he
sighted up the tree, took a chew of tobacco, and walked away. For several
days he went through the same performance, until at last one day he
brought out his trusty axe and made the chips fly. Soon the chestnut was
lying prone on the ground _pointing away_ from the house. What this old
backwoodsman did was to wait until a strong wind had sprung up, blowing in
the direction that he wanted the tree to fall, and his skilful chopping
with the aid of the wind placed the tree exactly where he wished it.

Fig. 118 shows how to make the cuts on a standing tree in order to remove
the bark, which is done in the same manner as that described for removing
the birch bark (Fig. 38).

XIX

HOW TO SPLIT LOGS, MAKE SHAKES, SPLITS, OR CLAPBOARDS. HOW TO CHOP A LOG
IN HALF. HOW TO FLATTEN A LOG. ALSO SOME DON'TS

LOGS are usually split by the use of wedges, but it is possible to split
them by the use of two axes. Fig. 119 shows both methods. To split with
the axe, strike it smartly into the wood at the small end so as to start a
crack, then sink the axe in the crack, _A_. Next take the second axe and
strike it in line with the first one at _B_. If this is done properly it
should open the crack wide enough to release the first axe without
trouble, which may then be struck in the log at _C_. In this manner it is
possible to split a straight-grained piece of timber without the use of
wedges. The first axe should be struck in at the smaller or top end of the
log. To split a log with wedges, take your axe in your left hand and a
club in your right hand and, by hammering the head of your axe with the
club, drive the blade into the small end of the log far enough to make a
crack deep enough to hold the thin edge of your wedges. Make this crack
all the way across the end of the log, as in Fig. 119. Put two wedges in
the end of the log, as in the diagram, and drive them until the wood
begins to split and crack along the sides of the log; then follow up this
crack with other wedges, as shown at _D_ and _E_, until the log is split
in half.

While ordinary wood splits easily enough with the grain, it is very
difficult to drive an axe through the wood at right angles to the grain,
as shown by diagram to the left (Fig. 120); hence, if the amateur be
chopping wood, if he will strike a slanting blow, like the one to the
right in Fig. 120, he will discover that the blade of his axe will enter
the wood; whereas, in the first position, wher