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An Object Lesson in Utilization 



As pointed out in a recent issue of Hardwood Becord, one of the 

 ■ways in which the participation of the government in the timber 

 business helps private interests is in the object lessons afforded. The 

 government is in a position to conduct experiments and put theories 

 into practice which private concerns are hesitant to do. 



A case in point is in the construction and operation by the United 

 States Indian Service of a large band sawmill and planing mill to 

 «ut timber belonging to the Menominee Indians. This plant, which 

 has an eight-hour capacity of 120,000 feet, was constructed during 

 the fall of 1908 at Neopit, Wis. The area of the Indian reservation 

 is 230,400 acres and the stand of timber is estimated at nearly two 

 billion feet board measure. About two-fifths of the stand is hem- 

 lock, one-sixth each of basswood and sugar maple, one-tenth white 

 pine, and the rest elm, yellow birch, white and red oak, white ash, 

 beech, aspen, Norway pine, white cedar, balsam, tamarack, and white 

 spruce. Only the mature and fire-damaged timber is logged, and the 

 cut is so regulated that the productive capacity of the forest is not 

 impaired and operations may be kept up indefinitely. 



One of the most important phases of the work is the development 

 of a great many lines of uses of minor products. When it is realized 

 that the average amount of wood material actually utilized in the 

 average operations is less than forty per cent of that grown in the 

 woods, the importance of more thorough utilization seems obvious. 

 The usual reply of the operator is that there is not sufficient demand 

 ■or market for the material, or that the transportation facilities are 

 so poor that the cost of placing the wood on the market is pro- 

 hibitive: in other words, it doesn't pay. 



From a report by N. C. Brown recently published in the Forestry 

 Quarterly it appears that the methods of utilization employed by 

 the Indian Service do pay. The minor products discussed in some 

 detail as to costs and profits are: hemlock bark, cordwood, lath, 

 shingles, crating material, basswood and popple bolts for excelsior ; 

 pine bolts for pail stock; ties, cedar poles and posts, and picket 

 stock. The following are a few examples: 



cordwood 

 The operation pays eighty cents a cord to the Indian contractors 

 for cutting. Everything from sixteen inches to forty-eight inches 

 in length is taken and all cordwood over ten inches in diameter is 

 split. The contractor cuts up only the tops and dead and down 

 material left in the woods after logging, and no stumpage is charged 

 for this material. "A face cord" in this region equals a stack of 

 wood four feet high, sixteen inches wide and eight feet long. Both 

 this short sized wood and the regulation four-foot cord lengths are 

 ■commonly sawed. It costs on an average of sixty cents per cord to 

 haul to the tracks and load on the cars. The operator receives from 

 two to three dollars per cord f. o. b. at Neopit, depending upon 

 the character of the wood; three dollars per cord is received for 

 maple and birch sound body wood, that is, clear material free from 

 knots or defects. All other hardwoods bring two dollars per cord. 

 The more valuable cordwood is used for special kiln and charcoal 

 work. The profit on this class of product is therefore very high. 

 About two thousand cords were sold during the past year, yielding 

 a profit of from sixty cents to one dollar and sixty cents per cord. 

 This market is just being developed and as the quantity consumed 

 by the market is almost unlimited, the cuttings of this product can 

 be increased in very muelii larger quantities. 



LATH 



As the slabs, trimmings, etc., come from the slasher they are 

 picked first for lath, then for picket stock and last for crating and 

 box material. All species go both into lath and'^ board material, 

 but only pine and basswood are used fur picket stock. The average 

 cost of lath per thousand is $1.34. Average sales are $2.34, giving a 

 profit of one dollar per thousand. The average cost includes manu- 

 facturing, yarding, shipping, sales, insurance, etc., but no stumpage, 

 inasmuch as that is taken care of by the lumber product. The 

 annual output is about 10,000,000 lath. 



box board and crating stock 

 All species are used for crating stock. Slabs, edgings, and any 

 defective logs which when sawed will hold a naU are used after 

 first being picked over for lath and picket material. The average 

 cost of manufacturing, yarding, shipping, etc., etc., including sale 

 expenses, depreciation on machinery, etc., is $1.65. The average price 

 received is two dollars per thousand pieces, giving a net profit of 35 

 cents per thousand. No charge is placed against stumpage, since 

 that is taken care of by the lumber obtained from the logs. The 

 annual output of the mill is about 4,000,000 pieces of box board 

 material, which vary in size according to order. 



BASSWOOD AND POPPLE BOLTS FOR EXCELSIOR 



Basswood bolts cost three dollars per cord to cut, make, peel and 

 pile in the woods. A cord is considered a stack four feet high, 

 eight feet long and fifty-four inches wide. It costs from fifty cents 

 to one dollar per cord to haul out of the woods and load on the 

 ears, depending upon the length of the haul, which varies from one 

 to three and one-half miles. The price received is $7.50 per cord 

 f. o. b. at Neopit, giving an average profit of about $3.75 per cord. 



Popple bolts are made for $2.50 per cord unpeeled, or $3.50 per 

 cord, peeled and delivered at the tracks for these prices. These 

 bolts come in two lengths, 37 and 54 inches; $5.25 is received per 

 cord for the 54-inch stock and $4.75 per cord for the 37-inch stock. 

 Both lengths are sold on the basis of 54-inch face cords. The 

 average profit per cord is about $1.50. 



PICKET STOCK 



This material is largely made from red and white pine and bass- 

 wood. The prices received for this stock vary from $1.71 per 

 thousand for pieces 1 by 1 inch wide by 20 inches long, up to 

 $14.70 for pieces 1% by IV2 inches wide by 48 inches long. All of 

 this stock goes into window shade material. 



Slat stock, which is always associated with window shade material, 

 bring $1.72 per thousand for pieces % by 1% inches by 40 inches 

 long, and $2.45 for pieces % by 1 inch by 48 inches long. Up to 

 the present date the miU has not turned out a suflieient amount of 

 picket stock on which to base any fair estimates of cost, but it is 

 beyond question a paying proposition. 



Besides the above various lines of utilization the operation is 

 planning to turn out a special stock of maple and birch for wooden- 

 ware material, and to utilize the slabs and waste of certain species 

 for paper pulp. In addition, it will dispose of all kinds of hard- 

 wood material for chairs, tools, furniture, and special woodenware 

 manufacturing. 



Unit 

 Unit Peofits 



.Cord $2.14 



. Cord 1.60 



. Cord 60 



.Thousand pieces. . . 1.00 

 .Thousand pieces. . . .53 



Box boards or crating. . All species Thousand pieces. . . .35 



Excelsior bolts Basswood Cord 3.75 



Excelsior bolts Popple Cord 1.50 



Pail stock bolts White and red pine Face cord 55 



Railroad ties Hemlock. 90% Piece 12 



Telegraph poles White cedar Piece 2.07 



Posts White cedar Piece 025 



Picket stock Red and white pine and 



basswood Thousand pieces. 



Unknown 



The above figures are intended to show the excellent profits pos- 

 sible from utilizing by-products of a large lumber operation. Neopit 

 is on the Wisconsin Northern railroad, about twenty miles from 

 Shawano. Here it connects via the Chicago & Northwestern railroad 

 with the wood markets in the larger cities of Wisconsin. However, 

 much of the above material, besides the lath and shingles, is con- 

 sumed outside the state. Several markets have been developed in 

 Chicago and even as far away as the central prairie states and 

 New York, proving that the transportation and market problems 

 are not prohibitive. The labor used on this operation is about 

 equally divided between Indians and whites. The latter have proven 

 to be the more efiicient of the two classes. J. E. S. 



Matebiai, Species 



Hemlock bark Hemlock 



Cordwood Maple and birch 



Cordwood All other hardwoods. 



Lath All species 



Shingles White cedar. 



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