Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

240 CAIvIFING AxND WOODCRAFrTimber.—The logs should be straight and ofslight taper, the best of the smaller ones beingreserved for floor and roof timbers. Those for thesills should be at least a foot thick, but the uppercourses may be smaller. The wood must be ofsome species that is light and easy to work. Choicewill depend, of course, upon what is available. Thebest common woods are the soft pines, spruce, andV'oung chestnut. Sills should be of wood that isiitifi and durable (see tables in Chapter XII). Theymay be cut long enough to support the porch, ifone is to be built. Tall, straight, slender trees arecommon among the younger growth wherever thestand of timber is dense.Logs are best cut in spring or early summer, asthe bark then can be peeled with ease. If it isleft on, it soon begins to loosen, moisture and insectsget under it, and decay sets in. Pine logs,even after they are peeled, are attacked by "sawyers"(wood-boring larvae of beetles) which advertisetheir work by a creaking sound and by wood-dustdropped from their borings. They work just underthe surface, in a girdling way, do no seriousdamage, and cease operations after the first season.Cut the wall logs about three feet longer thanthe inside dimensions of the room, so as to alloweighteen inches at each end for jointing, unless youadopt one of the ways of building without notchesto be described hereafter. I have already told howto select good board trees for the roofing.Corners.—If the building site happens to be ofsand or gravel, and is flat, the sills may be laiddirectly on the ground ; but if the place is not level,or if there is soil on the surface, you should setthem up on piers or posts.Stake out the corners, and square them by themethod shown in Fig i8. At each corner setup either a pier of flat rocks or a heavy post.