1950 to 1960 indicated that half the sawmills went out of business. He 

 further reports that 80 percent of the failures were in portable mills 

 and that the proportion of portable mills dropped from 50 to 25 percent. 

 In a recent address to the Northeastern Loggers' Association, Mancini 

 (1961) reports on the lumber industry in New York State. He notes 

 a decline of from 1500 sawmills to 1000 sawmills in the period from 

 1953 to 1960. Residual average mill size increased; this was the result 

 of a lower proportion of small mills and a higher proportion of large 

 mills. 



Holland (1960a) posed the problem: 



Whether or not it will even be possible for producers of only low 

 average quality eastern white pine lumber to pay higher prices for stump- 

 age and still stay in business depends to a considerable degree upon how 

 effectively this industry can hold down future production costs. 



Holland (1960b) also states that the operating ruargin for sawmills 



is declining rapidly as is the number of mills operating. He stresses 



variable costs and the cost of labor: 



It is well known that low-grade lumber produced in small mills cut- 

 ting small timber, even though investment in plant and equipment is low 

 (or better because investment in plant and equipment is low), is still 

 relatively costly to manufacture per thousand board feet because of high 

 average variable costs. These mills use less capital equipment but much 

 more labor per thousand board feet of lumber manufactured. Labor is 

 expensive and becoming more so. 



In a recent Northeast Regional Publication (1960) the position of 



the sawmill in New England was further clarified. It was found that : 



Year-round operation was reported by almost three quarters of the 

 sawmills in the New England and Middle Atlantic States. However, year- 

 round or intermittent operation of the sawmills is strongly related to 

 size. As might be expected there was a positive correlation between size 

 of the sawmill and the number of days in which it operated. The small- 

 est sawmills in New England were found to be the most marginal wood- 

 using industry in the entire Northeast, 94 percent operating intermittent- 

 ly and 79 percent for less than 60 days in the year. 



Stoddard and Hovise (1960) mention the reduction of sawmills in 



New Hampshire since 1950. They feel: 



This reflects in part the reduction in sawlog cut which has tended to 

 squeeze out the smaller marginal operator. It also reflects the shift to 

 larger capacity, permanent-type mills, better able to compete in price and 

 quality with both in-state and out-of-state producers. 



They report that a number of efficient medium-sized mills still exist 

 but that a shift to larger, more efficient mills with good manufacturing 

 and marketing facilities is a favorable trend for both the landowners 

 and the industry. The very small mills go in and out of production 

 rapidly. Their output is not important except locally, they are not 

 efficient producers, and they do not sell to distant markets. Simmons 

 (1961) indicates there are about 1200 sawmills in northern New Eng- 

 land. About half are part-time, and the part-time mills cut only about 

 5 percent of the total lumber production. 



Decline of Lumber Production 



Zivnuska (1955) indicates that the lumber supply is decreasing and 

 that demand is increasing in the United States. Ruttan and Callahan 



