3/13/03
4A
Early wood
industries in New England made charcoal for the smelting of iron( the
smelting of iron means to melt the charcoal to get the metal out of
it to make iron). This stripped a lot of the forests in the 16 and
the 1700’s because it takes a large amount of wood to make a
small amount of charcoal. That was before coal was made.
There’s a pile of wood on the
right being set up to be burned to make charcoal. The best charcoal
was made from oak, maple,beech,and chestnut. Early in the days of
this industry, especially in Maine and Minnesota pineries, logging
parties usually set up camp at the beginning of fall. Afterward they
would cut the main logging road which had to be as straight as a
ruler, level and more than twelve feet wide. Whole trees their
branches trimmed off,were hauled and the bark was removed from the
bottom so it would slip easily on the snow. One end of the tree was
put on a bobsled the other end was dragged along on the ground. The
tree would be taken to the shore of a lake or river to be rolled off
the sled where the sawyers cut a mark of ownership on the side of
each log. The logs were then ready for the drivers to roll into the
water in the spring.
The old camp, was simple, but
handy. Two large trees, the whole length of the camp were placed
about twenty feet apart and two base logs were cut for the ends.
Instead of chopping down trees, as
they did back then, they are now sawed off at the stump.
Logs and chunks of wood are split
for a variety of uses. Wood is split for roof shingles, basket
weaving, and also chair seats.
