37i 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
How' to, and How not to Fell Timber. 
■ — 
Large trees of valuable timber are sometimes 
seriously injured by splitting when they fall, 
simply because those who cut them down do 
not know how to do it well. "We have had a 
sketch engraved showing a large stump and tree, 
which was badly damaged in the felling, and 
another well cut and ready to fall. Almost 
every one who has been among the wood chop- 
pers, when they have felled large trees of tough 
timber, will recollect having seen the " but logs" 
of many trees split, as seen in the sketch, 
and the long splinters remaining on the stump, 
which were pulled out of the tree, are very com- 
mon. When a tree is designed for fire-wood, it 
is of no importance to fell it without damage ; 
but when every foot in length is valued at $1.00 
or more, it is of prime importance to know bow 
to cut it down without damaging the but log. 
When a large tree stands perpendicularly, brace 
it on two sides, as represented, with long, stiff 
poles, having the lower ends secured by wide 
stakes. If the wind does not blow, a large tree 
may be cut nearly otF before it falls. The way 
is to leave a small strip on each side of the tree, 
while at the middle it is cut entirely through, 
as represented. When a tree standing as shown 
in the figure, is ready to fall, remove one of the 
braces by prying out the lower end with a hand- 
spike, and it will come down without any da- 
mage. When a tree leans, for example, to the 
norln or south, it should always be cut to fall 
east or west, and always if possible, at right 
angles to the way it leans. If cut to fell the 
way it leans, there is great danger that it will 
split at the but. It is often desirable to have a 
tree fall in a certain place, though it leans in an 
opposite direction. To do this, fasten a chain 
or strong rope to the body, 10 or 20 feet from 
the ground, and make the other end fast to the 
short end of a long lever. Then fasten another 
chain to the lever, some 3 or 4 feet from this 
end, and hitch it to some tree, stump or post 
standing near, and in the right du'ection. Fasten 
the long end of the lever, so as to hold the 
chain taut and the tree iu its place till it is cut 
almost off, and then a team drawing at the long 
end, will pull the tree over where it is desir- 
able to have it fall. A system of pulleys or a 
tackle, in which the rope is reeved through 
double and triple blocks, will subserve the pur- 
pose of a lever. When it is desirable to have 
a large tree fall in a certain ducction, let the 
kerf on the side where it is to fall be cut deeper, 
and 3 to 6 inclR-s lower than that on the op- 
posite side. If a large tree be cut nearly off 
on one side, it will 
usually fall on 
that side of the 
stump. For this 
reason, if a longer 
and deeper kerf 
be made on one 
side of a tree than 
on the other, and 
the small one a 
few inches higher 
than the large 
one, it will be 
easy to make a 
large tree fall in 
the desired direc- 
tion without the 
aid of braces, or 
chains. A tree 
may sometimes be 
sawed down quite 
as advantageous- 
ly as felled with an ax, if a saw is in good order. 
To facilitate starting a saw in the right direc- 
tion, bore a hole horizontally into the tree about 
two inches deep, and drive in a wooden pin, on 
which the blade of the saw may rest, until the 
kerf is sufficiently deep to steady it. Decide 
where the tree is to be felled, and saw the side 
in that direction half off first, then saw the op- 
posite side. Two broad and lliin iron wedges 
should be driven after the saw into the kerf, to 
prevent the saw being pinched so tightly that it 
cannot be worked nor drawn out. The ears on 
the end of a saw for felling timber should be se- 
cured with bolts, so that one may be removed, 
and the saw withdrawn, when it is difficult to 
knock out the wedges from the kerf. 
A Convenient Wood Holder. 
A subscriber of the Agrkulliinst, whose name 
we have lost, described to us recently in con- 
versation a contrivance for holding wood for 
splitting, which we here illustrate. It consists 
simply of a portion of a hollow log sawed off 
squarely, about one foot long, and placed on one 
end for holding the wood while it is being split 
into small sticks. Such a contrivance saves 
much labor, as it keeps the sticks erect, so that 
a workman may swing his ax freely ; whereas, 
when he has nothing to hold his wood in place, 
much time must be spent in picking up aud ad- 
justing the billets to be split. To prevent the 
numerous blows in one place from splitting 
such a holder, pin a half-round stick on the 
upper end, against which the ax may strike. 
Snow Tools. 
It is not because we are afraid of work that 
we advocate making all kinds of work easier. 
AVhen, as ambitious boys, we came into the 
house staggering under the weight of a big arm- 
ful of wood, perhaps dropjiing a slick or two, 
we were told such was "a lazj' man's load." It 
was indeed easier to fetch a big load once than 
to go twice, but there was no laziness in that. 
On the same principle we shovel snow with a 
shovel large enough to make heavy work of 
what would be like " beating the air," if we used 
a common square shovel. We see with surprise 
the very common use of inconvenient tools for 
moving snow, making paths, etc., and figure a 
few very simple ones, which will commend 
themselves to every man who has this work to 
do. Hammer and nails, a saw, a drawing-knife, 
a jack-plane, and a scratch-awl, with a few 
boards and pieces of wood, are all that are 
needed, to enable any one to make the imple- 
ments we describe, and any one can do it. 
The Snow Push (fig. 1). This is a very con- 
venient tool to clear paths after light falls of 
snow, or when snow changes to rain, which is 
soaked up by the snow. It is made by inserting 
=^5^ 
Fig. 1. — SNOW PUSH. 
a handle 5 or 6 feet long in a head of oak or 
Other hard wood, 1 inch thick, 14 inches long 
and 5 wide. To prevent it fronr working 
loose, it may be braced with stout wire. In 
use, the snow is shoved along before it. 
The iSiioic Shovel (fig. 2) is made of pine; 
the blade of 4 inch stuff, 20 inches long and 14 
or 16 wide, tapering to an edge over which is 
turned, and tacked, a strip of tin, having a 
width of li or 2 inches on each side. A back, 
perpendicular to the blade is nailed on, and this 
has a slot to receive the handle, which is Set On 
at an angle of about 30 degrees. It is about 4 
feet long, and strongly screwed to the blade and 
to the back piece. By some a shorter handle is 
preferred, furnished with a grip-piece at the end. 
The Snow Plmc (fig. 3). There ought to be 
somebody in every neighborhood, who is public 
spirited enough to make and use a snow plow, 
not for his own family only, but for the general 
good. The con- 
venienceofhav- 
ing good, wide 
paths all clear- 
ed by horse 
power, and al- 
most as fast as 
Dobbin will 
trot, about the 
farm buildings, 
etc., can hard- 
ly be estimat- 
ed. When this 
work is done, 
a man can set 
the neighbor- ^ 
hood in a state 
of pleasant 
good feeling, if 
he drives about 
for half an 
hour, leaving behind him everywhere a good 
walk in the deep snow, and cross-walks where 
they are needed. The school, the church, 
and the post-office should receive especial at- 
tention, so that the children aud women may 
conveniently get about. Other men willi their 
shovels will make the connections and put the 
finishing touches, and soon too the street will 
Fig. 2. — SNOW SHOVEL. 
