Arthur and I are on top of a huge cypress log [taller than us] that my father had brought from the swamp to the front lawn with his log wagon wheels and the mules.
That tree had fallen during a storm.
I plan to develop a page here about the logging operations at Maple Lawn. My father kept several log wagons among his equipment that sat on the front lawn. Every winter Daddy and his tenants would go into the woods and cut a few of the large trees as well as the timber they were collecting for firewood for the winter and the furnaces at the tobacco barns in the summer. Usually they collected fallen timber from the latest storm. But there were also the operations of Uncle Jack for which he set up saw mills on the site and then built a narrow rail roadway to carry the timber to Powellsville. The roadbed of his railroad became the new entrance to the farm. There was a huge sawdust pile from the long leaf pines he cut that stayed with us for years – it may still be there.
also see this article on LOGGING on the Bertie Site
I enjoyed this link from John Keslick see next. Sally
an e-mail from John: My name is John A. Keslick, Jr. and I am from the Philadelphia area. I am a TREE BIOLOGIST and a WRITER. I would like to become involved in Environmental, Forest Health and Tree Biology links and issues.
I have some links which you may enjoy that I can offer.
TECHNO TREE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY online at http://www.treedictionary.com