26 BULLETIN 87, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



structed and successfully operated where the only sawed lumber 

 used was that for the box, the trestling, sills, crosspieces, stringers, 

 arms, and braces all being made from round poles flattened so as to 

 fit solidly in the construction work. This method of construction is, 

 however, often more expensive than to use the sawed material, where 

 the latter can be economically obtained and cut into proper lengths 

 by a power saw. 



The use of poles or small round material usually makes it necessary 

 to cut the braces, arms, etc., into the desired length and form by hand 

 power, and the increased cost of the manual labor necessary in such 

 cases usually more than counterbalances the expense of having the 

 material sawed at a mill, when this can be done without prohibitory 

 expense. Existing conditions should always decide what method of 

 construction will be most advisable. Illustrations of flumes where 

 onlv the "box" was constructed of sawed lumber are shown in Plate 

 VIII. 



WATER USED IN FLUMING SOMETIMES AVAILABLE FOR IRRIGATION 



PURPOSES. 



In some localities in the western country where irrigation is nec- 

 essary, it will be found possible to utilize the water brought out from 

 the mountains by the aid of a flume for irrigation purposes after it 

 has served its purpose as the transporting medium for logs, timber, 

 or lumber. 



Where there is a possibility of using the water for irrigation, it 

 may be found advisable to construct a flume on a larger scale than is 

 absolutely necessary for the simple transportation of the lumber and 

 timber, in order to increase the amount of water available for irriga- 

 tion purposes. This is a feature that should be carefully considered 

 by the prospective operator when local conditions are such that a 

 combination of the two different uses of the water can be made 

 remunerative. 



BRAILING AND ACCOUTRING LUMBER. 



Where sawed lumber is being shipped for a long distance in a flume, 

 it has in some cases been found advisable to brail or clamp a number 

 of the boards, planks, or other material together, in order to make a 

 compact body and thus reduce to a minimum the danger of forming 

 jams and injuring the material being transported. It has also been 

 found advisable to accoutre or hitch several of the "brails" together, 

 by the use of short sections of shingle twine, wire, or other form of 

 attachment, between the different clamped or brailed blocks of sawed 

 lumber. In practice it is customary to pile from 10 to 20 boards or 

 planks, usually aggregating about 200 feet, in a block at the mill or 

 point where the shipping is being done. The size of the brail depends 

 on the size of the flume and the class of material being shipped. 



