RAFTING. 411 



2. llnfU 



Raft-sections and rafts are made-up in various ways in different 

 countries, the chief difference between them being due to differ- 

 ences in the kind of wood to be rafted. All wood-assortments 

 may be rafted. At present, however, in Germany, Austria, 

 Hungary, Russia, &c., only logs and sawn goods are rafted. 

 Sawmill-butts are chiefly floated separately, and even rafting 

 firewood across lakes has been abandoned in favour of the mode 

 of floating with a chain of logs explained on p. 407. Wherever 

 on large rivers the floating of firewood is not allowable, it is con- 

 veyed in barges, or as ballast on timber-rafts. Logs are bound 

 together either by means of withes or poles. 



(a) Rafts of Logs. 



i. Raft-Sections made up with Withes. 



A very convenient method of binding logs into sections is by 

 means of withes. The logs are first stranded, being rolled along 

 two pieces of wood gently inclined, into the water, and arranged 



Fia. 241. 



as shown in fig. 241 ; the triangular holes are then cut as deeply 

 as possible with a special hatchet. The corresponding holes 

 (« a, a a) are then completely bored, and the logs pushed 

 back into the water and tied firmly in raft-sections by strong 

 withes. 



These withes are generally spruce branches, or dominated 

 spruce or hazel saplings, which have grown for a long time under 

 the shade of larger trees ; they are first baked in ovens and then 

 twisted, their thick ends being held by a special contrivance. 



