P Housekeeping in the Lumber Yard ^ I 



Well-kept lumber yards arc lortunately not unique, though one may 

 risk criticism by saying that the average' yard is not as well managed 

 in this respect. It is a real pleasure to visit a yard which is all that 

 it should be, and shows evidence not only of careful planning but of 

 constant effort to keep it up to the mark. 



Some lumbermen seem to believe that keeping a yard looking spick 

 and span has nothing whatever to do with the success of the business. 

 Perhaps this is true; if it is, it nnust be merely a coincidence that 

 the concerns which keep their yards "dressed up" all the time are 

 those which are making the greatest success in the lumber busiucss. 



The wholesaler may interpolate a suggestion to tlie cffei-t that his 

 problem is a good deal harder than that of the sawmill man, because 

 his lumber is constantly moving. It is more "fluid" than that ol' 

 the manufacturer, who nuist needs keep his stock on sticks for several 

 months before he attempts to dispose of it. Consequently the piles 

 of the sawmill man are anchored, so to speak, for a considerable 

 period, while those of the .jobber, who gets a large part of his stock 

 fairly dry, may be torn down at any time. The jobber who tries 

 to take care of special orders, and who doesn't mind going through 

 his i)iles to get special sizes, will likely have a rather chaotic looking 

 yard; but this very condition may be the best evidence of success. 



Conceding that, however, even the jobber can help the business by 

 "cleaning up" after these operations, and seeing that his piles are 

 not demolished more frequently than necessary. Proper piling in 

 the first place, of course, would minimize the amount of handling 

 necessary. When it comes to the sawmill man, however, there is 

 little excuse for not keeping his piles in good order and in making his 

 yard look, as someone expressed it, like a newly-swept kitchen. 



One of the best aids to a good yard is good roads. Instead of 

 depending on the earth to remain dry enough to permit the trucks 

 to be moved about freely, the lumberman with foresight builds 

 macadam roads which drain well and which can be used right after 

 a rain without imposing excessive burdens on his teams and men. 

 And such roads certainly improve the looks, just as they increase the 

 efficiency of the yard. Yet many a wholesaler is content to have his 

 men and horses struggle through the mud until it looks like the track 

 at Churchill Downs after a hard day's racing on a rainy day. 



Keeping the alleys cleared of material, in the form of piling sticks, 

 odd boards, etc., is another important feature which deserves attention. 

 In the first place, such care prevents the waste of good material, for 

 a board which is allowed to lie out unprotected soon deteriorates. 

 Yet good lumber is often maltreated in this way, and losses pile up 

 which could have been turned into profits by the exercise of a little 

 care. Lumbermen whose yard crews work on the piece basis usually re- 

 quire the replacement of sticks in racks provided for that purpose as 

 part of their work, and having this definitely understood keeps the 

 yards cleared of the sticks and enables them to be used much more 

 than when they are dropped anywhere and allowed to lie after a pile 

 has been taken down. 



This means, too, having on hand a sufticient number of sticks for 

 piling green lumber. It is a fact that at some mills lumber is put 

 up with two few sticks for the proper support of the boards, simply 

 because the crews couldn't find enough at hand. Of course it is easy 

 enough to cut up fresh sticks, but sometimes this means delay. The 

 best way is to niaPe proper use of those which are already in place, so 

 that when a new pile is put up there will be no lack of sticks on 

 which to place the green stock. 



An interesting feature of some yards is the use of continuous 

 piling foundations. Instead of building a foundation for each pile, the 

 supports are put down the entire length of the alley. The advantage 

 of this is that the size of the piles may be altered to suit the situation. 

 If the lumberman wants to pile his stock in narrow piles, he can do so. 

 whereas if he desires to use broader .stacks his foundations permit 

 him to resort to this plan. It doesn 't cost much more to build the 

 foundation in that form, and judjiing from the resulting con- 

 venience, the addi'il imcstnient in material and labor is well worth 

 while. 



Another good point, which has been noted in well managed yards, 

 is the use 01 a number for each pile. The numbers are systematically 

 arranged, odd numbers being on the right of the main alley, for 

 example, and even on tlie left. When tliis jjlan is used, the stock list 

 shows not only the amount of each kind and dimension of lumber on 

 the yard, but also its exact location. It is sometimes amusing to hear 

 a lumberman discussing with his yard foreman the question of how 

 much stock of a certain kind is on hand. 



' ' How about that pile down in the far end of the yard ? ' ' the 

 lumberman asks. "Isn't there a lot of Xo. 2 common quartered 

 oak?" 



"Not much," the foreman answers. " Wc used uji ]iMrt of that 

 pile finishing out a car the other day." 



This rough-and-ready style of keeping informed about the amount 

 of stock on the yard is entirely eliminated when the piles are num- 

 bered and the information thus made available is taken advantage- 

 of. As each pOe is put up, the office receives a memorandum showing 

 the date of piling, the amount of stock and its description. As ' 

 lumber is shipped out, the proper notation is made on the tally sheet, 

 so that the stock list can be corrected right tip to date without the 

 use of a great deal of labor. 



The man whose piles are numbered, and who keeps track of the 

 movement of stock from the mill to the yard and from the yard to 

 the car on this basis, is never in doubt as to how much of any item he 

 has. All that is necessary is to refer to his records. Insteail of 

 dashing out into the yard and consulting with his inspectors, he can 

 tell an inquirer about the stock without the loss of a moment. And 

 this readiness in advising as to stock on hand is worth a great ileal 

 from a selling standpoint. 



Another advantage which comes from this system is in case of fire. 

 A merchant who had a fire loss and whose books were not in such 

 condition as to enable the value of his stock to be checked up. would 

 have a considerable struggle with the adjusters before he got his 

 money; yet lumbermen frequently go into the adjustment of a fire 

 loss with only an apyiroximate idea of the amount of stock in the yard 

 or in that portion of it which was burned. 



' ' We have our stock list for last month, ' ' he can say, ' ' and we 

 know how much we have shipped out since then. W'e also know the 

 footage which has been put into the yard from the mill. But we 

 can't tell you how much of each item was burned, nor give you more 

 than an approximate estimate of the value of the lumber." 



A careful investigation of the situation, calling into conference 

 everybody in the yard who was familiar with the stock, usually re- 

 sults in about the correct figures being arrived at; but certainly this 

 method is not to be desired if it is possible to get the facts by the 

 simple plan of referring to the card index or loose leaf ledger and 

 noting the contents of the piles which were burned. That nuich can 

 always be ascertained, and after that it is merely a matter of looking 

 at the books in order to ascertain the additional facts that may be 

 desired. 



Some lumbermen whose piles are numbered do not go to the trouble 

 of itemizing the daily additions to stock from the mill, catching these 

 figures at the end. of each month when the stock is inventoried. 

 Inasmuch as the best practice is to tag each ])ile at the time it is ]nit 

 u|), with the date of piling and the amount and description of the 

 stock, it seems that this information could be made part of the daily 

 record, instead of leaving it to the monthly inventory. When both 

 incoming and outgoing movements are known, the record is abso- 

 lutely complete, and furnishes advantages too numerous for separate 

 mention. 



Sawmill men who are using the plan of numbering their piles, as 

 well as the other ideas suggested in connection with good house- 

 keeping, are enthusiastic over the possibilities of the system. As 

 suggested above, the wholesaler whose stock is on the move all the 

 time would find it difficult to adapt his business to a pile-numbering 

 system: but there is no question about its being a valuable aid to the 

 nmnufacturer. G. D. C. 



