ood haulers! How they complained because they thought
their divine right to cut and slash as they chose was to be invaded!
What happened to them? To-day they are better off than ever. True, they
pay a little for the wood--from as low as ten cents a cord in some
forests up to fifty cents in others. But what do they get in return for
it?

If a wood hauler wants to buy ten cords of wood or any amount up to
fifty dollars' worth, he simply goes to the nearest ranger, and in ten
minutes the deal is over; the ranger accompanies him to the area where
he wishes to cut and shows him by marks and bounds just where he may
cut; the trees are marked, and the man sets to work knowing full well
that no one else will invade this little tract or steal his wood when it
is cut and piled up waiting for him to haul it away, as was the case
over and over again in the old days of free and unlimited competition.

_How the Government Sells Timber_

What of the next class, the sawmill men? Every stick of matured,
merchantable timber in the forests, not needed for protection of
water-sheds, is for sale. By matured timber is meant a tree that has
reached its maximum growth and development, and is beginning slowly to
deteriorate, and should, like any ripe crop, be harvested. There is no
limit either high or low. In New Mexico one contract for 1907 called for
50,000 feet and another for 10,000,000, and each was made and carried
out under the same conditions; little man and big both got the same
square deal.

"But," cry some of the politicians with both eyes upon the political
barometer, "the Forest Service, in selling lumber by such methods, is
playing into the hands of the Lumber Trust and boosting prices."

What are these methods? If a citizen wants to buy some saw-logs for his
mill, he goes to the nearest forest officer and states his case,
indicating where the timber lies that he wishes to cut. A careful survey
and cruise of the timber is then made by experienced and competent men
trained especially for that work. If they report favorably upon the
cutting, a minimum price is set at which the timber will be sold, and
the sale is duly advertised for thirty days, if it amounts to more than
one hundred dollars in value. If it comes to less, the forest officer on
the ground makes the sale without delay. When the bids are opened, the
highest bidder gets the timber.

[Illustration: A SECTION OF THE BIG HORN NATIONAL FOREST, WYOMING,
SHOWING THE