NATIONAL FOREST RESOURCES 179 



to start making the two flat faces of the tie. These 

 sides were then chipped with a "broad ax," thus 

 making two smooth faces. The bark was then 

 peeled from the other two faces and the tree was 



* 



then cut into finished ties. After the ties were 

 made the top of the tree was lopped, that is, the 

 branches were cut from the trunk. In this opera- 

 tion these branches were scattered evenly over the 

 ground. The tie chopper then cleared a road 

 through the middle of his strip and "parked" his 

 ties on the road. He then stamped his private 

 mark on each tie. In the winter the ties were 

 "hauled" on large sleds to the river bank. Each 

 tie chopper's ties were put in a separate pile so 

 that the company's sealer could count them and 

 credit them to the man that made them. In the 

 spring, when the river's banks were full, the ties 

 were "driven" down the river to the shipping point, 

 usually a town on a railroad line. 



A Forest officer is detailed to an operation of this 

 kind to inspect the choppers' work and count and 

 stamp the ties. He sees to it that all trees that 

 have been marked for cutting are cut, that no trees 

 not marked have been cut, that young growth is 

 not unnecessarily injured, that the stumps are not 



