THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS 8l 



hills, it disappears on the higher altitudes of the Great Forest. 

 For the same reason the oaks are rare and stunted. Among the 

 conifers are found the spruce, hemlock, balsam, tamarack and white 

 cedar. Some white pine of original growth remains, but this noble 

 tree, which once grew thickly throughout the whole region, is now 

 limited to a few small patches of inferior quality."^ 



The principal commercial soft woods are spruce, balsam, pine and 

 tamarack (larch), and the principal hard woods are birch, beech, 

 maple and cherry. 



When a tract of land has been " lumbered over " this does not 

 necessarily mean that all trees of considerable size have been 

 removed. In by far most cases, the method is to " lumber " a district 

 for certain kinds of trees. Thus, a tract of land may be " lumbered 

 over " for certain soft woods, later for certain hard woods, and 

 again for other soft woods or even for a second growth of soft 

 woods. If, for example, the spruce has been cut, a new growth of 

 marketable size is looked for in about fifteen or twenty years. 

 Twenty years after going over a tract of land for spruce, the casual 

 observer would scarcely know that the tract had been " lumbered." 



Much of the Adirondack region is now owned by the State and, 

 according to the present law, lumbering operations are not allowed 

 on state lands. The time should soon come when certain mature 

 trees can be removed from the state forests, thus allowing the 

 benefit of the use of such trees without injviry to the fore:ts them- 

 selves. 



In the Adirondacks, the usual method of lumbering is to cut the 

 logs into lengths of 13}^ feet and drag them into great piles in the 

 woods. When the snow is deep enough, the logs are usually moved 

 from the woods in big loads on runners. Some are taken to local 

 sawmills, but most of them are dumped into certain streams. In 

 some cases the logs are sent down the mountain sides to the streams 

 through chutes or flumes. During the spring, when the ice has gone 

 out and the water is high, the logs are " driven " downstream, often 

 for many miles, to saw. pulp and paper mills. Each company has 

 its own mark stamped into the end of each of its logs to serve as 

 a means of identification. Logs are thus " driven " down nearly 

 all the principal Adirondack streams. The " log-drivers " often 

 become very expert, and their profession is one of the most charac- 

 teristic of the woods and is well paid. Large reservoirs are com- 

 monly constructed for the purpose of rushing a big volume of water 



1 New York Forest Commission, 1891, p. 103. 



