26 LOGGING 
A common practice in logging virgin timber is to go over the 
tract several times, removing certain products at a given cut- 
ting. Telephone, telegraph and electric light poles are taken 
out first. Piles are often cut from the tops of pole timber, if 
there is a market for this class of material. If there is large oak, 
ship timbers are next removed, being cut in long logs which are 
later sawed into flitches at the mill. The remaining timber is 
then converted into saw logs, the trees being utilized down to a 
6-inch top diameter. 
Crossties, which are cut in 8-foot lengths in the woods and 
sawed into squared and pole ties, are made in large quantities 
from short-bodied trees and large limbs. 
The cutting of cordwood follows the removal of the saw log 
material. The residue, down to limbs 1| inches in diameter, 
may then be cut up into material for charcoal manufacture. 
Practically all of the wood is utilized, except small branches, 
when favorable markets are close at hand. 
The sawmill plant is set up in the immediate vicinity of the 
operation where an open space can be secured for log and lumber 
storage and where a water supply for the boiler is convenient. 
Camps are seldom established. 
The felling crews, which work several days in advance of skid- 
ding, are composed chiefly of foreigners and from one to two 
saw crews of three men each are required. A three-man crew 
consists of a spotter and two fallers. The spotter selects the 
trees to be felled and notches them, lays off lengths on the felled 
timber, and aids the fallers in swamping. Saws and axes are 
used for felling. A three-man crew will fell from 4000 to 5000 
board feet daily. 
Pole cutting may be done by contract at a given price per run- 
ning foot for felling and peeling. Peeling can be done more readily 
in summer and pole-cutting contracts can be let at that season 
for about 25 per cent less than at other periods of the year. 
Some buyers, however, refuse to take smmner-cut timber because 
of the greater liability of insect attack. 
Hewed ties are seldom made because of the waste in manufac- 
ture. Cordwood is cut and piled by contract. 
The logs are snaked on steep slopes, and then hauled on a 
log-boat, or on a "scoot" to the mill. These are used on short 
hauls even when there is no snow on the ground. A log-boat is 
