American forestry (1910-1923) (17525403883)

Title: American forestry
Identifier: americanforestry201914amer (find matches)
Year: 1910-1923 (1910s)
Authors: American Forestry Association
Subjects: Forests and forestry
Publisher: Washington, D. C. : American Forestry Association
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden



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816 AMERICAN FORESTRY
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The Log Pond. late in the season special attention is given to filling the log pond at the mill to provide for a busy winter's work. the camps. Just before this time the mill cut is materially reduced and special attention is given to filling the log pond. So, when the shrill whistle of the donkey engine in the woods toots its last "pull-her-in" signal, the log pond is generally full and logs are decked high on the banks. This supply of logs will enable the mill to begin cutting before the woods are opened up the following Spring. The camps close down and outgoing trains are loaded with men bound for town. To almost every man will come a new suit, a hat and new pair of shoes, a week of bright lights and player-pianos, a good time and then, unfortunately, to many of them, a long winter of existence by this means or that. Soon after the closing of the camps the mill shuts down and the jackladder chain gets rusty again. The Sierras are silent during these months—usually from the first of December to the latter part of March—silent and deserted save for the lone trapper or prospector who decides to breast the heavy mountain storms. In his solitary fight against the cold he takes pleasure in counting the days until the time when his departed friends, the lumbermen, will return; to the time when the camps will open again and the scent of logging will fill the summer air; to the days when credit will be given at the camp com- missary; and to the clear summer nights when the gang around the camp- fire will listen intently to his tales of the winter's adventures. Some winters in California are less severe than others; but, it is not safe to count upon a light annual snowfall until Spring actually comes. Heavy snow storms occur in the Sierras and well below the timber-line, not infre- quently, as late as the middle of April. Spring comes and clear weather enables the farmers in the valleys to cultivate the soil and plant their early crops; but, the lumbermen in the Sierras still wait for the deep snow to disappear. In some sections the lumberman is indeed fortunate who is able to resume opera- tions by the middle of March. The nature of methods employed in western logging render early operations difficult. Power logging requires the manipula- tion of extremely heavy machinery and