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BULLETIN 11, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



COST OF LUMBER PRODUCTION. 



In most of the region covered by this report the logs are cut by 

 small portable or semiportable mills. The large mills are limited 

 to the southeastern corner of Virginia, but even these are now securing 

 the bulk of their logs by rail or water from North and South Carolina, 

 as the supply in Virginia is largely cut out. In the future there will 

 be only small mills which can be cheaply moved so as to saw up profit- 

 ably isolated lots containing as little as 100,000 feet of standing tim- 

 ber. These, therefore, will deserve chief consideration in the man- 

 agement of loblolly -pine forests. 



The cost of producing lumber, from the stump to the railroad or to 

 a local market, exclusive of price paid for standing timber or stump- 

 age, includes the following items where the milling is done by portable 

 mills located in or near the timber: (1) Cutting and logging to the 

 mill; (2) milling, including sawing and " sticking up;" (3) hauling 

 lumber to the railroad or factory, including loading and unloading; 

 (4) contractor's profit. For large mills located on the railroad there 

 is in place of the hauling item a small charge for loading on the cars, 

 and the cost item of logging to the mill is always considerably higher. 



Cost Exclusive op Hauling. 



The cost of producing loblolly pine lumber by small mills in the 

 region, exclusive of hauling, is about as follows: 



Table 6. — Cost of lumbering (except hauling) per thousand board feet. 





Minimum. 



Average. 



Maximum. 





$0.50 



1.50 



2.00 



.50 



$0.75 

 1.75 

 2.50 

 1.00 



$1.00 





2.00 





3.00 





1.50 









4.50 



0.00 



7.50 







Hauling. 









The cost of hauling is the most variable factor in the cost of lumber 

 production by small mills, the variation being due to distance of mill 

 from the railroad or local market, as well as to cost of team. A team 

 of three horses (or mules) with driver can haul readily under present 

 average road conditions in the region 2,000 feet of loblolly pine lum- 

 ber a distance of 8 miles and return the same day, at an average speed 

 of 2 miles an hour for the round trip. The cost of such a team in the 

 region varies from $5 to $7 per day, depending largely on the season 

 of the year. It is the custom for two such teams to work together, 

 so that the two drivers can help each other in loading and unloading 



