84 BULLETIN 440, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRIOULTTJEE. 



costs. These rates for piling up to 15 feet above the track or plat- 

 form range from 35 to 40 cents per 1,000 feet board measure. At 

 some mills the rate is 35 cents per 1,000 for ordinary piHng, and 50 

 cents per 1,000 for piling clears, with which extra care is taken. The 

 contract rate for piHng over 15 feet above the tram is 40 cents per 

 1,000, upon condition that the company furnish a man and horse for 

 the hoist. On contract work two men usually pile a little more than 

 20,000 feet daily, thus making very good wages. When working by 

 the day two good men pile from 15,000 to 18,000 daily. At one 

 single-band miU eight men pile the daily output of 60,000 at a labor 

 cost of $20 daily, or 33 cents per 1,000. Upon the basis of the above 

 costs the average cost of taking lumber from the mill and placing it 

 in the piles is from 60 to 70 cents per 1,000. 



When lumber is loaded from the piles directly to cars for shipment 

 the cost is from 30 to 35 cents per 1 ,000, including grading. However, 

 it is not possible to load much lumber in this manner because several 

 different grades, which come from different piles, must be placed in 

 one car. At one mill where the lumber is dried in the mill yard but 

 shipped to the main hne on a narrow-gauge raihoad the cost of load- 

 ing is about 34 cents per 1,000, including grading, and the cost of 

 transferring to standard-gauge cars at the lower terminal is' 33 cents 

 per 1,000. Usually the lumber is taken from the pile and loaded on 

 small yard cars. These yard cars are pushed a short distance to the 

 loading dock where the standard-gauge cars are spotted for loading. 

 The cost is from 20 to 25 cents for the first handhng and the same for 

 loading, plus about 10 cents per 1,000 for grading and running cars. 

 Since some lumber is loaded by both methods in most yards, it seems 

 proper to figure the cost of shipment of rough lumber at 50 cents per 

 1,000. It is customary to figure that lumber can be handled once 

 (from piles to finishing plants, for instance) for 25 cents per 1,000. 



In addition to shipment and delivery of lumber to finishing plants 

 there is a certain amount of extra handling of lumber in the yards of 

 all large miUs. This consists in the resorting and transportation of 

 material which has depreciated in grade, and similar work. The 

 extent and cost of such work varies greatly. 



A certain amount of supervision is necessary in any yard. At a 

 single-band mill there is usually only a yard foreman. At a double- 

 band miU the yard office ordinarily contains a yard foreman and a 

 clerk, who are employed practically the year round. The cost of 

 yard supervision is therefore about 8 or 10 cents per 1,000. There is 

 a smaU additional yard cost for the maintenance of tracks and tram- 

 ways. This probably does not exceed 5 cents per 1,000. 



On the east slope of the Sierras the climate is so well suited to 

 drying lumber that dry kilns are not necessary. On the west slope, 

 however^ it is the practice to run part or aU of the upper grades of 



