1682 



Canadian Forestry Journal, May, 191S 



A Model Municipal Wood Yard 



Virginia, Minnesota, has estab- 

 lished" and successfully operated a 

 model municipal wood yard. It has 

 always been a problem to obtain any- 

 thing but lemporaiy and transient 

 labor for cil>- work because there was 

 no form of employment which could 

 be offered in the winter months. This 

 possibility of using the city labor in 

 the wood yard in the winter and thus 

 creating a permanent employment for 

 a better class of labor was a strong in- 

 centive to the city. 



Once the idea had taken root they 

 promptly proceeded to put it in oper- 

 ation in true business fashion. A 

 considerable tract of birch and maple 

 timber within three miles of the city 

 was purchased at a stumpage cost of 

 about fifteen cents a cord. An eight- 

 een horse-power kerosene saw outfit 

 was installed on this tract and enough 

 six-cord racks, divided into two-cord 

 compartments, to take care of all the 

 delivery teams. In this way there 

 was no delay in measuring the wood 

 while the teams waited. The wood 

 was measured up and waiting for the 



teams at all times. The city teams 

 were used for delivery. Iced roads 

 and a down-hill grade to town made it 

 possible to haul two full cords — the 

 minimum delivered to any one address 

 — at a load. 



The oiTice work was handled by a 

 manager in the court house. The city 

 papers advertised the fact that the 

 city had wood for sale at S3. 00 per 

 route for IG-inch wood, S4.00 for 24- 

 inch, S5.00 for 32-inch, 36.00 for 36- 

 inch and S8.00 for 48-inch. Full pay- 

 ment to be made in advance. The 

 applicant filled in the order. 



Both the citizens and the city have 

 been greatly benefitted by the opera- 

 tion. They expect to do even a 

 larger business next ^\^nter, and are so 

 well pleased with the way the thing 

 has worked out that they hope to 

 make it a permanent institutiom. 



^Nfany other towns on the range have 

 established city yards on one system 

 or another, but none of the others 

 are so well organized or so well operat- 

 ed as the one in Virginia. — From '"The 

 North Woods." 



How to Save Coal 



Many people believe that it is im- 

 possible to get cordwood into the 

 cities at anything but fabulous prices 

 and that no one would use it even if it 

 were cheap. This is very largely a 

 superstition that has been built up 

 and carefully fostered by the coal men. 

 A recent experiment tried in St. An- 

 thony Park North, a part of St. Paul, 

 shows pretty conclusiveh' that both 

 assumptions are poorly founded. 



A community- of about five hun- 

 dred families was chosen as a basis of 

 the experiment. The members of the 

 Forestry Club of the University volun- 

 teered to distribute some order blanks 

 as their bit in helping out the fuel 

 shortage. A little later they collected 

 the orders for one hundred and ten 

 cords of tamarack wood, a species that 

 the coal dealers claim cannot be sold 

 at any price. 



The wood was bought up North, 

 shipped to the city in carload lots, 

 sawed into 12, 16, and 24-inch lengths 

 and delivered at $9.00 per cord. A 

 carload of oak was handled in the 

 same way and sold at the same price. 



If the same plan could be worked 

 throughout the city, and every com- 

 munity of this size could be sold the 

 same amount, and there is no reason 

 why it could not be done, it would 

 mean a sale of eleven thousand cords of 

 wood in St. Paul alone. Ten thou- 

 sand tons of coal saved for Uncle Sam. 

 —From ''The North Woods" 



The Forestry Journal will be 

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 for One Dollar a Year. 



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