26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Diagram of Accounts 

 ' Stumpage 

 Xrunsporlntion r K. U. I'li'lsht 



Transportation 



COST OF LOGS 

 AT MlLl, 



R. R. Operation 

 U. li. Maintenance 

 K. K. Depreciation 



j Roads and Spuri 

 J Dopreclallon of 

 .ogglns T 



Actual Losgln? 



Roads and Spurs 



Carapp 

 Total Logging "] rSawlng 



Swamping 

 J Skidcling 

 1 Docking 

 Loading 

 [sielgli Hauling 

 KxPLANATiONOF ACCOUNTS: Reference to preceding Diagram of 

 Accounts will sliow the relative place of the various accounts: 

 .Sawint;, Swampinir., Ski^lding, Loading, Sleigh Hauling, Decking. 

 These accounts are the subdivisions of actual logging. If the 

 foreman has correct figure for the cost per day of man, horse and 

 machine, he can easily obtain the total cost per day on each of 

 these accounts, which divided by the thousand feet of logs sawed, 

 swamped, skidded, etc., gives him the cost of each operation. In 

 naking up these costs, he should apportion his own day 's work 

 and that of the scaler over the various accounts. 



Total Logoing: This account represents the cost of actual log- 

 ging as ilefined above — plus the general logging expense, roads and 

 spur.", depreciation of camps — that is to say that the total logging 

 cost is cost from stump to cars, including everything. 

 Cost of Horses 

 depreciation: Horses in active service with good care depre- 

 ciate fifteen to twenty per cent of their cost per annum, or about 

 $100 per year per team, and if a team works 200 days in the year, 

 the depreciation charge per team would be fifty cents or twenty- 

 five cents for one horse per day. 



DAILY keep: The cost of keeping a horse per day is figured on 

 the same principle as for keeping a man. Veterinary services, 

 blacksmith and harness repairs should be included. 

 Cost of Machinery 

 depreciation: By depreciation of logging machinery, we mean 

 its annual loss in value through obsolescence, and have no refer- 

 ence to the wear and tear through use which is understood to be 

 made good by repairs and renewals of parts. This obsolescence 

 may vary with different machinery, under different conditions, but 

 as the scrap value of logging machinery is practically nil, depre- 

 ciation should be figured so as to wipe out the entire cost of the 

 machine when the work it has been purchased for is' completed. 

 Where the expected life of the machine is over ten years, it is 

 safe to say that at the end of that time it is so liable to be sup- 

 planted by a more improved machine, that its cost should be wiped 

 out — so that the minimum depreciation per annum for woods ma- 

 chinery, should be ten per cent of its cost and the daily deprecia- 

 tion charge should be the annual depreciation, divided by the esti- 

 mated number of days the machine works through the year. 



DAILY keep: This is the wages of engineer, helper, watchman, 

 coal, oil, waste, repairs, gasoline, water, cables, etc., for the month, 

 divided by the number of days the machine works required to 

 make a thousand feet. It is customary to allow for crooks and 

 defects in logs when applying any rule, except in some cases when 

 the scale is taken to determine the freight and we understand 

 paper mills buy logs full scale, not deducting for crooks or white 

 shake— the only deduction they make being black shake and rot. 

 The paper mills claim this gives fifteen per cent more scale than 

 sawmill scale. In order for the sawmill managers to compare log- 

 ging costs, it ought to be figured on lumber basis. This elimini- 

 nates the difference in scale, but we do not think it a good idea 

 to give the camp superintendents figures on this basis, and we 

 therefore suggest that in figuring our unit of measurement for 

 logging cost, we state the scale used, the number of pieces to the 

 thousand and what deductions are made for. 



unit op expense: (Day's Work): It is essential for purpose of 

 •comparing costs, that the unit of expense should be accurate. The 

 unit of expense for man, horfe or machine is a day 's work — and 



the cost of this day 's work is the wage cost of the man, the depre- 

 ciation charge of the horse and the machine. These costs must be 

 determined from actual accounts and, in most cases, can best be 

 determined by the bookkeeper and the figures furnished from time 

 to time to the logger. They are determined from the following 

 "secondary accounts." 



Secondary Accounts 



DAILY WAGE: Total monthly wave divided liy number of days 

 worked equals daily wage. 



DAILY KEEP: Wages of cook, cookee, cliore-boy, fuel choppers, 

 cost of all cook supplies, corrected by inventory — renewals of 

 dishes, beds, bedding, disinfectants, maintenance of camp, etc., 

 for a month divided by the total number of days of productive 

 labor, equals the daily cost of keep per man. 



ACTUAL LOGOING: This account has been defined above. 

 General Logging Expense 



Salary and expense of logging superintendent, cruisers and all 

 other items of supervision, office expense, expense hiring men; 

 liability insurance should be added to this account unless it should 

 be desired to add same to a percentage of the individual wage 

 in which case it would appear in the secondary accounts — cost of 

 men. 



ROADS AND SPURS : This account represents the cost of build- 

 ing railroad branches, but not the main line; the cost of all sleigh 

 roads and should be charged against logs at a rate that will wipe 

 out the account when the total in-put of logs over these roads and 

 spurs is completed. 



Depreciation op Camps 



Wheels camps will probably be depreciated at the rate of ten 

 per cent per annum; stationary camps at a percentage per annum 

 that will wipe them out in two, three or four years, as the life of 

 the camp may be. The monthly proportion of this depreciation 

 should be charged against the cost of logs under this account. 

 Cost op Logs at Mill 



The cost of logs at mill includes the cost of stumpage, the 

 freight or transportation and the total cost of logging. It is 

 equivalent to the purchase price of logs delivered at mill, where 

 the purchaser is buying logs instead of cutting his own timber. 

 Stumpage 



Whatever method is used in figuring by the v-arious operators, 

 to determine the cost of stumpage cut, it is certain that this charge 

 must contain, in addition to the original cost of stumpage, a fair 

 allowance for the carrying charges, taxes, fire loss, supervision of 

 timber land, etc., accruing each year. If timber more accessible 

 to the mill than the average is cut, this should be averaged by 

 increasing the stumpage charged. 



Transportation or Freight 



If the logs are hauled by a common carrier, this account is 

 simply freight, switching charge, demurrage, etc., including cost 

 of staking cars. If the operator transports his own logs either by 

 sleigh haul or steam railroad, or by driving, toll or transportation 

 charge per thousand should be sufficient to cover the actual operat- 

 ing cost, the cost of maintaining the equipment or railroad tracks 

 and grades, and the depreciation figured on the cost of main line 

 of the railroad, or other permanent improvements divided by the 

 total logs estimated to be carried. 



Piece Work 



The above card of accounts is intended to cover only general 

 logging operations. Where piece work of various kinds is carried 

 on at the same eamp where logging is done, the cost of this piece 

 work should all be kept separate from the cost of logging — that is 

 to say the cost of logging should not be decreased in any way by 

 the profit on piece work or wagon accounts. 



Turning awa3' a lumber salesman with a curt "nothing doing 

 today" is a poor way to keep informed on what is doing in the 

 lumber market. Time given to hear what the salesman has to say 

 is generally well spent even if you don't need anything that day. 



Oak is the big dog in the hardwood puddle, representing over a 

 third of the total hardwood lumber production for 1912. 



