LUMBERING IN PINE REGION OP CALIPOENIA. 91 



Lumber is shipped in flumes either loose or in bundles. Ship- 

 ment in bundles is the most common, and is adapted to flumes having 

 lower grades. The loss of lumber is less than for the other method 

 and fewer herders are required. However, the cost of bundhng is 

 considerable and the clamps must be hauled back to the upper end 

 of the flume at a cost of about 1 cent per pound. In either method 

 the lumber is graded and sorted roughly and distributed to the dry- 

 ing piles and shipping skids, which are located along a number of 

 branches feeding into the main flume. In shipping loose in long 

 flumes it is necessary to kiln dry boards from yellow pine and white 

 fir butts and air dry thick or heavy sugar pine boards. This involves 

 a considerable cost for handling in the mill yard and kOn, and loss 

 occurs through stain in air drying. Up to the present the same 

 practice has been customary in fluming in bundles. Recently, how- 

 ever, one company has developed a method of mixmg light and 

 heavy lumber in each bundle. AU lumber may thus be shipped 

 immediately after sawmg, and air and kihi drying at the miU is 

 practically ehminated. 



In shipping loose, the lumber is distributed to various shipping 

 skids. The boards are then thrown one at a tune into the flume by 

 the shippers. 



In bundle shipping the boards are made up in bundles from 10 to 

 13 inches thick, bound at each end by iron clamps and wooden 

 wedges. The bundles are then thrown into the flume and trains of 

 five or six are fastened together with short rope loops. A crew of 

 27 men, three men working at each of nine skids, may prepare the 

 bundles for a shipment of about 210,000 feet daily. The remainder 

 of the shipping crew is made up of three men tying the bundles 

 together, one man straightening clamps, one man distributing 

 clamps, one man distributing wedges, and one foreman. 



As the bundles pass down the flume they are cared for by herders 

 who prevent jams and watch for flume breaks. On a typical opera- 

 tion the flume is divid(id into six-mile sections and two herders are 

 assigned to each. With two extra herders on the last half mile the 

 herding crew consists of 20 men and a foreman. At the lower end 

 the bundles are dumped by hand from slack water by a crew of five 

 men. The clamps are then loosened and the boards distributed and 

 handled in the yard in the same manner as if the yard wore located 

 at the sawmill. 



The cost of flume maintenance is considerable. On the long 

 flumr.'s a repair crew is engaged nil wint(5r, and approximately a 

 million feiit of lumber is used annually in repairs. The average cost 

 is calculated at 80 (jcnts p(!r 1 ,000 for two flumes 56 and 00 miles in 

 length and 65 cents per 1,000 for one'42 mih^s in length. Exclusive 

 of depreciation the average cost of fluming luiiih(>.r in these long 



