THE SPRUCE REGION 239 



hauled in by wire ropes or cables, and the hauling must be done 

 in practically straight lines from the stump to the yard. This 

 results inevitably in the breakage of much young growth, es- 

 pecially near the yard, where everything may be destroyed. 



Oftentimes the cutting and yarding of the timber are done only 

 after snowfall. When this is the case, seedlings growing on the 

 smaller skidding trails may escape entirely uninjured and the 

 loss to saplings is less. At the present time the tendency is to 

 do the cutting and yarding in the fall before there is much snow 

 on the ground.^ 



The yarding of the logs onto skidways still leaves the timber 

 in the woods. It does not pay to drag the timber great dis- 

 tances, and it is desirable that the haul to a skidway should not 

 exceed one-quarter of a mile. 



The next step is to take the timber from the yards to the mills. 

 Ordinarily, the mills are comparatively large, stationary, well- 

 equipped plants, located on railroad lines, on rivers navigable 

 for ocean-going vessels, or at falls on drivable streams. Many 

 of the mills are outside the boundaries of the spruce region, a 

 hundred miles or more away from the forest. The factor which 

 makes possible this location of the mills distant from their source 

 of supply is the comprehensive network of lakes, ponds, and 

 drivable streams, covering the spruce region, especially the 

 Maine section of the region, as will be seen by a glance at a 

 large scale map of northern New England. The Connecticut in 

 New Hampshire and Vermont, the Aroostook in New Hampshire 

 and Maine, the Kennebec, Penobscot, and St. John in Maine 

 are the important outlets for this water system; and on these 

 streams, at falls and railroad intersections, the principal mills 

 are located. 



Owing to their natural advantages and to the thoroughness 

 and system with which these waterways have been developed for 

 log driving, it is far cheaper to locate the mills well outside the 



^ In logging poplar for pulpwood the trees are cut in the spring and early sum- 

 mer, when they peel easiest. As the logs do not drive well they are transported 

 on sleds or railroads to the mills wherever this is possible. 



