YALE FORESTRY CLASS IN THE WOODS 



875 



height measurers, and was conducted in the woods. Most 

 of the latter work was carried on several miles from 

 camp. The road to one of the heavily timbered regions 

 led for 2 miles through pine woods downward to the 

 valley of the Castor Bayou. No good roads association 

 had yet been organized in this part of Louisiana, and the 

 highway along which we walked was dignified by the 

 name of road. It was a rough and rugged enough trail 

 on which to travel by foot, but when one risked his peace 

 of mind in a wagon on this thoroughfare, as most of the 

 farmers had long ago accustomed themselves to do, he 

 was indeed brave. Sometimes the wheel track on one 

 side would be 2 or 3 feet higher than the other, some- 

 times a tree would fall across and bar the way, and after 

 a heavy rain storm it was no uncommon occurrence for 

 the swollen streams to cover the roads to a depth of 

 3 or 4 feet, so that the wayfarer who drove or rode on 

 horse or mule would be compelled to swim his beast 

 across. 



Before reaching the Castor Bayou, we passed two or 

 three small farms. These stood in clearings and were 

 surrounded by ploughed fields in which the stumps and 

 Gead trunks of girdled pine trees still remained, the 

 owner not having sufficient energy to cut them down. 

 Fat razor-back hogs snufifed and grunted around the 

 front door or lay sunning themselves in the dust of the 

 road, and sometimes a disagreeable bloodhound ran 

 barking to the gate. The houses were small, wooden 

 shacks of two or three rooms, where the farmer and his 

 family lived the year round. Extreme poverty and 

 ignorance appeared to be universal in this region, and 

 even the largest and most prosperous land owners lived 

 ?mid conditions that would be tolerated nowhere else. 



As we approached the river valley the pine trees be- 

 came smaller and less numerous, and oaks and gum trees 

 took their place. At this season the woods were white 

 with the blossoms of the flowering dogwood, whose 

 branches appeared in the rest of the foliage like small 

 scattered clouds. The jasmine vine too covered bushes 

 and shrubs with a mass of yellow blossoms which ga^e 

 forth a sweet heavy perfume. 



The Castor Bayou was a small stream which we 

 crossed on a long iron bridge. Out of its brown, muddy 

 waters grew tall, straight cypress trees surrounded by 

 their rootlike knees which protruded above the sur- 

 face; Spanish and white oaks, sweet and sour gum trees 

 and winged elms grew on the banks, and under them the 

 thick underbrush and the bushes, which later bore the 

 little red "May haws" or "May apples," were beginning 

 to turn green. 



After leaving the bayou, our road led out through a 

 flat open country, bordered on each side by wide fenced- 

 in pasture lands, where horses and cows and hogs were 



feeding. Frequently we found here rows of large, skinny 

 necked turkey buzzards lining the top fence rails and 

 silently watching for an unsuspecting chicken to make its 

 appearance in the fields beyond or a fat young razor- 

 back to wander from its mother's side. 



We soon diverged from the road and after crossing a 

 stream, several fences and some open fields, again 

 entered the pine woods. We had not far to go before 

 we found what we were looking for a large fresh blaze 

 cut in the bark of a young pine tree on which was written 

 in black letters "1320." This marked the quarter section 

 previously measured and blazed and marked the spot 

 where that day we were to begin timber estimating. All 

 morning long we walked back and forth in the quarter 

 section in carefully sighted compass lines north and 

 south, measuring the diameters and heights of the pine 

 trees. 



At noon we found a shady spot and stretched our 

 weary limbs on the ground and ate lunch. It was then 

 that the active ticks and jiggers began to discover us 

 and it was much better at this time to discover a small 

 round brown tick traveling up one's trousers than to 

 have to pull the head out later which the tick, if possible, 

 firmly burrowed into one's leg. Lizards and chameleons 

 also disported themselves on shrubs and trees, rustling 

 about among the dead leaves or darting down the trunk 

 of a tree and running out on a log where in a warm bright 

 spot they would sun themselves, turning from a dark 

 brown to a vivid green and ever keeping on the alert to 

 snap up a palatable looking fly. 



After an hour's rest, we resumed work, keeping at it 

 until 4 or 5 o'clock. The time for quitting work, how- 

 ever, was a variable one and as every one was supposed 

 to be back in camp at five, it usually depended on the dis- 

 tance that intervened and whether one could walk at the 

 rate of three to four miles an hour. If a heavy tropical 

 thunder shower suddenly took a crew unawares, as was 

 sometimes the case, a record time was made back to 

 camp, but usually the warm weather did not admit of 

 very fast traveling. 



Occasionally the work was carried on in districts situ- 

 ated at such a considerable distance from camp that we 

 were forced to beg a night's lodging at the nearest farm. 

 On account of poor food and sleepless nights, due 

 to unseen occupants of ouf beds that we usually encoun- 

 tered at these houses, we did not look forward with the 

 keenest anticipation to these distant trips. But back at 

 camp again, after a good supper, while some smoked 

 and others played guitars or mandolins, with the whip- 

 poor-wills and tree frogs joining in, we forgot we were 

 way down in the forests of Louisiana ; we forgot the 

 heat and long dusty roads, and the life of the forester 

 and all it stood for seemed worth while once more. 



