48 LOGGING 
tree, number of saw cuts made, or the "task." These methods 
do not stimulate close utilization, because quantity rather than 
quality is the goal. There may be a conscious effort to avoid cut- 
ting rough top logs which require much swamping, and often tops 
may be broken in felling in order to obviate the necessity of cut- 
ting top logs of small diameter, especially when the log scale used 
penalizes the workman by giving him too low values for small 
logs. The remedies for this condition are close supervision and 
the establishment of the felling and log-making both on a quantity 
and a quality basis. 
The so-called ''task" system is applied to certain forms of 
logging work, such as laying and taking up steel on logging rail- 
roads. The principle of this system is the payment of a given 
wage for a given amount of work, at the conclusion of which the 
workmen are free to use their time as they see fit. For work other 
than the standard, the workmen receive additional pay. Other 
forms of work which are sometimes done by the task system are 
skidding with animals, and loading logs upon cars, for which 
weekly standards of work are established. The workmen then 
have such free time at the end of the week as remains after their 
task is completed. 
Contract hasis.^ Contract work is common in many parts of 
the country, especially east of the Rocky Mountains. It is a 
satisfactory method where labor is inefficient or where liability 
laws are unfavorable to the employer. The system in some 
regions covers the entire field of mill stocking, although usually 
it is applied only to felling and log-making, skidding, hauling, 
and railroad grade construction. The last is almost invariably 
a single contract, but the others may be handled together. For 
instance, one contractor may agree to deliver the logs along a 
railroad or on the banks of some stream or other body of water. 
The common basis of payment for contract work is the thousand 
feet, log scale. Lumbermen may furnish the contractors with 
tools, supplies and all facilities needed, although this is not a 
common practice. Log-cutting by contract is rarely satisfactory 
for forests under management, since the log-cutters will not go 
into the tops because of the swamping required and also because 
^ For legal decisions which have reference to logging contracts see The 
Essentials of American Timber Law, by J. P. Eonney. John Wiley & Sons, 
Inc., New York, 1917. 
