8 BULLETIN 711, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
LABOR. 
The success of logging operations in this region depends in a large 
measure on the character, supply, and efficiency of the workmen; for 
the work is done under changing conditions, standardization of meth- 
ods and output being to a great extent out of the question. Even 
under the most favorable conditions the skill, initiative, and reli- 
ability of most of the workmen count largely in the cost of logging. 
On the other hand, the character and duration of the work and the 
conditions under which it is performed are not such as to attract, 
develop, and hold the type of workmen that logging operators hope 
to secure. The camps are in the woods; they usually afford very 
little opportunity for leading a normal life ; and, with few exceptions, 
they do not satisfy certain normal and wholesome desires. The 
industry has to depend on a woods force composed in large part of 
restless, dissatisfied bachelors — old and young — largely foreign born, 
a large portion of whom constantly shift from camp to camp via 
the larger centers of population — men who are not in the way of 
doing the best for themselves or their employers. 
This state of affairs, which is largely the logical consequence of 
our industrial and social development, is by no means confined to the 
logging industry. And the logging industry has not been slower than 
most industries to see that it does not pay; that even enlightened 
selfishness urges the bringing about of better conditions. 
How to impress on the minds of the workmen the necessity and 
desirability of constant application and how to make the conditions 
as to hours, pay, and surroundings such as to induce the better work- 
men to continue with the industry, to attract desirable workmen from 
other fields, and the like, are difficult questions. A number of com- 
panies have attracted wide notice within the industry by remarkable 
and far-reaching provisions for the comfort, instruction, and recrea- 
tion of their workmen, and by a mode and scale of payment enabling 
the employee to realize the largest earnings possible to his individual 
capacity. Most operators have modified former methods in some re- 
spects. 
LENGTH OF EMPLOYMENT. 
The length of time woods workers are required each year is gov- 
erned by the methods of logging and the demand for logs or lumber. 
In the Douglas fir region many operators can continue logging 
throughout practically the entire year, and in no case for less than 
nine months. In recent years, however, the demand for forest prod- 
ucts has been so weak that forest laborers in the region are fortu- 
nate when they secure seven or eight months' employment in a year. 
