8 



that was the best that could be done unless we were ready to strip 

 the country. Such cutting secured also the effect of thinning; not an 

 ideal thinning, to be sure, but still of considerable practical effect. 



Wind was, nearly everywhere, the big limiting and controlling factor. 

 Spruce is a shallow-rooted tree and is therefore very liable to be 

 thrown by wind. The Androscoggin country, too, is one most open 

 to such loss. Virgin stands on mountains and ridge tops are fre- 

 quently blown down, and in such places there is no safety whatever 

 for thinned timber. It was poor business to leave stuff to blow 

 down, for even if it went down in such quantities that the company 

 could afford to pick it up, that would have been at increased expense. 

 A system like that of the Black Forest, for instance, which, in spite of 

 the skilled and detailed handling, yields on the average a fourth of 

 the yearly product in windfalls, had it been put in operation here, 

 would have condemned the whole system. 



Such was the system finally settled on after a good deal of wear 

 and tear, friction with logging bosses, experiment, and some mistakes 

 involving appreciable loss. The ideal was nowhere achieved, but 

 the main purposes of forestry, nevertheless, were carried out. This 

 was done, moreover, without cost to the owners, because the big tim- 

 ber was taken out for as little or less cost per thousand than had the 

 land been stripped. Further, enough was left, and in such shape and 

 location that it would afford a reasonably cheap cut next time. 



CREWS AND LOGGING METHODS. 



Once a system of cutting had been decided upon, it became neces- 

 sary for the forester to turn his attention to the actual work of getting 

 the timber from the forest with as little injury as possible to the 

 remaining stand. 



Log hauling, except close to water, consisted of two parts — yard- 

 ing or skidding and hauling on double sleds. 



A yarding crew consisted usually, besides team and teamster, of 

 4 men, who, except for oversight by the foreman of the whole opera- 

 tion, worked by themselves. One man led off and made a road by 

 cutting out trees and windfalls, filling up holes, and bridging brooks. 

 Then followed the head chopper, ordinarily the man of most experi- 

 ence, who, with a man to help him, felled the trees, cut off the tops 

 and limbs, and rolled or swung the log to where the team could pick 

 it up. The fourth man trimmed the knots, barked the log if necessary, 

 and helped to bind it to the sled. The men were chiefly French 

 Canadians and immigrants from the British provinces, with some 

 Americans and a sprinkling of men from the northern countries of 

 Europe. 



There is no standard length of saw log in New England, as in the 

 State of New York, but the spruce mills saw a good deal of heavy 



[Cir. 131] 



