65 



and 22 c.m. (9 in) respectively, while logs of the third class are required to have a 

 diameter of 17 c.m. at 16 m. from the butt. The rest, known as Sageklotze and 

 Lattenklotze, is cut into convenient lengths, generally 5 to 6 m. and brought to 

 the local saw mills, where it is converted into planks and battens For this 

 class of timber the contractor is paid 1.60 mk. per cub. metre on delivery at the 

 roadside. 



A certain portion of the timber, chiefly of spruce, is in these forests used 

 for splitting. At Bernau, a large village north-west of St. Blasien, and other 

 places in the vicinity there is a thriving industry in sieves, tubs and other 

 articles made of split wood. The workmen brought up to this special 

 branch of the trade make a careful distinction between logs which split readily 

 and those not so suitable for their work, and the former fetch a much higher rate 

 at the sales. Thus, in the Alb Valley forests of St. Blasien, from which the 

 coopers of Bernau draw their chief supplies, the three first classes of logs when 

 fit for splitting, sold in 1885 for 21.2, 18.2, and 15.2 marks per cub. metre respec- 

 tively, while ordinary logs fetched only 16.8, 14.4 and 12 marks. In 1886 the 

 figures were 19.9, 16.5 and 14.1, for logs fit for splitting and 15.9, 13.8, 10.9 for 

 ordinary timber. 



The Oberforster of St. Blasien regularly employs one of the men from 

 Bernau in order to mark the logs fit for splitting, and the logs thus marked are 

 sold separately. I spent a day in the forest with this man in order to learn the 

 characters upon which he relied. The first condition is that the log must be 

 regularly shaped and clean, without knots and branches. Secondly, the fibres must 

 not be much twisted and if twisted at all, the twist must go from right to left. On 

 barked logs the twist is readily seen by the direction of the fine fissures on the 

 surface of the wood. It can also be recognized, but less distinctly, on the bark 

 of standing trees. 



In order to drag the timber to the temporary depots at the roadside, where 

 the sales take place, horses or bullocks are employed when the ground is level or 

 nearly so. Down a slope, however,' the timber is lowered by means of ropes. The 

 tools used for this purpose are of the simplest description, a stout rope 140 feet 

 long, a strong ir>m hook, with a ring to which the rope is attached (Seilhaken), 

 and a kind of pick (krempe), the wooden handle 4 to 4i feet and the iron 18 

 inches long. 



On slopes large trees are always felled with top and branches down hill, and 

 the logs are sent down top end forward, two men holding the rope, which is 

 generally slung round a tree, while four or five men, all armed with picks, work 

 alongside the log, lifting it over uneven places in the ground or other impedi- 

 ments, stopping it while the rope is slung over another tree lower down and 

 generally directing its course. It is a fine sight to witness the speed and pre- 

 cision with which this difficult work is accomplished. Accidents very rarely 

 happen. 



In the latter portion of summer and in autumn, the timber intended for ex- 

 port is all carted down to the railway station. It chiefly goes westward, to 

 Switzerland, Alsace, and France. This manifests itself in the higher rates 

 realized at sales in the Wehra than in the Alb Valley division of the St. Blasien 

 State forests range, which have to be carted nearly the same distance before they 

 reach a railway station. In the Wehra forests first class logs in 1885 fetched 

 17.9 and in the Albthal forests 16.8 mk per cub. metre. In 1886 the figures were 

 were 19.4 and 15.9. 



5(F.) 



