LUMBERING IN THE NORTH WOODS Part 2
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: “The forest supplies the raw material for many industries. Houses, furniture, boxes, fuel, railroad ties, telephone poles, and paper are only a few uses of wood.” “The United States uses more wood per capita than any other country. We are the richest in useful forests.” “Our different forests are shown on the map. We will see how trees are changed to lumber in the forests of the Great Lakes region.” Map of the United States showing southern forest, hardwood forest, northern forest, Rocky Mountain forest, and Pacific forest. “Summer time in a northern forest of pine and hardwoods.” View of forested hills - two men in forest of large trees. “Selecting the site for the lumber camp.” Men walking along road in forest. “The log huts are built and when the snow falls the work begins.” Log cabins, snow-covered ground. “In the northern forest lumbering is done in the winter. In felling the trees, one side is notched and the saw started on the opposite side. The notch directs the fall of the tree and prevents the splintering of the timber.” Two workers cutting notch in large tree trunk with axes, using two man saw to cut tree - tree falling. “As soon as the tree falls the brush and large branches are removed.” Two workers trimming tree, piling branches. “The tree is cut into logs by hand sawing.” Workers using two men saw to cut the tree into lengths. “A special motor saw does this hard work more quickly.” Two workers using power saw. “Hauling the logs to the skid or log sled.” Workers driving horses snaking logs. “Loading the logs on the skid.” Using block and tackle. “Preparing the skidway or ice road for hauling logs. The snow is packed by the heavy roller.” Team of horses drawing large roller. “The roadway is sprinkled by a large water tank. Filling the tank.” Raising barrels to top of wooden tank with block and tackle, lowering it through hole in ice to be filled with water. “The water quickly freezes and makes a hard roadway.” Water pouring out of moving tank. “The loaded skid is moved easily on the ice road.” Horse-drawn sled loaded with logs on road. “The tractor moves a large load of logs.” Tractor-drawn sleds on road. “These logs are hauled to the railroad, loaded upon cars and shipped to the sawmill.” Workers using block and tackle to load logs onto flatcars - long train of loaded flatcars. “In the northern forest, where water is near the timber, the logs are piled along the banks of the streams.” Pile of logs - tractor-drawn empty sled moving away from pile. “When the snow melts in the spring, the swollen stream carries the logs down to the mill.” Logs floating in stream. “The ‘lumber jacks’ are skillful in preventing the log jams and in keeping the timber moving down stream.” Worker with long pole on log jam, hooking logs and shoving them free of the jam. “A log jam must be quickly broken or the logs will be left as the stream subsides." Logs jamming on curve in stream bed, workers breaking jam. “Dynamite is sometimes used to blast an opening in the log jam.” Workers tying sticks of dynamite together - charge going off, logs and water spraying into air - logs tumbling over waterfall. “The owner’s mark is placed on each log.” Worker hitting the ends of logs with steel tool - close-up of ‘W’ cut in end of log. “Sorting the logs as they float into the ‘boom’ or storage pond.” Workers sitting on bridge hooking logs as they float past and directing them in one direction or another. “The sawmill is generally located upon a stream or a lake. The logs are kept in the boom until needed. A long endless chain with sharp hooks pulls the logs up to the saw.” Logs on conveyor into mill. “The log is fastened on a carriage which moves it against a rapidly revolving band saw.” Log on carriage, worker on saw platform - log being sawed into boards. “The gang saw contains many saws that cut the log into boards of any width and thickness.” Worker operating gang saw - logs entering one side, boards leaving at other side. “The log is now lumber, which is sorted and graded by machinery.” Boards on conveyors - machinery. “The green lumber is dried and seasoned in a steam heated kiln.” Load of lumber on tracks being rolled into kiln. “The newly sawed boards may be seasoned in the open, if they are piled so that the air circulates freely about them.” Boards on conveyors in yard, workers stacking them. “The northern forests are more than one-half removed. Our consumption of wood is three times greater than its growth. The forests must be protected from fire, and forest trees must be planted for our future wood supply.” Forest fire - girl sorting seedling trees - workers planting trees in rows - field of seedling trees. “The End.” “Ford Educational Library.” [1922]
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