12 



BULLETIN 9.50, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



that they would fall directly into the water or could be rolled in by 

 hand, to steam-donkey logging, the donkey being mounted on a raft 

 and " beached " at high tide, yarding directly into the water. Later 

 two donkeys have been used, a yarder and a roader. In the water 

 the logs are boomed and towed to the sawmills. 



The logging heretofore has been of comparatively large or selected 

 timber. Pulpwood cuts will have a larger yield per acre than those 

 for other purposes, as smaller timber will be cut. It is doubtful if 

 the present system of logging is the best and cheapest that can be de- 

 vised for pulpwood logging on an extensive scale. An overhead 

 system seems to promise one solution of the problem. In this sys- 

 tem a number of small logs could be brought to the water with a 

 "choker." Gravity chutes might be profitably employed on the 

 steeper slopes. To reach the material farther back, it might be 

 necessary to put in logging railroads running along the contour. No 

 two logging units would present the same problem ; several methods 

 of logging would likely be used on the same general operation. 



In 1918, $8.95 was the average cost for raw pulpwood at the mills 

 in California, Oregon, and Washington. It is believed that pulp- 

 wood can be produced more cheaply in Alaska, as the greater part 

 of the wood will be cut within less than a mile of the water's edge. 

 Figures of $4 to $6 per cord would normally approximate average 

 costs under present methods of logging. 



The following cost figures are from "British Columbia, a Com- 

 plete Guide," Vancouver, British Columbia, 1919 : 



• Year. 



Pulpwood. 

 Cords. 



Average 



value 

 per cord. 



Year. 



Pulpwood. 

 Cords. 



Average 



value 

 per cord. 



1911 



150 

 35,067 

 84,173 



$7.60 

 5.51 

 4.77 



1914 



80,013 

 90,535 

 108, 997 



$5.33 



1912 



1915 



6.08 



1913 



1916 



5.32 









The natural system of sheltered canals and waterways (see map, 

 p. 40) and the proximity of most of the timber to them affords a great 

 advantage in lessening the expense of logging. Log rafts are now 

 towed as far as 200 miles to sawmills. Towage to the mill will be 

 relatively inexpensive, especially if the operator uses his own tugs. 

 It is estimated that the cost will not exceed 1 cent a mile per cord. 

 This factor greatly reduces the original investment in logging plant, 

 as compared, for example, with railroad operations. It also makes 

 the physical factors in logging practically constant throughout a 

 long period, as contrasted with the increasing cost of typical log- 

 ging operations in the States, which must move farther and farther 

 back into less accessible timber, with increasing cost of construction 

 and operation as the rougher and higher country is penetrated. 



