﻿6 BULLETIN 13, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



$100,000, and $150,000, and was finally sold, on a stumpage basis of 

 $2.25 per thousand for large and $2 for small logs (20 logs per thou- 

 sand feet), for a total of $365,000. In another case the stumpage 

 on a 30-acre tract of second-growth pine in New Hampshire was 

 bought for $1,000. When cut and sawed the pine yielded 530,000 

 board feet, worth at least $5 per thousand on the stump, or in all 

 $2,650. Such underestimates, often resulting in loss to the owner, 

 are constantly being made. Usually the cause is ignorance either 

 of the amount and quality of the timber or of how to determine its 

 value. Farmers and owners of small woodlands in connection with 

 other property are most likely to lose money in this way. 



As might be expected, the decrease in the output of pine has been 

 accompanied by an increase in the value of the lumber. Thus, while 

 the production of pine has fallen off over 56 per cent since 1890, the 

 mill value of the total annual cut has declined only about 35 per cent. 

 The average mill value per thousand feet has increased 50 per cent. 



The high-grade white-pine lumber once so widely used in house 

 building and finish is now largely restricted to pattern making, sash 

 and door manufacture, and other exacting uses. White-pine uppers 

 bring $90, $100, and even $130 per thousand board feet. It is proba- 

 ble that these prices mark practically the upper limit for high-grade 

 pine lumber. In the case of the lower grades, however, which com- 

 prise much the larger part of the lumber manufactured, prices will 

 no doubt continue to rise as the supply becomes scarcer. 



Even the high price of the best white-pine lumber would not, under 

 present conditions, warrant private owners growing trees to the ages 

 necessary to produce these grades. Within the relatively short rota- 

 tions of 70 years or less, which at present appear to be the only ones 

 under which white-pine management can be made profitable, only 

 grades of moderate value can be produced. Most second-growth 

 lumber is manufactured "round," or bark edged, and disposed of to 

 box and match factories. 



In New England, where the timber is practically all second growth, 

 box-board lumber is purchased round edged, usually in thicknesses 

 of |, 1, If, or 2\ inches. The demands of the box manufacturers are 

 extremely moderate. The boards are first cut into box lengths and 

 in the widths involving the least waste of material. Often the boards 

 are tongued and grooved parallel to the bark "wane," which gives 

 them a trapezoidal shape. Widths as small as 2 inches and lengths 

 of 3 and 4 feet are often accepted, if they do not form too large a pro- 

 portion of the total amount. Box boards 2 \ inches thick are resawed 

 in the factory into two 1-inch boards. Box-board lumber usually 

 brings from $14 to $18 per thousand feet f. o. b. local markets, the 

 price varying with thickness and to some extent with quality. One- 

 inch boards, commonly called "sidings," are the least valuable and 



