United States Forest Service
Fig. 105. Compare this load of white pine logs, hauled out of the Minnesota forests over the
snow, with the load shown in Figure 106. The difference helps to account for the fact that lum-
bering is a winter occupation in the northern states.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LUMBERING AND FOREST PRODUCTS
Woop ranks with iron and coal as an aid to man in his attempts to rise
in civilization. From the earliest times man has burned it to cook his
food and to keep him warm. For thousands of years it has been the
chief material for building his house. As time passes new uses are
continually being found for this valuable substance. For instance,
when railroads came into use wood was found to be the best material
for the cross ties, and now a billion and a half cubic feet of wood are
used annually for that purpose alone. Wood also furnishes good
fiber for cheap, strong paper. A single newspaper firm in New York
uses daily more than two hundred tons of paper, which means the
product of more than three hundred cords of spruce wood.
LUMBERING
In view of the many uses of lumber, it is not surprising that the
forests of the world are attacked every year by thousands of work-
men, armed with axes and saws and equipped with all sorts of ma-
chinery. Since we must have wood, even remote forests in rugged
regions are made to give up their trees.
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