LOSS IN BUILDING SKIDWAYS. 61 
wood it is fair to reckon that a stumpage price of only 10 cents per 
standard could be obtained, as against 30 to 40 cents, the value of 
average Spruce timber. If the total yield were 15 standards per acre, 
an increase of 6.5 per cent would be 0.95 standard per acre. At 10 
cents per standard this would amount to 9.5 cents per acre, or on 1,000 
acres to $95. 
If this material were used there would be not only a substantial 
profit but in order to get it out it would be necessary to lop so many 
of the branches that no further trimming would be necessary as a pre- 
caution against the spread of fire. 
LOSS IN BUILDING SKIDWAYS. 
The majority of skidways are built of Spruce. The tree has a long, 
clean, straight stem, is quickly cut down, and easily handled. More- 
over, the bark is rough and holds the logs from slipping. Hardwoods, 
on the other hand, are heavy to handle, require a longer time to cut 
than Spruce, and even when straight are often covered with burls and 
other irregularities which make it difficult to roll logs over them. 
Sometimes Hemlock and, in swamps, Balsam are used for the main 
skids. The lumbermen object to Balsam, however, on the ground that 
the average trees are not strong enough for the large skidways, and 
that the bark is too slippery to hold the logs. 
It is desirable, when possible, to use other material than Spruce and 
Pine for skids and all other lumbering purposes, because the presence 
of small specimens of these trees, which will grow to merchantable 
size in a comparatively short time, tends to enhance the value of lum- 
bered land much more than the same amount of young growth of other 
species. Smaller trees are merchantable in the case of Spruce than of 
any other species, which fact, coupled with its rapid growth on cut-over 
land, makes it possible to obtain repeated crops at shorter intervals. 
As yet the small hardwoods have but little recognized importance in 
the market for future growth, and the loss of the few trees which would 
be cut for lumbering purposes would not be felt. 
It should be said in this connection that the use of a certain amount 
of Spruce for skids in the first cutting may not seriously affect the 
forest to its injury, but if the hardwoods and Hemlocks are cut within 
a few years a similar thinning of the Spruce for lumbering purposes 
would impair the future value of the forest. 
For the construction of each skidway at least three trees are neces- 
sary, but for those which hold 200 to 300 logs from four to six trees are 
often used. Since a certain number of the skids are from hardwood 
trees, Hemlock, and Balsam, it is estimated that not more than three 
Spruce trees are cut for the average skidway. A careful study has 
Shown that an average skidway holds the product of about 3 acres, 
so that the use of Spruce for skids amounts to about one tree per 
acre. Itis estimated that these trees yield, on an average, one-fourth 
