GENERAL 13 



are planted and all are cut before they are allowed to become over- 

 mature. 



There is a large amount of waste in the production of lumber in this 

 country as well as in the production of such forms of forest products 

 as cross ties, shingles, slack and tight cooperage stock, veneers, etc. 

 There is a much less comparative waste in the production of such forms 

 as pulp wood, fuel wood, distillation wood, poles and piling and round 

 mine timbers because there is little relative Joss in reducing the original 

 to the finished form. 



It is estimated that in the production of saw logs, there is a loss of 

 wood in logging which amounts to from 1 5 tc 20 per cent or more. This 

 is largely composed of stumps, tops, broken and defective logs, limbs and 

 timber which is undersized or undesirable on account of crooks or defects 

 such as punk, shake, large knots, etc. In addition, moreover, mer- 

 chantable trees are often overlooked or left lodged in the woods. 



In the manufacture of those saw logs which reach the mill, the loss is 

 estimated to be from 40 to 57 per cent, depending upon the local effi- 

 ciency in the methods of manufacture and the character of the timber, 

 that is, the size of the individual logs, their freedom from defects, their 

 straightness and regularity, the width of the bark, etc. The loss in 

 manufacture may be divided approximately as follows: 



LOSS OF WOOD IX MANUFACTURE OF SAW LOGS 



_ Character of Loss. 



Bark ....................................................... 9-15 



Saw-kerf ................................................... | 10-16 



Edging and trimming ...................................... 



Slabs . . 



Inefficiency and careless manufacture including loss in handling . . . 



8-10 

 9-11 

 4- 5 



40-57 



The total loss in the production of lumber, therefore, including both log- 

 ging and manufacturing, may be estimated to be from 55 to 77 per cent. 

 At the present time little of this loss is salvaged, but as our raw wood 

 supplies become further depleted and the various forms of forest products 

 become more valuable, methods will be devised and found profitable to 

 utilize considerable portions of this loss, whereas, under present com- 

 mercial and economic conditions, it is not generally profitable to convert 



