WITH A DRY KILN IN THE NORTHWEST. 

 Albert H. Miller '08. 



In passing from the lumbering district of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains to that of the Pacific Northwest many striking changes will 

 be observed. There is a comparatively sudden transition from 

 one district to the other, the Cascade Mountains forming the 

 relatively narrow transition zone. It is somewhat like walking 

 from a children's playground, where everything is built on a 

 miniature scale, to a park of their elders. To the timber, the 

 logging operation, the sawmills, everything connected with the 

 lumber industry, the term "big" is analogous. Instead of trees 

 averaging from 16 to 20 inches in diameter, breast high, and 

 100 feet in height, there the trees are from 5 to 6 feet in 

 diameter, on the average, and 200 feet and over in height. In- 

 stead of the horse and chain for skidding and the single bunk 

 sled for delivering logs to the mill yard, the donkey engine with 

 heavy cable and the standard gauged railroad are used. And in 

 place of the small portable mill, built in the valley beside a 

 small, swift, mountain stream, with a capacity of from 12,000 

 to 15,000 feet B.M. a day, the gigantic mill, constructed along- 

 side a lake, a river, or the Puget Sound itself, with a capacity of 

 from 150,000 to 300,000 feet B. M. a day is found. The change, 

 in fact, is so remarkable that at first one almost questions its 

 reality. 



The reason for the enormous tree growth is perfectly evident 

 when the climatic factors are taken into consideration. Con- 

 ditions for growth are ideal. There is a comparative absence of 

 heavy frost in winter, especially along the lowlands, and the 

 rainfall is gentle. During the wet season the atmosphere is 

 saturated to the point of a heavy mist practically continuously. 



To meet the largeness of the timber, the logging operations 

 and the sawmills must of necessity be large. 



But even a more interesting feature, and that because of the 

 comparative absence of it in the Central Rocky Mountains dis- 

 trict, is the dry kiln. The dry kiln is found everywhere in the 

 milling district with the lumber mill, the shingle mill, the 

 lath mill. Here, too, the term "big" plays a part. Kilns are of all 

 sizes, ranging from 33 to 160 feet in length, 10 to 35 feet in 



