LOGGING METHODS 25 
presents itself; by small wood-working plants which are able 
to secure occasional stands of timber suitable for their needs; 
and also by those who engage more or less continuously in logging 
and manufacture. There has been a tendency in recent years 
towards more specialization and larger annual output on the 
part both of individuals and firms, since the mill products can 
be marketed to better advantage. Contract work both in logging 
and manufacture is common and the product is sold to railroad 
companies in the form of crossties and structural timbers; to 
retail lumbermen in the form of lumber; to telephone and tele- 
graph companies in the form of poles; and to various wood- 
working industries. The business is more active during the fall 
and winter months when agricultural and other outdoor oc- 
cupations are slack, because labor and teams are more plentiful 
and a snow bottom reduces the logging expense, especially for 
skidding. 
On the National Forests of the West the tendency is for port- 
able mill operators to conduct their operations more or less 
continuously, except for interruptions due to climatic conditions. 
These operations are chiefly in virgin forests often several miles 
from a railroad and under conditions that are unfavorable for 
the development of large plants. The products of these mills 
are used locally by settlers, and by mines and other industrial 
enterprises. 
Portable plants are common in the southern yellow pine region. 
They are sometimes located on small isolated tracts of virgin 
timber but, as a rule, they follow large plants operating on the 
lightly-culled lands, and old-field stands. Although a portion 
of the product is marketed locally, large quantities are sold 
through the larger operators, or through wholesalers and com- 
mission men. 
LOGGING METHODS — NEW ENGLAND^ 
The operations in New England are conducted chiefly on 
woodlots containing from fifty to several hundred thousand 
board feet. An operation may be confined to manufacturing the 
stumpage on a contract basis for the owner, or a sawmill man 
may buy the timber outright. 
^ See "Second Growth Hardwoods in Connecticut," by Earle H. Frothing- 
ham. Bui. 96, U. S. Forest Service. 
