44 BULLETIN 718, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
shipper who prepares his mine timbers properly can, on a 400-mile 
rail haul, create and hold a market for the same species of mine prop 
material which the local operator can not sell at all, although his 
product is 300 or more miles closer to the consuming center. The sole 
reason is that the local man does not prepare his material properly. 
Tell the mine operator just what species of timber you have for sale 
and ship it to him properly made up and you will hold his trade. 
THE MAIN LOGGING ROAD. 
A logger should never forget that it is cheaper and more economical 
to haul a load of logs a quarter of a mile to his mill on a downhill 
road or on the level than it is to haul a similar load a rod uphill. 
Bun the main road through the stand to be cut, if the ground is level, 
or below the timber if the stand is on a side hill. Keep your cutting 
area compact, and when you make a skid road, take out all the timber 
tributary to it before you move to the next one. 
If you have to haul up a hill, double up ; do not figure on loads that 
one team can handle over a hill. If the road is too steep, use a block 
and line. Do not waste time in trying to force your single team to 
haul a load which a four-horse team can hardly get away with. If 
the ground is rough and rocky, use dynamite and build a good main 
road and keep it in good order. Breakage and wear and tear on 
equipment and horses over a bad road will buy a lot of powder and 
keep a road in fine shape. 
One thousand feet of logs weigh approximately 4J tons. It would 
take a good team to haul such a load over a paved street. Why try 
to haul it over rocks, ruts, and logs when logging in the hills with 
a pair of cayuses ? A logger should remember that the value of the 
time lost and the injury to teams and equipment while struggling 
to pull off impossible stunts in logging is always a prolific source of 
loss. If iced or even snow roads were possible, it might be different ;. 
but a dirt road must be well built. 
If the timber is large, use a gin pole and crotch line in loading; 
use bunk chains or corner binds in holding the first tier of logs on 
the truck or sled. A couple of logs on top of the binding chain will 
hold them taut. A spring pole is dangerous to use and not a safe 
bind on a load of logs. Have your toggle bind and grabs on the un- 
loading side. 
It sometimes happens that part of the timber is relatively close 
to the mill and part farther away and not so accessible, and the 
character of the road such as to prevent the hauling of a maximum 
load every trip. In this case it will be found economical to skid up 
the " close " timber along the main road and " top off " the long-haul 
loads to their full capacity on their way to the mill. 
