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Utilization at German Sawmills 



T(, aji Anifii,:ii. 

 intciostt'd in a moro 

 complete utilization 

 of tlip raw products 

 of our forests, a 

 study of utilization 

 at German sawmills 

 is most interesting. 

 It is said tliat in 

 ( 1 (' r ni n n y f r o m 

 n i n e t y -four t o 

 u i n e t y ■ s i X ]i o r 



cent of the 

 tree on the 

 age is u t i 1 i 

 even stumps 

 grulilied out 

 used for fuel 



wluile 



aver- 



/. e d , 



being 

 and 

 and 

 tar along Tilth the 

 faggots from the 

 smallest branches, 

 whereas it has been 

 estimated by the 

 United States For- 

 est Service that we 

 use only about forty 

 per cent of the 

 average tree thai is 

 felled in the woods. 

 Of course, the 

 obvious explanation of this discrepancy between American and Ger- 

 man utilization is the diifcrenee in market conditions — wood is so 

 scarce and consequently prices are so comparatively high in Germany 

 that practically speaking, nothing goes to waste and no wood is too 

 far distant from market to find an attractive price. Aside from this 

 explanation, the Germans must be given credit for studying their 

 market more carefully and using machines and methods that Ameri- 

 cans will come to use sooner or later. AltLough observations of their 

 closer utilization may be largely suggestive in their present applica- 

 tion to American conditions, yet, America is pas.sing through very 

 much the same economic environment that the older nations of Europe 

 passed through two or tluee luindred years ago and it can take ad- 

 vantage of and jirrifit by many of their close practices which its cou- 



A CTTTINC AIM:A in (JKlt.MA.W NOTE THE CO.Ml'LETE UTILIZ.^TION OF ALL AVAILAHLI- 

 .MATEHLM.. AND THE ( 'OIH'ARATIVELY .SMALL SIZE OF THE TIMBER BEING CIT. 



.iiiiiiiis will soon 

 liiake ]iosslblc. 



It has often been 

 ;ui open question in 

 this country as to 

 whether the ultimate 

 mill will be a large 

 or a small one and 

 which will secure the 

 better and more 

 complete utilization. 

 In Germany, the 

 small mill is the 

 rule and there is no 

 evidence that it 

 will increase in 

 size. The mills would 

 correspond roughly 

 to our mills having 

 a capacity of from 

 30,000 1 (30,000 

 board feet per day 

 and the great ma- 

 jority would have 

 the smaller capacity 

 or less. For ex- 

 ample, • the largest 

 null in Bavaria and 

 jirobably one of the 

 largest in Germany 

 cuts about 16,000,000 feet a year, which means a daily capacity of 

 about 64,000 board feet when running two hundred and fifty days 

 a year. 



Practically every house and building in Germany is largely con- 

 structed of stone, brick, or concrete, so that construction and build- 

 ing timbers are not much in demand. The majority of the product 

 therefore goes into interior trim, sash and door stock, flooring, box 

 boards, furniture, cooperage, fencing, railway sleepers, and a great 

 variety of minor lines of utilization. For the majority of these 

 uses, therefore, they demand well sawn stock. Consequently the gang 

 saw is the rule, with a very narrow kerf and the minimum amount of 

 wood going into sawdust. 



Wood is very expensive ami labor cheap in Germany so that Ger- 



IN MOST YARDS LUMBER FROM SELECT LOGS IS PILED SEPA- 

 RATELY AND BOARDS KEPT TOGETHER JUST AS THEY 

 I CAME FROM THE LOGS. IN THIS WAY FANCY 



GRAINS CAN EASILY HE MATCHED. 

 -20— 



ELECTRIC CUT-OFF SAW FOR CUTTING TREE LENGTHS INTO DE- 

 SIRED SIZE AT THE MILL. THE SAW^ WORKS BACK AND 

 Foltril ON V TROLLEY AND SAVES UNNECESSARY 

 WASTE IN TRIMMING. j 



