sawmills of all sizes in this region (Table 2). Twenty-eight percent of the 

 total lumber production of the sawmill owners sampled was round-edge. 

 This production did not come from a few owners who specialized in round- 

 edge. Nearly all sawmill owners produced some square-edge lumber with 

 two-thirds also producing some round-edge. 



Contrary to what might be expected, the medium-size Class III and IV 

 ownerships produced a higher percentage of round-edge lumber than any 

 of the other size classes. Class I and II owners sawed mostly the more valu- 

 able square-edge lumber for local markets. The larger producers manu- 

 factured most of the lower value round-edge lumber for box and crating 

 industries. The sample mills in New Hampshire produced a higher pro- 

 portion of round-edge lumber than did those in Maine. 



Table 2. Square- and Round-edge 1 Lumber Production by the Sawmill Owners Sampled, 1956 



1 "Round-edge lumber — a piece of lumber, with wane on one or both edges, usual- 

 ly 2 inches or less in thickness. Round-edge lumber is commonly sold in this condi- 

 tion in New England, but in other parts of the country it is generally square-edged 

 before it leaves the mill." Society of Mechanical Engineers, Handbook for Small Saw- 

 mill Operators, p. 53, New York, 1956. 



2 This table is read as follows: 10 sawmill owners in the 1-99 thousand board- 

 feet-per-year production class were sampled; all 10 owners produced some square- 

 edge lumber; 1 of the 10 produced 12 thousand board feet of round-edge lumber, or 

 30 percent of his combined round- and square-edge production. 



According to A. C. Cline in 1925,* 63 percent of New Hampshire's 

 lumber production was manufactured into boxes and shooks. Most of 

 this box lumber was in round-edge form. Round-edge made up 43 per 

 cent of the 1956 lumber production of sawmill owners sampled in New 

 Hampshire. Assuming these samples are comparable, the proportions of 

 round- and square-edge lumber produced have been reversed in the past 

 three decades. According to the mill owners sampled, this trend toward 

 more square-edge production can be expected to continue. 



Pine lumber segregated to be sold as knotty-pine for paneling comprised 

 only 7 percent of the total volume of square-edge handled by the 99 saw- 

 mill owners. The proportion so segregated did not vary with size class 



* Cline, A. C, "The Marketing of Lumber in New Hampshire", Harvest Forest Bui. 

 10, 1925. 



