Table 7. Number of Customers of Lumber Producers Sampled, 1956 



Owner Sales to: 



Production 



Class One buyer 2 to 5 buyers 6 and more buyers 



13 1 — 



II 5 6 1 



III 4 8 1 



IV 6 21 6 

 V — 1 2 



Total 18 37 10 



spent most of their time procuring raw materials and supervising sawmill 

 operations. 



Sixty-three percent of the sawmill owners spent less than 5 hours per 

 month promoting their products. Often the sawmill owner himself did all 

 the selling. Only a third of the sawmill owners had an additional salesman, 

 and most of these men did not spend full time selling lumber. Almost two- 

 thirds of the owners had made no marketing changes since 1952. The other 

 third indicated a slight trend of increased sales to local markets and re- 

 tail yards. 



There is an extensive network of hard-top roads throughout the white 

 pine region in Maine and New Hampshire. Consequently, all sawmill 

 owners stated that the transportation of their products to market presented 

 no difficulties. Maine and New Hampshire sawmill owners sold much of 

 their lumber within the New England states, but they sold some north into 

 Canada, west to the Ohio, and south to Maryland. They reported shipping 

 60 percent of their round-edge lumber and 46 percent of their square- 

 edge lumber out of state (total 49 percent). 



3. Future Market Prospects for Eastern White Pine Lumber 

 A. Quality Prospects 



Market opportunities for each particular grade of white pine lumber re- 

 quire further study. At all stages in the marketing chain, from producers 

 to retailers, owners were seldom able to estimate the volume of each separate 

 grade going to particular purchasers. However, some general conclusions 

 can be made concerning the quality of white pine lumber — which could 

 influence its future use. 



No. 4 Common and Poorer — Low grades of square-edge white pine 

 compete with comparable grades of other softwood species, low-grade ply- 

 wood, or similar substitutes for the same use. The total cost of labor and 

 materials determines whether lumber, plywood, or other products will be 

 used for house sheathing, and thus for the low grades of white pine price 

 is of first importance. The resulting competition has made No. 4 Common 

 lumber a major selling problem, especially since almost one-half of the 

 volume produced by the sample owners was this grade. Manufacturers con- 



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