TIMBER SLIDES AND CHUTES 
263 
mountains, Idaho, Montana, the Northwest and, to a limited 
extent, in New England and New York. 
Slides are built in the valleys of streams or down the slopes 
of mountains but they are seldom carried across watersheds 
because the cost of spanning depressions is too great. They 
vary in length from a few hundred feet to several miles. They 
are chiefly used in mountainous regions where the stands are 
light, the country^ broken, and the slopes so steep that logging 
Fig. 85. — The Lower End of a Trailing Log Slide. Note tiie corduroj' bot- 
tom over which the tow team travels. Idaho. 
railroad construction is not justified. They are occasionally 
built in a flat country' for transporting logs for short distances. 
Earth Slide. — An earth or ground slide is used for short 
distances on steep grades where the soil is free from rocks and 
debris that would hinder the movement of logs. It is a fur- 
row which is made by dragging logs over the proposed route. 
If the earth is easily stirred no previous preparation is necessary, 
otherwise the soil must be loosened in places by a pick. 
■An improved form called the "trail slide," has a furrow made 
in a manner similar to the ground slide, with the addition of 
a continuous "fender" skid on the lower side of the trail. 
These skids are from 12 to 18 inches in diameter and are fas- 
