

 the forester's standpoint, is the damage 

 done to the young trees by the swaying 

 and dragging of the logs as they are being 

 hauled in; but it is an open question whe- 

 ther the extra growing space due to the 

 non-construction of roads and the saving 

 in cost of building and maintaining them 

 do not balance the injury done to the 

 young crop. 



Loaders. 



For the loading of logs on cars, several 

 devices are in use. The Barnhart loader 

 moves on a pivot in all directions and will 

 load from 600 to 800 logs a day, provided 

 they are within 100 feet of the track. As 

 each car is loaded, the machine pulls it- 

 self along rails laid on the cars and loads 

 the next one. In the Decker Loader, the 

 empty cars are pulled forward beneath 

 the loader. In other case* a turn of cable 

 round the log on a raised platform rolls 

 it onto the car as the cable is tightened 

 up b}' means of a drum or 'spool.' 



From what has been said, it will be 

 seen that every forester should be a first- 

 class logger and be constantly on the alert 

 to utilize the engineering skill which has 

 been developed in the logging business. 

 Not only this, but he should be on the 

 lookout for new methods, which usually 

 means the adaptation of old ones to new 

 problems. 



Other Problems. 



Besides removing the timber in as 

 cheap a manner as possible, the forester 

 must also consider the future condition of 

 the property. The ordinary logger is a 

 mere exploiter, who has no concern what- 

 ever for the future, and is generally frank 

 enough to tell you so. The forester, on 

 the other hand, is very much concerned 

 with the problem of leaving the tract in 

 the best possible condition for the growth 

 of the timber left standing and for its re- 

 moval when mature. This generally means 

 the laying out of a permanent system of 

 roads, the disposal of the debris incident 

 to lumbering and the suppression of unde- 

 sirable trees. In other words, he must 

 practice silviculture, if he is to increase 

 the amount and quality of the timber 

 grown. Herein lies the most important 

 part of his work — work calling for a full 

 knowledge of his subject and the exercise 

 of rare judgment and skill. 



Another phase of the forest engineer's 

 work is to be met with in the manage- 

 ment of protection forests, which . do so 

 much to equalize the stream-flow. With 

 the transformation of waterpower into 

 electric energy all over this continent it 

 will at once be recognized that the maim- 

 tenaiicc of as even a flow as possible is a 

 matter of very great importance. 



Tn southern Alberta th#re is also a field 

 for the forester with some knowledge of 

 irrigation engineering problems. In my 

 opinion, every forester should know 

 how to gage a stream quite as well as 

 the ordinary civil engineer. This knowl- 

 edge would enable him to hr'tng in accur- 

 ate information long before it would be 

 obtained ia the ordinary course of events. 



