8 BULLETIN 711, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



LABOR. 



The success of logging operations in this region depends in a large 

 measure on the character, supply, and efficiency of the workmen; for 

 the work is done under changing conditions, standardization of meth- 

 ods and output being to a great extent out of the question. Even 

 under the most favorable conditions the skill, initiative, and reli- 

 ability of most of the workmen count largely in the cost of logging. 



On the other hand, the character and duration of the work and the 

 conditions under which it is jDerformed are not such as to attract, 

 develop, and hold the type of workmen that logging operators hope 

 to secure. The camps are in the woods; they usually afford very 

 little opportunity for leading a normal life ; and, with few exceptions, 

 they do not satisfy certain normal and wholesome desires. The 

 industry has to depend on a woods force composed in large part of 

 restless, dissatisfied bachelors — old and young — largely foreign born, 

 a large portion of whom constantly shift from camp to camp via 

 the larger centers of population — men who are not in the way of 

 doing the best for themselves or their employers. 



This state of affairs, which is largely the logical consequence of 

 our industrial and social development, is by no means confined to the 

 logging industry. And the logging industry has not been slower than 

 most industries to see that it does not pay; that even enlightened 

 selfishness urges the bringing about of better conditions. 



How to impress on the minds of the workmen the necessity and 

 desirability of constant application and how to make the conditions 

 as to hours, pa3^ and surroundings such as to induce the better work- 

 men to continue with the industry, to attract desirable workmen from 

 other fields, and the like, are difficult questions. A number of com- 

 panies have attracted wide notice within the industry by remarkable 

 and far-reaching provisions for the comfort, instruction, and recrea- 

 tion of their workmen, and by a mode and scale of payment enabling 

 the employee to realize the largest earnings possible to his individual 

 capacity. Most operators have modified former methods in some re- 

 spects. 



LENGTH OF EMPLOYMENT. 



The length of time woods workers are required each year is gov- 

 erned by the methods of logging and the demand for logs or lumber. 

 In the Douglas fir region many operators can continue logging 

 ihroughout practically the entire year, and in no case for Jess than 

 nine months. In recent years, however, the demand for forest prod- 

 ucts has been so w^eak that forest laborers in the region are fortu- 

 nate when they secure seven or eight months' employment in a year. 



