298 THE UTILISATION OF WOODLAND PRODUCE. 



breadth of 2 to 3 ft. more than the length of the longest logs 

 drifted are necessary ; and the stream-banks have to be specially 

 prepared at unfavourable places, while water has to be stored 

 in reservoirs for flushing, unless spates can frequently be 

 utilised. The rafting of long, large conifer logs can also be 

 done with a depth of 2 to 3 ft. of water, while the breadth 

 of the clear waterway need only be sufficient to let the first 

 sections of the raft pass easily ; but the bed must be prepared 

 so as to be without sharp bends, and to be clear of boulders, 

 and any soft banks must be sloped off to prevent erosion. 



In the Black 



Fig. 84. 



Brake on end-section of 'raft ', dragging on bed of 

 floating-strea m . 



Forest, where 

 rafting has 

 reached its 

 greatest de- 

 velopment, the 

 first section of 

 a raft consists 

 of 4 light logs 

 lashed together 

 with twisted 

 withes and with 



a movable guiding-prow in front, worked vertically by a pole- 

 lever ; and the following sections are each formed of from 5 to 10 

 logs according to the breadth of the stream, the top-ends being at 

 front and the outer logs being loose at their thick end to afford 

 free play in rounding corners, while the middle sections (which are 

 always the widest) sometimes actually exceed the breadth of the 

 stream. The tail of the raft consists of logs lashed together only in 

 front, and in the middle of the last firm section a pole-brake (Fig. 

 84) is arranged to drag along the bed of stream and prevent the 

 end of the raft from moving more rapidly than the front. Eaf ts 

 there consist of from 300 to 500 logs, in from 50 to 70 sections 

 averaging 7 logs per section. The loss in rafting is only nominal. 



