316 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



Horses, mules and oxen may be employed for draught purposes. Each 

 has its advantages. For instance, horses are better in boggy ground than mules, 

 since the feet of the latter are small and mire readily. Horses suffer with the 

 heat more than a mule, and will not stand as much abuse. The latter is an 

 important item when inefficient labor must be employed. On the whole, mules 

 are the more satisfactory animal. Oxen are regarded as too slow for modern 

 logging operations where the conditions are favorable for horses or mules. Log- 

 gers, however, often keep one or more yoke for handling heavy logs and for 

 getting timber out of difficult places. They cost much less than horses or 

 mules and save expensive horse flesh in difficult places. 



The logs are brought to the spur or main line in several ways. For distances 

 of 200 feet or less it is common to drag the logs with a team; for distances of 

 from 200 to 500 feet the logs are loaded on low wheeled log carts, called bum- 

 mers, or else dragged between a pair of high wheels, rigged as a logging cart; 

 for distances greater than 500 feet the logs are either loaded on a four, six, 

 or eight-wheeled wagon or on a high-wheeled cart. There are variations of 

 distances and the methods of handling logs for the longer hauls, but the pro- 

 cedure given is fairly common and is regarded by many as good general practice. 

 The logs that are dragged, or hauled on bummers and carts, are not decked up 

 in piles along the railroad, but are placed in rows parallel to the track where 

 they can be reached readily by the loading crew. 



Logs hauled on wagons are often placed in piles two or three logs high 

 aince it economizes space and does -not require any additional time for decking. 

 In certain parts of the southern pine belt, especially in Arkansas, it has 

 been found practicable during the rainy season, when the bottom is verj' soft and 

 the number of logs that can be handled by animals is small, to supplement 

 animal by power logging, using for this purpose a steam log loader. While these 

 machines are not adapted for the heavy work imposed upon them, they can deliver 

 about thirty-five thousand board feet of logs, daily, along the track and often 

 enable lumber manufacture to continue when it would be impossible for animal? 

 to skid sufficient logs. 



The practice of logging both by company teams and by contract prevails, 

 some operators furnishing the equipment and hiring laborers to perform the 

 work, while others do all the work by contract. In some cases the equipment and 

 animals are provided. Some operations are conducted exclusively on one or 

 the other bases, while many companies operate under both methods, usually con- 

 tracting the more difficult work. 



It is usually regarded as desirable for the lumber company to own at least a 

 limited amount of equipment and some animals, since it can then determine the 

 actual costs of performing certain classes of work. This provides a basis for 

 determining contract prices and further it prevents the lumber company from 

 being held up by unscrupulous contractors in case a demand is made for exorbi- 

 tant price. 



A practice followed by some loggers who have sufficient railroad steel to 

 permit them to keep spurs down for a period of from three to four months 



