42 BULLETIN 909, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The cost of logging walnut is higher than that of logging other 

 species, because it is often a case of picking up a few trees or only one 

 on a farm. The cost also varies greatly with the amount of timber 

 in any one locality. West of the Mississippi, where there are com- 

 paratively good stands and the best timber has not been removed, 

 the trees can be felled and sawed into logs for $2 to $5 a thousand 

 board feet, log scale. In the East, where the trees are much scat- 

 tered, this cost may run as high as $8 or $10 a thousand. Digging 

 up stumps is expensive. It generally takes a crew of five men to 

 dig up and dress an average of two stumps a day. 



The cost of hauling to the railroad varies greatly with the length 

 of haul, the character of the country, the condition of the roads, and 

 the equipment used. With a team and fairly good hauling condi- 

 tions it generally costs $15 to $30 a thousand board feet for a 

 5 to 10 mile haul, or at the rate of $3 a mile. A general average 

 would probably be about $20 a thousand for a T to 8 mile haul. 

 If the timber is much scattered and the country rough, the cost 

 will amount to $4 a thousand for a mile. A team can usually make 

 but one trip a day, hauling about 300 board feet of logs for 10 miles 

 over fair roads. A large automobile logging truck generally makes 

 two round trips a day, carrying about 1,000 feet over a 20-mile haul. 

 On this basis the truck will do 12 times as much work as one team. 

 The cost of trucking depends to a very large extent upon the invest- 

 ment and expense of upkeep, and will vary greatly with the equip- 

 ment used. The cost of loading logs on cars is generally figured at 

 $2.25 to $2.50 a thousand board feet. 



Walnut logs are utilized very closely for lumber. Material com- 

 ing under the head of waste consists of saw kerf or sawdust, slabs 

 and edgings, very low-grade and defective lumber, and relatively 

 clear pieces of small dimension. The waste caused by the saw kerf 

 may be reduced to a minimum by using a band saw instead of a 

 circular saw. A timber so valuable and so scarce as walnut should 

 not be sawed with a circular saw. and. because less waste results, 

 small sawmills often ship their walnut logs to a large mill that has 

 a band saw. The sawdust is generally used for fuel. It is used also, 

 instead of hickory, to a considerable extent for smoking meats and, 

 with the exception of hickory, is said to be the best wood available 

 for the purpose. Large packing houses use great quantities of walnut 

 sawdust in this waj^, but the demand seems to be very small in com- 

 parison with the supply available. Sawmill operators have en- 

 deavored to find other uses for walnut sawdust, such as for sweep- 

 ing compounds. The dark color of walnut seems to bring it into 



