726 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



a portion of the tract surveyed, and over which he had never traveled. He laid 

 out the road on the topographic map in the office before beginning field work. 

 After selecting the route which looked most feasible, he went to the field 

 and was able to locate on the ground over five miles of road on the route 

 he had chosen in the office. The location of the remainder of the line was 

 not altered more than a few hundred feet at any point. The work was accom- 

 plished in one-fourth of the time required under the old method. 



Maps and data of this character are also a great aid to the management 

 because it preserves on paper a vast amount of valuable information often 

 carried in the heads of certain Avoodsmen of the company. These men may 

 leave your service, and the knowledge they have gained at your expense is 

 gone and can only be acquired by the expenditure of more time and money. 



A new foreman can be taught more about your property, in an hour, from 

 a topographic map than he could learn by traveling over the ground for a 

 week. Further, it enables you to discuss with him the plans for logging; 

 show the area to be logged the next season; the mileage of road to be built; 

 the character of "logging chance" he will have and many facts that he often 

 otherwise has to determine for himself when he arrives on the ground. 



No lumberman should be satisfied with his operation until he has proven 

 to himself that he has a system as efficient as it is possible to secure. Forest 

 laborers, as a rule, do not migrate out of the general forest region in which 

 they receive their training, and consequently have no opportunity to learn 

 methods other than those common to that particular section. Although the 

 methods in use are usually those best adapted for the conditions existing there, 

 it often happens that woodsmen in other regions have developed methods that 

 are preferable for special conditions you may have to meet. The collection 

 and standardization of the methods of progressive loggers in a given section 

 would be most valuable to every operator. 



The organization for the protection of the property against fire is one 

 of the least efficient parts of many lumber operations. Companies conserva- 

 tive in business who carefully protect their manufacturing plant often neglect 

 their stumpage, a product far more difficult to replace than a mill on which 

 insurance can be secured. Although practically non-insurable, stumpage has 

 been left to care for itself until the last few years, and in some sections it 

 still does not receive ample protection. 



Every large company should have some comprehensive scheme of fire pro- 

 tection worked out for its tract, and an organization capable of putting the 

 policy into effect when it is required. 



CARE OF DETAILS 



Improper supervision of felling and log-making crews often results in 

 waste. Through the faulty selection of log lengths and careless marking off 

 of the same, the daily loss often averages several hundred feet log scale per 

 crew. Breakage, due to careless felling and other causes, may increase this 



