BALSAM FIR. 17 



DIFFICULTIES IN LOGGING. 



. Compared with spruce, balsam fir is difficult and expensive to log. 

 It is small, and therefore a gang working in a pure stand of balsam 

 can not cut in a day as much as when working in spruce. When 

 green it is heavier than spruce and therefore harder to snake out and 

 handle, especially in summer in the swamps. It yields a greater per 

 cent of cull, and in many cases the presence of rot can not be detected 

 until the tree has been feUed and cut into. It floats heavily, and 

 many logs become water-soaked and sink, making the driving very 

 difficult. To offset these disadvantages, and to make the use of 

 balsam more profitable, its stumpage price should always be lower 

 than that of spruce. 



STUMPAGE PRICE AND LOGGING COSTS. 



NEW YORK. 



The ruling price in the Adirondacks for cutting and skidding pulp- 

 wood Gong logs) is about SI. 50 per cord. In this price the cutting of 

 roads is included. The extra cost of resawing the long logs into 

 4-foot lengths and pihng them along the log road is ordinarily 40 cents 

 per cord, and requires, in addition to the regular crew of six men, two 

 sawyers on the skidway. The logs, which in such cases are cut into 

 lengths that are multiples of 4 — as 12, 16, and 20 — are snaked to the 

 skidway, where they are sawed into 4-foot sticks and piled. A gang 

 of eight men will cut, resaw, and pile from 9 to 12 cords per day. In 

 cutting 14-foot lengths a gang of six men will cut and skid from 14 to 

 16 cords a day. The price of hauHng varies with the distance. For 

 two or three trip hauls per day, with 2 to 3 cords per sled, the charge 

 is ordinarily $1.60 per cord. If the distance is short and several trips 

 are possible the price is less. The stumpage price is a very variable 

 quantity, ranging all the way from $2 to S3. 50 per cord. Such pulp- 

 wood is supposed to contain, besides spruce, 10 per cent of balsam 

 and 10 per cent of hemlock. As a rule, however, the percentage of 

 balsam runs much higher. Since balsam pulpwood is hardly ever 

 bought by itself, the price could not be determined, but it is probable 

 that pure balsam pulpwood would command from 50 cents to $1 

 per cord less than the ordinary pulpwood now offered on the market. 

 The average cost of driving -can hardly be ascertained, being de- 

 pendent upon the kind of stream, distance, number of logs, etc. 



In Maine balsam fir is taken for pulp along with spruce, the only 

 requirements being sufficient size and soundness. The scaler cuUs 

 ])alsam closer than spruce. Wliile a good deal of pulpwood is cut in 



20137°— Bull. 55—14 3 



