1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



213 



The trees are cut by notching and 

 sawing and are felled parallel to the 

 road, thus rolling down the slope. The 

 cutting begins at the foot of the slope 

 and works upward ; the tops and limbs 

 are left to form a sort of rude skidway, 

 and thus facilitate the downward pro- 

 gress of the trees. Sometimes a log, 

 starting at the top of aslope, gains such 

 headway that bumpers are necessary on 

 the farther side of the road to check its 

 progress. 



After the trees are felled and lopped 

 the}' are loaded on a sled drawn by a 

 pair of horses, and bound on by bunk 

 chains, the hind ends dragging in the 

 road. A load consists of from four or 

 five to a dozen or more logs, according 

 to their size and the condition of the 

 particular road. This hauling is one of 

 the most dangerous parts of the work, 

 and onh' skillful drivers are employed. 

 In spite of this, horses are often injured 

 or killed on bends or steep slopes where 

 the road is slippery. In such a case the 

 driver is or is not held responsible, as 

 the circumstances of the case and the 

 driver's reputation for carefulness seem 

 to warrant. 



This firm has but one set of roads; 

 that is, there are no return roads. The 

 teams haul two loads per day apiece, 

 one in the morning and another in the 

 afternoon. 



Along the line of the railroad, at the 

 end of each main hauling line, are the 

 skid ways. These have as many landings 

 as there are cars to be loaded ^say 4 to 

 6 and each landing has an estimated 

 storage capacity of 10,000 feet, b. m. 

 In case the main road is tied up, the logs 

 can be stored along the hauling road, or 

 where the cutting is going on. Where 

 possible the main skid logs are Birch or 

 Hard Maple ; otherwise Spruce. The 

 logs are always peeled to prevent inj ury 

 from borers, and to make rolling the 

 timber easier for the landing crew. 

 Each landing has an upper and lower 

 platform, with bunting posts at the 

 lower edge, to prevent the logs from 

 sliding onto the cars. There is a drop 

 of 3 feet from the lower platform to the 

 top of the car. A higher drop is apt to 

 split a long log. When the teams come 

 in the load is scaled and the small pulp 



logs are dropped at the first two land- 

 ings, the better logs at landings 3, 4, 

 and 5. This is a simple method of sort- 

 ing, and saves time at the mill. The 

 landing crew is responsible for unload- 

 ing the teams, and also for loading the 

 cars. Their work is considered the 

 hardest of any crew. 



J. E. Henry & Son's lumber camps 

 are very much after the fashion of log- 

 ging camps in general, save in some 

 particulars which seem worthy of men- 

 tion. First of all, the camp buildings are 

 made of boards instead of logs. These 

 are found to be cheaper, as the logs are 

 more valuable for either pulp or lumber. 

 They are enabled to do this by the fact 

 that they have their own sawmill near 

 at hand and operate a railroad of their 

 own. Another interesting feature of 

 their system is that of transporting the 

 camp buildings from place to place b}^ 

 means of the railroad. Buildings of 

 this sort are either long and narrow or 

 built so that they can be readily taken 

 apart. They are usually 14 feet in 

 width, and from 30 to 50 feet long. Of 

 course, camps of this description are 

 usually confined to the railroad at the 

 foot of the mountains, while those far- 

 ther up are built of logs. These latter 

 are burnt down when they are aban- 

 doned, to discourage possible campers 

 who might carelessly start fires. 



The scarcity of labor is an important 

 difficulty in the way of successful lum- 

 bering at North Woodstock. The men 

 are the gainers both in wages and in 

 treatment. The cook receives $50 a 

 month and board, the teamsters from 

 $28 to $32.50, paying $3 per week for 

 board; the skidders, landing crew, chop- 

 pers, sled-tenders, and road-tenders from 

 $26 to $33, paying for board. A rule 

 of the wage scale is that a man when 

 sick must pay board and not receive 

 pay. Few are sick in the camps, but 

 the men feel that it is an unfair system. 

 Many men will work for them in pref- 

 erence to other lumbermen on account 

 of the good food furnished. Fresh beef 

 is served three times a week, and the 

 cooking is unusually good. In winter 

 the men are allowed to return to camp 

 for dinner. At other camps we visited 

 a cold lunch was carried to them. A 



