At the beginning of this period, rough exploitation was still mainly in
vogue, only parts of trees being used, just as in the United States now.
Here and there, attempts were made toward more conservative use; for
instance, at Brunswick in 1547, the use of log timber for fuel was
discouraged; in Saxony, as early as 1560, the brushwood was utilized for
fuel. High stumps were a usual feature in spite of the threats of
punishment of the forest ordinances, as in Bavaria (1531). The axe was
the only instrument used until the end of the 18th century for felling
as well as cutting into lengths; not until 1775, do we find an allusion
to the use of the saw, when the forest ordinance of Weimar ordered that
the saw-cut should be made for three-fourths of the tree’s diameter and
the axe be used to finish (!) the last quarter. Not until the 18th
century was the fuel-wood split in the woods, and it was near the end of
the period before it was set up in mixed cords (round and split) after
the splitting had been introduced. The measurement was, until about that
time, made merely in loads, the cord being of later introduction.
The value of low stumps and of the use of the saw was recognized in
Austria in 1786. To show how variously and locally the need of
conservative use of wood developed, we may cite the fact that in the
Harz, about 1750, trees were dug with their roots as now in some of the
pineries of the Mark Brandenburg, in order to utilize more of the
body-wood and the root-wood. In 1757 we find stump-pulling machines
described.
In measurement of standing trees the circumference at breast-height was
measured with a chain, and for the body-wood when felled the mean
diameter was employed.
As regards the felling time, specific advice is found in many forest
ordinances which recommend mostly winter felling, stating the proper
beginning and end of the season by the phases of the moon, the rule
being that all white wood, for example conifers, beech and aspen should
be felled on the increase or waxing of the moon; oak, at the waning; but
coppice, because it is desired to secure a new growth, at the waxing
moon. Prescription was also made sometimes regarding the time by which
the removal of the wood from the felling area was to be finished (May to
June).
Means of transportation were poor up to the end of the period; snow, as
in the United States, was in the Northern country the main reliance for
moving the wood. River driving, both with, and without rafts was well
organized; various systems of log-slides were developed to a
considerable extent; in one place even an iron pipe, 900 feet in length,
is reported to have been used in such capacity.
Originally, the consumer cut his own wood, but in the middle of the 17th
century special wood-choppers appear to have been employed, for, in
1650, mention is made in Saxony of men, who, under oath to secure honest
service, were organized for the exploitation of the different classes of
wood. A system of jobbers came into existence about this time, something
like the logging bosses in the United States (Holzmeister) who were
responsible for the execution of the logging job. The organization of
wood-choppers went so far that, in 1718, we find in the Harz mountains
mention of an Accident Insurance and Mutual Charity Association among
them.
The sale of wood was at first carried on in the house; later it became
customary to indicate in the forest the trees to be cut or the area from
which they should be cut by the purchaser, and finally they were felled
by the employes of the owner. For a long time, persisting into the 18th
century, the sale was by area, and this method developed the necessity
of surveying; at the same time, however, sales by the tree and by wood
measure occurred, but only in the 18th century did the present method of
selling wood by measure after felling come into existence. In Prussia,
the buyer had to take the risk of felling, and pay, even if the tree
proved to be rotten, or broke in the felling. The forest owner seems to
have had the whip hand in determining the price one-sidedly, revising,
i.e., increasing the toll in longer or shorter intervals. But, in 1713,
we find mention of wood-auctions, or at least similar methods of getting
the best prices. Finally, special market days for making sales and for
designating of wood were instituted; on these days also, all offences
against the forest laws were adjudged.