LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 31 



both to hire and to discharge. There are a number of rather large 

 and efficiently managed camps in which the camp foreman has direct 

 charge of the felling and bucking, the activity of the man, or the 

 character of the logging operation as a whole, making it possible 

 for him to keep a close check on the felling and bucking work, make 

 assignments, specify the log lengths, and see that waste does not 

 occur. 



The head fallers and, generally, each bucker are held responsible 

 to the head bucker or camp foreman for the quantity and quality of 

 the work done. In a few cases, however, the buckers work in crews of 

 three or four, and one of their number, besides doing the regular work 

 of a bucker, acts as a strawboss, marks off the log lengths, and reports 

 at stated periods the number of logs of different lengths cut. If the 

 fallers and buckers are working under a bonus system, or if the 

 management is keeping a close check on the amount of work done by 

 each worker, a competent scaler is necessary. 



^ METHODS. 



THE DIRECTION OF FALL. 



The first step in the felling of a tree is the selection of the direc- 

 tion in which it is to be thrown. This is governed by a number of 

 factors, of which the following are the most important : 



(1) The lean of the tree. By the use of wedges, a tree standing 

 perpendicularly may be sawed to fall in any direction. A heavily 

 leaning tree may be thrown by the same 



means in any one of three directions, 

 namely, as it leans, or to either side. If 

 the lean is not too great, the tree may be 

 thrown in any one of four directions. fig. i.— Failing wedge. 



However, with present standard equip- 

 ment, that is, with the falling wedge (fig. 1), it costs too much to 

 fell trees with other than a slight lean in a direction opposite to the 

 lean, except to prevent excessive breakage and to avoid doing damage 

 to improvements, equipment, etc. 



(2) The simplification of the first step in transportation. Timber 

 cut for power yarding as a general thing should be thrown away 

 from or toward the direction of haul, so that it can be moved with 

 the least trouble, especially where the logs are cut into long lengths. 

 Where short logs are cut, this is not essential. 



(3) The protection of workers and timber. Trees which are felled 

 up steep slopes are less likely to break because the distance of fall 

 is less. As a rule, however, this method is not used, because it is 

 costly and dangerous. On such ground the trees are thrown down 

 or along the side of the hill. On slopes where the timber will lie 



