SELLING LUMBER 



239 



concern, would undoubtedly suggest ways and means of dispos- 

 ing of much waste now produced. 



It might interest you to know that the United States Forest 

 Service has established in Washington what is known as a "Wood 

 Waste Exchange." It has listed the names of various manufac- 

 turers who have waste to sell and also the names of various con- 

 sumers who wish to purchase waste. These lists give the names 

 of the concerns, the kinds of woods they require, sizes, and quan- 

 tity annually consumed or produced. I believe the lumber associa- 

 tions of the United States would profit by building up similar lists 

 for their own special requirements, making it available to all of 

 the manufacturers who belong to the association. At the risk of 

 making myself unpori^ar W1 "t <^ lumber secretaries who are al- 

 ready comfortably occupied, I think that the problem of success- 

 fully utilizing wood waste is of sufficient importance to justify 

 their association in employing a man who could specialize on this 

 problem and who would report to the association facts and figures 

 concerning markets for waste. Tt is my judgment that this, pro- 

 cedure would prove more effective than placing the responsibility 

 upon the salesmen, since the question of wood waste utilization 

 is a special one and requires concentrated and continuous applica- 

 tion. 



The second suggestion to bring about improvement in the 

 utilization of waste is that greater attention should be given to 

 the manufacture of lumber. In other words, this phase of the 

 problem belongs to the manufacturing rather than to the sales 

 end of the lumber business. I allude specifically to the cutting of 

 log lengths, to the sawing of lumber, to careless edging, trimming 

 and planing,, improper and careless kiln-drying and yard season- 

 ing, etc. Let me illustrate : In a study which we made at two saw- 

 mills in Oregon which manufactured Douglas fir, we found, that 

 one mill planing 4/4 C-select, the planer was fed at the rate of 

 150 feet per minute, the blades making 2,800 revolutions per minute. 

 At the other mill, manufacturing the same kind of lumber, the 

 speed of feed was 73 feet per minute, the planer making 3,400 

 revolutions. The degrading at the first mill attributed to the ma- 

 chine was 70 cents per thousand, and in the second 10 cents. It 

 is estimated that lumber manufacturers lose annually about $33,- 

 000,000 due to improper seasoning and kiln-drying of their lum- 

 ber. We made a study of the extent of depreciation in air-season- 

 ing lumber at a Western yellow pine mill and found that the 4-4-B- 



A Govern- 

 ment "Wood 

 Waste 

 Exchange." 



Problems 

 for the 

 Manufacturer 



