FLOATING. 4U8 



be formed of the condition of the latter, and of the different 

 works which have been constructed to improve it. For this 

 purpose, an inspection should be made, if necessary with the 

 co-operation of riparian landowners, owners of saw-mills and 

 other hydraulic works along the floating-channel ; enquiry should 

 then be made into all claims of compensation for damage done 

 by the floating-gang, in order to prevent unfair excess in its 

 amount, and, if necessary, these claims should be settled by 

 arbitration or the Law-Courts. This inspection should, if 

 possible, take place in fine weather and when the water is clear, 

 so that the bed of the stream may be seen. 



As this inspection serves for settling excessive claims for com- 

 pensation, it should be made as soon as possible after the previous 

 year's floating is over ; it is also useful to assist the forest manager 

 in deciding about the suitability or defects of any of the works 

 along the water channel. It is clear that repairs to these works 

 cannot be postponed till shortly before the floating season ; they 

 must be done, together with any new indispensable works, when 

 the water is low in summer or early in the autumn. The same 

 proviso holds good for clearance of the floating-channel, which is 

 required both in its lower course, where the current is sluggish, 

 and also in its upper course, among rapids and boulders. 

 Whenever it is necessary to expose any portion of the bed of the 

 channel for this purpose, arrangements should be made to procure 

 the necessary stoppage of all mills, ifcc. for the purpose. The 

 days on which the stream is allowed to run dry are either fixed 

 by law, or secured by compensation to the mill-owners, owners 

 of works established on the stream before it was used for floating 

 being alone entitled to compensation. 



(d) Conduct of the Floating-Operations. — During winter and 

 early spring the wood is brought to the side of the floating 

 channel, and placed on its banks in loose stacks. Should there 

 be, as is frequently the case, a narrow valley just below the 

 reservoir dam, so that the wood cannot be washed away laterally, 

 it is frequently placed on the dry bed of the channel ; the 

 pieces of wood should then be scattered, so that when the dam 

 is opened a jam may not arise. 



If, then, all the wood of most of the felling areas has been 

 brought down, the efficiency of the floating-channel and its works 



D D 2 



