A SECOND-GROWTH PINE MILL IN CALIFORNIA 



Bv Swift Berry 

 Forest Examiner. Forest Service 



The possibilities of an early second cut on accessible cut-over lands 

 in California are indicated by the operations of a small mill near 

 Grass Valley, in Nevada County. This mill is manufacturing lumber 

 from second-growth yellow pine and incense cedar trees ranging from 

 40 to 50 years in age. The trees range from 10 to 18 inches in diameter, 

 breast high, and no logs are cut smaller than 12 feet long and 10 inches 

 in diameter at the top. The object of the operator in installing the 

 mill was to clear the land for a large orchard, but that does not prevent 

 the milling operation from being conducted at a nice profit. 



The mill is of the small circular type, with a 40-inch saw, a single 

 saw edger, and one cut-off saw ; power for the whole being furnished 

 by a 25 h. p. engine. A crew of three men operates the mill, and a 

 fourth man piles the lumber and takes care of the lumber yard. The 

 skidding of the logs is done by one man and a team. The output 

 during the season of 1916 was a ilittle over 100 thousand feet board 

 measure. No clear lumber is produced, but much of the cut is good 

 common lumber. The knots are small and mostly tight. According 

 to the operator, the local people are pleased with the lumber, and it 

 does not warp or check more than other common pine lumber of the 

 lower Sierras. An examination of the yard did not disclose any 

 unusual warping. A few 4 by 4 inch timbers cut partly from the 

 heart had twisted. All sorts of common lumber are cut, except that 

 there is difficulty in getting inch boards over 10 inches in width. The 

 lumber is sold at the mill to ranchers, who haul it away, at $19.50 per 

 thousand. Another interesting point is the close utilization secured 

 because of the proximity to markets. Edgings are cut into fence 

 pickets, and slabs into kindling wood. The sawdust is used as a mulch 

 in the newly planted orchards. All trees below 10 inches in diameter 

 and all tops below 8 inches are cut into cordwood. 



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