31 s 



LAND-TRANSPOHT. 



(a) Conveyance by Men. 



Conveyance by men is almost entirely confined to sledgiujj;, 

 which in transport, as opposed to clearance of the felling-area, 

 takes place on permanent sledge-roads. Only firewood and 

 butts, but not long logs, may be thus transported. In the 

 case of sledges, it is impossible to draw any sharp distinction 

 between transport and clearance, except that in high mountain- 

 regions sledging bears more of the character of transport, and 

 in lower hills, of clearance. From both points of view the 

 methods of sledging have been already described on page 284. 



In forests of low hills and plains, no permanent sledge-roads 

 exist, and sledges are only used to convey the wood to the nearest 

 cart-road. In mountainous regions, however, there is no object 

 in merely removing the wood from the felling-area to the nearest 

 road. It is a question of transporting it for miles over permanent 

 sledge-roads down to the valleys to depots, or rafting-stations, 

 at low altitudes ; this implies a separate industry not always 

 intimately connected with the felling operations. 



i. ]]"nitcr SlciJginfj. 



In most cases sledging is done over the snow, and the same 

 kinds of sledges are used as in clearance of the felling-area {vide 



Fig. 1; 



p. 281). Sledges used for firewood have high side-pieces, but for 

 those used for carrying butts, the loads are fastened by means of 

 chains and ropes, and the sledges are longer, as shown in 

 fig. 159, which represents a Bavarian timber-sledge. Before 

 sledging begins, the wood is frequently piled-up in stacks, but 

 usually the sledge is laden on the felling-area and brought 

 thence down to the depot. "Wherever sledging is done iudepen- 



