26 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



January 



and a great yellow halo surrounds the 

 moon. The wind shifts, and tiny snow 

 flakes come rustling down through dead 

 leaves and against the rough bark of the 



pines. 



Next morning the snow is eight inches 

 deep, and still falling in a business-like 

 way. All that day it falls and part of 

 the following night. The laid-off men 

 come flocking in at nightfall to be ready 

 for the next morning. The snow lies 

 is inches deep on the level. 



Long before daylight the cook and the 

 cookee are heard bustling about, rattling 

 pots and frying' pans and causing the 

 coffee-grinder to give forth a cheerful 

 clamor, accompanied by spicy, appetiz- 

 ing odors. 



The teamsters' lanterns are twinkling 

 about the stables, where they are shov- 

 ing hay into the racks and measuring 

 out oats and currying their big pets pre- 

 paratory to harnessing. 



The horses are the best that money 

 can buy for the purpose big, slow- 

 moving, gentle, intelligent, and able to 

 pull " anything that has two ends," as 

 their drivers say ; $600 is not an un- 

 heard-of price for a young, heavy, well- 

 matched woods team, though, of course, 

 the average is much lower. They have 

 plenty of grain, and their drivers in 

 general give them the most painstaking 

 care. A blacksmith shop is set up in 

 camp, and here the horseshoeing is 

 looked after. The teams are sharp- shod. 

 Collars are fitted accurately to avoid 

 trouble from sore shoulders, and all 

 harness is heavy and perfect. 



By seven the men have had their 

 breakfast of pork steak, fried potatoes, 

 slap-jacks, maple syrup, and coffee. 

 The teams are hitched to the logging 

 sleds, and by the time the men can see 

 to handle a peavey a sled stands in front 

 of the skidway. 



The sleds, which are built especially 

 strong for their work, are of the four- 

 runner pattern, carrying a stout, rectan- 

 gular framework to receive the load. An 

 iron pin at each corner prevents the load 

 from sliding sidewise. A sled without 

 its load, but including the chains, may 

 weigh from 2^/2 to 3 tons. 



The logs are rolled on to the sleds by 

 means of two movable skids leaned 



against the load, layer after layer, until 

 the boss loader thinks the limit of safety 

 has been reached. When the top of the 

 load is above the logs on the skidway, 

 the power of a team is employed to roll 

 the logs into position. /This is done by 

 fastening one end of a rope on top of the 

 load, passing the bight down under and 

 around a log on the skidway, and re- 

 turning the free end across the load to 

 a team on the opposite side of the road. 

 When the team goes ahead at the word 

 the log rolls up the movable skids in 

 the bight of the rope, balanced and 

 steadied by the peavies of a man at each 

 end. In the cut a single block has evi- 

 dently been used to change the direction 

 of the pull of the team, probably be- 

 cause the roadway is the only place 

 where the team can pull ahead. After 

 two or three layers of logs are loaded on 

 the sled, binding chains are passed 

 around the load, holding it firmly to the 

 framework below. Then, two or three 

 more layers of logs are rolled into place, 

 and these also are bound in position by 

 chains, and so the process is repeated 

 until the load is large enough. 



The first load over the new road will 

 probably be a very small one. The road 

 must be tested and prepared to some ex- 

 tent for heavy traffic. For this purpose 

 (supposing, again, that we are thinking 

 of Wisconsin) the rutter is sent over the 

 road to prepare the permanent track. 

 The rutter consists of a sled with long 

 single runners, which pack the snow 

 evenly and make gradual, easy curves 

 where curves are necessary. A small 

 snow plow on each runner plows out 

 the deep snow from the path where the 

 horses of the loaded teams must walk. 

 Frequently a solid road of ice is built 

 up by repeated sprinkling from a tank 

 of water mounted on a sled. The ice 

 may be 12 to 20 inches thick, accord- 

 ing to the ease of getting water. Then 

 a rutter is used, with knives mounted 

 on the runners, which scoop grooves in 

 the solid ice, in which the sled runners 

 may track. In many of the Northern 

 states, however, the rutter is dispensed 

 with, and the sleds are made to track 8 

 feet wide. 



A little leveling will be needed in one 

 place, a bad rock or stump may have to 



