676 



CHAPTER 11. 



SA\V-MILL8.""' 



Section I. — General Account. 



The transportability of the wood produced bj' a forest 

 considerably influences the revenue of tbe latter. Timber in tbe 

 round cannot, as a rule, bear transport to a distance and 

 timber-prices would in general be very low, were it not possible 

 to convert heavy logs into planks and scantling and thus 

 facilitate their transport to a distance from the forest. This 

 conversion is chiefly eff"ected by saw-mills situated either in or 

 near the forests, the existence of which enables many forests to 

 be worked at a profit and afi"ords a market for their timber. 



[It is stated that saw-mills were run by water-power in Germany 

 as early as 1322. An attempt to establish a mill in England in 1663 

 was abandoned owing to the opposition of the sawyers, and one 

 erected at Limchouse, in 1768, was destroyed by a mob. North 

 America is the home cf saw-mills, one having been erected in Maine 

 in lG3-4.t— Tu.] 



The question whether saw-mills should be managed by forest 

 owners, or left to independent private industry, has, in the 

 German State forests, with few exceptions, been decided in 

 favour of the latter alternative. The State should not, however, 

 hesitate to favour and support saw-mills, as its interest lies 

 clearly in that direction. As, moreover, saw-mills are sometimes 

 controlled by forest owners, especially private owners of large 

 forests, and it is desirable that foresters should possess some 

 knowledge of their mode of construction and management, a 

 general account of them is included in this book. 



• Saw-iiiills, by M. P>. Rale, London, Crosby Lockwood & Co., 1888. 

 t From lincyc. Hrit., 1SS6, Saw-mills, by Hotchkiss. 



