CHAPTER II.

THE HARVESTING AND SALE OF WOODLAND PRODUCE.

THE marketable products obtainable from woodland crops may be divided into main produce, including timber and smaller wood, also rods and withes from osier-holts, and minor produce, consisting of tanning-bark, tree-seeds, resin, and similar material. The former kinds of raw material are those for the express purpose of producing which the woods are worked, except perhaps in the case of Oak-bark coppices; while the latter are, with the same exception, merely casual products that can usually be harvested either along with the main crop, or without diminishing its productivity or value as timber.

1. The harvesting of Timber and smaller wood, whether grown as highwood, copse, or coppice, can only take place by felling or cutting. Falls of timber or of wood of smaller dimensions may, however, be made either when the crop has attained the full age of maturity desired (in which case it is either clear-felled for replantation, or falls are made to the extent necessary for natural regeneration), or else, to some greater or less extent, before the crop is mature, these latter falls being thinnings or intermediate yield, while the former constitute the mature yield or timber-crop.

Fellings in coppice, copse, and highwood crops are ordinarily made with handbills or billhooks, axes, and saws, according to the size of the material to be felled; and when the stumps are removed, either along with the bole or separately, lever appliances of one sort or another have to be made use of to give the extra power required.

1. The produce of osier-holts and of coppices worked in the ordinary short rotation, and the thinnings in young plantations, can be easily cut with bills, the stool-shoots being severed with a clean, sharp cut. There are various forms of bill, most of which have more or less of a curved shape; and their cutting-power depends mainly upon their weight and balance, in addition to the sharpness of their cutting-edge. The most effective instrument of this class, and one of the handiest, is a heavy, well-balanced bill with a slightly-curved blade about 16 to 20 in. long, and about to in. thick along the very slightly concave back, the cutting-edge having a slight convex bend, set in a handle about 9 to 10 in. long, and bulging somewhat towards the middle to give a firm grip.

As it is always important to make a clean cut, this can be better secured by bending down the young stem or shoot slightly with the left hand when delivering the blow with the right. Poles that cannot be severed at one stroke should, to

1 Illustrations of the best kinds of implements of these three classes will be found in all the catalogues issued by good firms.

prevent tearing of the bark and splitting of the stool, be laid into on one side and then cut from the other, as in felling with the axe; and in coppices particular care should be taken to make the cut surface of the stool smooth and sloping to prevent lodgment of water.

Fig. 215.

2. At time of cutting, coppices in England are generally marked off with sticks into strips 33 ft. broad, known locally as hags and lands, and the different kinds of material are assorted on each hag as it is cleared. In felling large poles or trees with the axe alone, the tree is either laid in deeply all round the base, close to the ground, with the grubbing-axe, and then pulled over by rope or chain, or else (Fig. 215) the stem is first laid in by making out a wedged-shaped cleft at a, on the side to which the stem is desired to be thrown. This first cut should be made as low down as possible, and should penetrate as far as, or slightly beyond, the heart or central point of the trunk. The second cleft, b, must be made on the opposite side of the stem, and should be so laid in that the apex of the angle formed by it should, if completed, just about come above the apex of that formed by a. When there is likely to be any difficulty about the stem falling in the exact direction desired, a round branch or billet may be inserted into b, and then a wedge or wedges below it, and as these are driven home the stem is forced over. It is astonishing how exactly skilled woodmen can make stems fall in almost any desired position. In felling large valuable timber trees with the axe alone, the roots may be cut through, and the earth cleared away, in order to allow the workmen to fell as low down as possible.

There are various kinds of axes, specially used for felling, lopping, splitting, grubbing, and trimming. These differ as to their shape and weight; but they all consist of two pieces, viz., the steelfaced head and the tough shaft or handle, and of course their cutting-power depends, cæteris paribus, on the weight of the head and the length of the shaft, while it is very distinctly increased by the face of the blade having a slightly convex edge. In the felling axe the head is comparatively light (about 3 lbs.), and with a convex cutting-edge, while the shaft, made of Ash, Mountain-Ash, or other tough wood, is usually about 30 in. long, and slightly curved to give freer play to the right hand when making the stroke. The most effective of such axes is the well-known Kenebeck or Pennsylvanian Axe, with bulging cheeks (to prevent jamming), which is imported in large numbers from America, and is made in two sizes (5 and 7 lbs. total weight). The Collins axe, somewhat lighter (33 to 5 lbs., and costing 3s. and 4s. without shaft), is also largely used. For felling large trees in Australia, axes having three broad parallel grooves running from the edge to the back of the blade, are said to cut more easily into the wood, and to be least liable to get jammed. The lopping axe is rather heavier in the head, straighter in the face, and shorter in the shaft than the felling axe; but the special shape, &c., vary more or less locally. The splitting axe is still heavier in the head (5 to 8 lbs.), and more wedge-shaped. Sometimes it has a flat cutting-edge, at other times it is slightly convex. The grubbing axe is also heavy in the head for rough work. The trimming axe, used for rough-hewing balks, has a broad blade, like a headsman's axe, and the head (weighing up to 6 or 8 lbs.) is set at an angle to the shaft to enable the woodman to use it. The shaft varies from about 18 or 20 in. up to 4 or 4 ft. long, according to the manner of its use.

The long-shafted and heaviest-headed axes are used by woodmen standing upright on the log, the sides of which they are rough-hewing.

3. Felling with the saw alone is only convenient in the case of small stems. These are simply sawn through from the opposite side to which the fall is desired, and then pushed over. But with larger trunks a cut should be made first of all on the side to which the fall is desired, and to a depth of 4 to 6 in., or more if the saw work freely, and then a second cut on the side directly opposite to that. When the saw has penetrated to some depth, it will be sure to get so jammed as to hinder it working freely, and then wedges must be made use of to keep the slot or cut open. These wedges, which may require to be driven home occasionally, at the same time act directly in forcing the stem slightly over to the side on which the fall is desired; and by means of these the tree is finally thrown.

The action of a saw is twofold, because it combines cutting with tearing.1 The harder and the shorter the fibre of the wood, the more does the cutting action come into play (as in sawing hardwoods); while the longer and the tougher the fibres, the more is a tearing action necessary (as in softwoods and most Conifers). The softer the wood, therefore, the more force requires to be exerted in sawing it, and the greater is the wastage in sawdust.

These are

For petty work, such as pruning, one-handed saws are used. generally only about 1 to 2 ft. long, and the teeth are all arranged so as to act with the forward stroke only, and not with the backward pull (which mostly clears out the sawdust). For cross-cutting of large poles or small logs however, a onehanded American saw, 3 ft. long, is in use, which has a slightly convex blade and teeth arranged for cutting both ways. For any heavier class of work in felling or in cross-cutting, two-handed saws, usually from 4 to 6 ft. long, and worked by two men, are in use. The efficacy of any saw depends, however, greatly on a convenient shape and position of the handle or handles.

As also in the case of axes, so too there are many local kinds of saws; but those now usually considered the most effective are the two American forms known as the Nonpareil and the Great American Saws, which have patent adjustable handles.

The main points common to all good saws are―(1) that they should be made of the best steel, (2) that the cutting-edge should be slightly convex, (3) that the teeth (Fig. 216) should be more or less triangular (formerly they were often M-shaped), (4) that they should provide ample space for removing the sawdust (which is of about six times the bulk of the wood it represents), (5) that the saw should weigh between 5 and 6 lbs., (6) that the teeth should be well set to alternate sides, and (7) that the back of the blade should be somewhat thinner than the face. This difference in thickness between the front and the back of the saw tends to reduce friction, which is further diminished by greasing the saw. To prevent the jamming of the blade, wedges have of course to be used. It has never been settled theoreti

1 The oldest and commonest, with the widest range of adaptability, is the straight saw, with reciprocating rectilinear blade. In this class is included the ordinary hand-saw, with its varying range of uses, from fine to coarse and from rip to cross-cut, and with teeth of forms as various as are the different duties which it is calculated to perform. The teeth are long or short, cutting one way or both ways, according to the "pitch" or "set" which may be given, and which should be adapted to both the kind and character of the timber to be sawn. The "pitch" of a saw-tooth is the angle of the point with reference to the blade, and is found by subtracting the back angle from the front, 60° being the generic angle of saw-teeth, which, however, may be variously placed. From the smallest hand-saw to the largest "mill-saw" the same general rule applies. In the largest saws of this class may be named the "pit-saw," used in the earliest manufactures of lumber or timber, and worked by one person standing over the log and drawing upward, while another in the pit below follows with the downward or cutting thrust (G. W. Hotchkiss, article on Saws in Encyc. Brit., 9th edit., 1886, vol. xxi. p. 343; see also p. 567 in Chap. V. below).

cally what is the best convexity to give to the face of the blade of a saw; but practically it has been found that the convexity given by a radius of about 5 ft. is best for general purposes, though a saw with a higher convexity than that is easier to work and more effective for sawing Conifers and softwoods, while saws with a straighter edge and lower convexity than the above are more effective in sawing

Fig. 216.

3

Teeth of Two-handed Saws.

hardwoods, especially logs of large size. Saws with upright triangular cutting-teeth, interrupted at regular intervals by somewhat shorter, single spaced-teeth for holding the sawdust, are usually found the best to work with. Of course, the greater the convexity, the less of the cutting-edge forming the face of the saw comes in contact with the hard wood; the greater, therefore, must be the cutting and tearing power of the parts in actual contact, while the sawdust is also more easily expelled and prevented from interfering with the teeth of the saw. In the Nonpareil and the Great American Saws three or four teeth are grouped together, and are then followe either by a deep, hollow space (Great American) or by one single tooth with good deep space on each side of it (Nonpareil), which provides plenty of room fo sawdust. They have somewhat low convexity, but are on the whole the best o saws for large hard woods.

Good two-handed saws, with movable handles and crown-shaped teeth, now cost from 6s. to 10s., according to length (4 ft. to 5 ft. 8 in.).

In all saws it is necessary to set the teeth alternately to right and left in order to prevent the buckling of the blade when being drawn to and fro by the two woodmen. The set has to be greater for Conifers and softwoods than is necessary for hardwoods. With use the teeth lose their set to some extent, and have to be equally re-set with a setting-key, worked with or without a screw. Some American saws are so constructed that the teeth are thicker than the blade behind

them, and the effect of this is to make them work more easily then if the teeth were set alternately sidewards, as is usual. In time, too, the teeth get blunt and worn away, when they have to be sharpened with a file; and in the best American and other modern saws there are perforations in the blade to admit of the sharpening of the saw taking place more easily. Saws are now made of the best cast-steel. The blade must not be so hard as to prevent the teeth being set, nor so soft as to allow them to become soon blunted or to lose their set.