38 BULLETIN 111, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



The truth is, no one knows; no one has sufficient data on which to 

 base a judgment. In some cases, because of the character of the 

 ground and the size of the timber, the amount of breakage is so small 

 that one may safely estimate it at 2 or 3 per cent; in others, where 

 the slopes are rocky or broken up, it is so large that one feels justified 

 in guessing it at 40 or 50 per cent. At one camp, where the timber 

 is large and the ground is rough, in felling 1,000 thousand feet of 

 timber, the breakage amounted to 9 per cent. At another camp the 

 breakage on a 40-acre tract was 37 per cent. Taking it straight 

 through the region, breakage probably runs from 10 to 15 per cent of 

 the merchantable stand, being higher than this where the timber is 

 large and defective or fire killed, or where the ground is particularly 

 steep, rough, or rocky. Whatever the amount is, it will probably 

 increase as operations are extended into the steeper places, unless dif- 

 ferent methods are used. 

 Waste resulting from breakage may be divided into three classes.: 



(1) That which can not be helped. 



(2) That which is necessary to save more valuable timber. 



(3) That which is preventable. 



Just how much of the present breakage is preventable, no one is in 

 a position to estimate confidently. Furthermore, it is not an easy 

 matter to get at. Some men, however, think the amount in the aggre- 

 gate is large. 



It should not be inferred from anything that has been said that 

 operators are not aware of this condition, and that they are not doing 

 what they think should be done to reduce breakage to the minimum. 

 Most of them aim to employ experienced head buckers and f allers ; 

 have the windfalls bucked ahead of the felling ; have no timber felled 

 across unbucked timber ; have the f allers resort to wedging when it is 

 necessary and practical; have two or three fellings made in dense 

 stands when the logs are bucked in short lengths ; have the larger and 

 more valuable species felled first; have a bed made for the large 

 timber when it is necessary and practical ; and, when there is danger 

 of a tree. landing on a stump, have the stump bowled off on one side, 

 or have poles laid against the stump, so that the tree landing on the 

 stump will be sheered off and the force of the fall broken. 



Fallers, however, often become careless, especially under a bonus 

 system. Here, as in every other line of work, a check made occa- 

 sionally is conducive to higher efficiency. A casual inspection, de- 

 sirable as it may be, is not sufficient. An intensive inspection could 

 be made by a head bucker and scaler working together to keep a 

 check on the fallers and buckers and to collect data as a basis for 

 comparing the breakage under different conditions. 



The cost of unusual care may more than offset the gain resulting 

 from reduced breakage. Generally speaking, there should be a rela- 



