362 



NEW E N G L x\ N D FARMER 



MAY 84, IS'tr. 



run wild among tlio bushes and trees, that cover 

 the low lands adjoining the river, and breaking 

 up jan.s that form in narrow or shallow places. 

 A jit7n is caused by obstacles in the river catching 

 some of the sticks, which in their turn catch oth- 

 ers coming down, and so the mass iiicreases until 

 a solid dam is formed, which entirely stops up the 

 river, and prevents the further passage of any 

 logs. These dams are most frequently formed at 

 the top of some fall. And it is often a 6ervi<'e 

 tliat retpiires much skill and boldness, and is at- 

 tended with much danger, to break them up. — 

 The persons who undertake it, must go on to the 

 mass of logs, work some out with their pickpoles, 

 cut some to pieces, attach ropes to others to be 

 hauled out by the hands on shore, and they must 

 be on the alert to watch the moment of the start- 

 ing of the liujber, and exercise all their activity to 

 get clear of it, before they are carried off in its 

 tumulnious rush. 



" Some weeks, more or less, according to the 

 drstance, spent in this way, b:ings the limber to 

 the neighborhood of the saw mills. A short dis- 

 tance above Oldtown, on the Penobscot, there is 

 a boom established, extending across the rivei-, for 

 the purpose of sloppini' all the logs that came 

 down. It is made by a floating cliain of logs cou- 

 nected by iron links, and snpporteil at suitable 

 distances, by solid piers built in the river; with- 

 out this it would he impos.^ihle to stop a large 

 part of the logs, they would be carried on the 

 (reshet down the river, aiitl out lo sea. The boom 

 is owned by an individual, who derives a large 

 jirofit from tiie boomage, which i.s thii'lyfive cents 

 per thousand on all logs coming into it. Tlieboom 

 cost the present cwner about $40,000. He has 

 offered it for sale for $45,000. It is said the net 

 i..come from it last year, was $15,000. 



'• Here all the logs that come down the Penob- 

 scot, are collected in one inmiense m.-iss, covering 

 many acres, where is intermingled the ]!roperty 

 of all the owner.s of timber lands, in all the broad 

 region that is watered by the Penobscot and its 

 branches, from the east line of Canada above 

 Moosehead Lake, on the one side, to the west line 

 of New Brunswick, on the other. Here the tim- 

 ber remains, till the logs can be sorted out for 

 each owner, and rafted together lo be floated to 

 the mills, or other places below. Rafting is the 

 connecting the logs together, by ccudage, which is 

 secured by pins driven into each log, forming them 

 into hands, like the ranks of a regiment. This 

 operation is performed by the owner of the boom. 

 The ownershi)) of the timber is ascertained by 

 the marks whieli have been chopped into eacii 

 log before it left the woods ; each owner liaving 



a mark or cotnbinalion of marks, of h s own 



When the boom is full,oidy the logs lowest down 

 can be got at, and the proprietors of other logs 

 must wait weeks, sometimes months, before thev 

 can get them out, to their great inconvenience anil 

 damage. 



" After the logs are raffed and out of the boom, 

 n great part of them are loilged for convenience, 

 in a place called Pen Cove, which is a large and 

 secure basin in the river, about two miles beJow 

 the boom. From this cove they can be taken out 

 as they are wanted for the nulls below. While 

 in the boom, and at other places on the river, they 

 are liable to great loss from |:lunderers. The ow- 

 ~'liers or drivers will frequently snmggle all that 

 come in their way, without regard to marks. '] he 

 owners or conductors of some gf the mills on the 



rivers are said to he not above encouraging and 

 praitising this species of piracy. Indeed, timber 

 in all its stages, seems to be considered a fair ob- 

 ject for plunderers, IVom the petty pilferer who 

 steals into the woods, fells a tree, cuts it into shin- 

 gles and carries it out on his back, to tho cotnpar- 

 alively rich owner of thousands of dollars. 



" When the logs have been sawn at the mills, 

 there is another rafting of the boards, which are 

 tinated down the river to Bangor, to be embarked 

 on board the coasters for Boston. In this pro- 

 cess they are subject to uiui-h injury, first by the 

 mode of catching them as they come from the 

 mill sluices, the rafters making use of a picaroon, 

 or |)ole with a spike iu the end of it, which is re- 

 peatedly and unmercifully driven into the boards, 

 taking out perhaps a piece at each time; seconil- 

 ly, by the holes made by the pins driven into the 

 boards in rafiing ; and thiidly, by the rocks and 

 rapids aiul shallows in the river, breaking the rafts 

 to pieces, and splitting up the boards as they de- 

 scend. These inconveniences will be partly re- 

 medied by the railroad now in operation, unless 

 other inconveniences in the use of it should be 

 found to overbalance them. 



"The kinds of timber brought down our rivers 

 are pine, spruce, hendock, ash, birch, maple, ce- 

 dar and hackmatack. Far the greater part of it 

 is pine. The lund)erers make about six kinds of 

 pine ; though they do not agree exactly in the 

 classification, or in the u.se of some of ihe names. 

 The most couiiuon division is into pnnij kin pine, 

 timber pine, sapling, bull sapling,* Norway, and 

 yellow or pitch pine. The pumpkin [line st.ands 

 preeminent in the afi'ections of the lund)erers, be- 

 cause it is the largest tree, and triakes fine larg-e 

 clear boards. They are soil; an<l of a yellowish 

 cast. The tiudier pijie ami saplings are the mo.st 

 common. The former is generally preferred, as 

 being larger and more likely to he sound. Yet 

 ;he saplings are said to make the harder and more 

 durable boards. The common sapling grows in 

 low lands, gepcrally very thick, but is apt to be 

 much of it rotten. The bull sapling is larger and 

 sounder, grows rm higher land, and mixed with 

 hard wood. The Norway pinef is a much har- 

 der kind of limber lluni the others. It is seldom 

 sawed into boards, though il makes excellent floor 

 boards. But it is generally hevved into square 

 timber. In the Province it bears a higher luice 

 than the others. There is not much of it brought 

 to market, and it is not very abundant in the 

 woods. The yellow pine is very scarce, if to be 

 found at all in that region. 



"1 will conclinle with some remarks upon the 

 different modes of operating, made use of by ow- 

 ners of timber. These are three. One is, for the 

 owner to hire his men by the month, procure 

 teams, and furnish them twth equipments and sup- 

 plies. A second is, to agree with some one or 

 more imlividuals to cut and haul the timber, or 

 cut, haul, and run if, at a certain price per thou- 

 sand feet. The third way is lo sell the stumpage 

 outright; that is, to sell the timber standing. 



" 'ihe first mode is se'doui adopted, uidess the 

 owner of the lind)er is likewise a lumberer, and 

 intends to superintend the biisiness hitjiself The 

 second mode is very conmioii. It is considered 



* All the kinilshere natned, with the exception 

 of the tvvo last, are varieties of white pine. 



f This pine is called also red pine, Irotn the col- 

 or of its bark. 



the most saving to the owners, because the lum- 

 berer h.is no inducemetit to select the besttifuher, 

 and leave all that is not of the first quality ; to 

 cut down trees and take a log. and leave others 

 to rot that are not quite so good, but which may 

 be well worth hauling. Its inconveniences are, 

 that as the object of the hitiiberer is to get as !ar<,e 

 a quantity as possible, he will take trees that are 

 not worth as rruich as ihe cost of getting them to 

 market, oiul which, besides being of little value 

 themselves, render the whole lot less saleable by 

 the bad appearance they give of it. The owner 

 too is subject to all the losses that may happen, in 

 running the logs down the river. Very frequent- 

 ly he is obliged to make one contract to have the 

 timber cut and hauled to the landing places, aiid 

 another to have it run down ; for the river ilrivers 

 are a distinct class from the hnnberers. Most of 

 them are indeed lumberers. But it is but a small 

 part of the lumberers that are river drivers. A 

 great part of the lumberers are farfiiers who must 

 be on their farms at the s ason of driving, and 

 therefore cannot undertake any thing but the cut- 

 ting and hauling. They are paid for the nuiriber 

 of thousand feet they deposit at the landing pla- 

 ces; and the logs being surveyed, or sealed, as 

 they are hauled, their object is to get as many 

 thousand as possible on the landing places; while 

 the river <lrivers tnay be very careless about get- 

 ting them all down, and the owner may never re- 

 ceive nearly the quantify he has paid for cutting 

 and hauling. In operating in this mode, the ow- 

 ner usually furnishes the supplies, provisions, &c.; 

 an<i the lumberer procures the teams and hires 

 the men. The owner commonly cloes not bind 

 himself to pay, before the logs get lo market ; 

 and he frequently maxes a contract for his sup- 

 plies on the same condition, in which case he has 

 to pay from twenfyfive to thirtytliree per cent, 

 more for his goods, than he would dealing on cash 

 or common credit. Sometimes, when there is no 

 freshet, the logs do not get down until the second 

 year; and then the trader and lumberer both suf- 

 fer for want of their pay. 



"The third inode is the sim[ilestand easiest for 

 the owner. He avoids all trouble of furnishing 

 supplies, of watching the timber on the river, and 

 of looking out for a market. But he tnust have 

 a man of some capital to deal with, as he furnish- 

 es bis own team and supplies, and pays his men, 

 receiving very heavy advances. The jiurcliaser 

 of it has no interest to cut the titiiber savingly, 

 and he sometimes makes dreadful h.-ivock anjong 

 the trees, leaving a great deal of valuable stuff on 

 the ground to rot. And if he selects only the best 

 trees in a berth, much of the tind)er left standing 

 may be lost, because no one will afterwards want 

 to go into that berth, from which all the best trees 

 have been culled. It is common now, in all large 

 concerns, for the owner to enjploy a man to pass 

 the winter in the ramps, living allernately at one 

 or another, for the ])urpose of sealing the logs, 

 keepitig a correct account (jf them, and seeing that 

 the timber is cut according to the contract. But, 

 after all, there is always to he found a considera- 

 ble (liffennce between the tiiidier cut by the 

 thousand, and that which is cut on stumpage. 



" Each tiinde has its troubles. But 1 think 

 that owners at a distance will manage their con- 

 cerns with least vexation, by selling the stump- 

 age, provided that they have honest men to deal 

 with." 



(Concluded next week.) 



