WOODCUTTERS IMPLEMENTS. 199 



pulling out the ends of withes while tying faggots. The English 

 fascine-knife (fig. 64) is 21 inches long and very serviceable in 

 cutting fascines. Fig. 65 represents a very serviceable bill-hook ; 

 it is half an inch thick at the back, and has a cutting edge at a 

 for cutting through branches placed on a piece of .wood, as well 

 as its ordinary cutting-edge h. Courval has invented a pruning 

 bill-hook (fig. 6(5) which is 16 inches long and weighs about 

 3i pounds ; it is made thickest along its axis in order to add 

 weight to its cuts. According to Courval all kinds of pruning, 

 even of large boughs, may be effected with this instrument. 



2. Saivs. 



(a) General Account.— Saws are used by woodcutters for felling- 

 trees and reducing the length of logs and branches, at right angles 

 to their axis. A saw' may be much more economically used for such 

 a purpose than an axe, which wastes much of the wood. Under 

 certain circumstances, and on difficult ground, the work may 

 however be more expeditiously done with an axe. The amount of 

 time used in sawing may vary from 20 per cent, to 40 and 50 per 

 cent, of the whole time spent by woodcutters on the felling-area. 



Forest saws were formerly rolled out of wrought iron, and the 

 rolled blade was then hammered cold to make it hard and elastic. 

 At present, saws are made of cast steel, and work more easily 

 than the older implement^. Owing to the superior toughness of 

 the steel they retain their edge and set better, and owing to 

 their smooth sides, they cause much less friction in use than the 

 iron saws. 



Saws have to overcome not only the resistance of the wood, 

 but also the friction of their sides against the rough surface of 

 the wood which is being sawn. Their teeth chiefly act by 

 tearing the wood-fibres asunder, and so much the more, the 

 more porous the wood and the longer and tougher the wood- 

 fibres ; this is therefore especially the case with soft, broad- 

 leaved and coniferous woods. In the case of hard, broad-leaved 

 woods, this tearing action is partly superseded by a cutting action. 

 The more a saw tears the fibres apart the greater the amount 

 of sawdust, which is therefore most abundant in the case of soft- 

 woods. 



