THINNINGS IN I^OBLOLLY PINE 761 



There is. of course, no question of the advantage to the growing 

 timher, of such a thinning; but the land owner must be convinced 

 that he can at least break even on such operations before he will 

 become interested. Furthermore, it is the policy of the State Board 

 of Forestry to encourage such thinnings only where they can pay for 

 themselves. Very careful costs were therefore kept of this operation, 

 and are tabulated as follows 



62 hours cutting at 25 cents $15.50 



35 hours hauling at 25 cents 8.75 



56 hours cutting and splitting, 4 men 14 hours each at 25 cents 14.00 



15 hours stacking cordwood at 25 cents 3.75 



14 hours use of sawing and splitting machine at 50 cents 7.00- 



$49.00' 

 These figures represent actual costs to the lumberman to have the 

 Avork done, paying the standard wage of 25 cents an hour in efifect 

 during 1921. Of course he is realizing a profit on the sawing and 

 splitting machining above operating expenses and depreciation. On 

 the other hand, no charge is made for the marking, which took about 

 3 hours. In actual practice it is hoped to have these thinnings madi in 

 the wintertime, the woodland owners doing the marking and super- 

 vising the cutting themselves. 



Seasoned pine wood in stove lengths has a value in this section 

 of the Eastern Shore of $6 per cord at the mill, which in this case is. 

 (i miles from town. In view of the fact that the wood from this thin- 

 ning would run smaller than the average, many sticks being only 2 

 inches in diameter, the lumberman deemed it advisable to sell it at 

 $5.50 per cord. 



The gross returns from the acre are thus $60.50 



The costs as above 49.00- 



The profit per acre $11.50^ 



Or per cord $1.05. 



It would seem, therefore, that for growing pine thickets within, say, 

 a b'-mile radius of a central market, the only drawback to the prac- 

 ticability of such thinnings would be the availability of such a cutting- 

 and splitting machine as the one described. It would, of course, be 

 impractical for every woodland owner to have such a machine, nor in 

 the opinion of the writer would it be necessary. Just as a thrashing 

 machine makes the rounds of the farms in a given section during 

 the summer, so in the winter a cutting and splitting machine could 

 make the rounds in the same way — the woodland owner having his. 

 thinnings made and his poles stacked ahead of time. 



