TJTILIZATION OF ELM. f 35 



sylvama), $5.87 in the Lake States (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Min- 

 nesota), and $3.41 in the Southern States (Maryland, Virginia, West 

 Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina). Although 

 based on many reports of actual sales, these figures show only general 

 tendencies of stumpage prices in these three regions. 



Elm stumpage is now largely bought up by slack cooperage and 

 basket manufacturers, etc. Factories which can not use other woods 

 in place of elm can usually afford to pay better prices for it than can 

 the lumber manufacturers. An average price paid for soft elm on 

 the stump by factories in southern Michigan would be about $12 

 per thousand board feet. The logs usually bring from $15 to $20 

 at the factory. In the lower Mississippi Valley the prices are some- 

 what lower. Firms cutting their own timber in that section figure 

 that elm logs are worth about $8 per thousand board feet at the 

 mill. This is about what it costs to cut and transport to the mill, 

 allowing for stumpage only $1.50 per thousand feet, for which mixed 

 hardwood timber has been purchased in that region. A good quality 

 of elm stimipage, of course, brings a much higher figure, depending 

 on quahty, amount, accessibihty, etc. Rock-elm stumpage ordi- 

 narily sel^ for from $15 to $20, and at the factory the logs sell for 

 about $25 on the average. A high grade of rock elm sells for higher 

 prices for special purposes. It is reported that as much as $65 per 

 thousand has been paid in southern Michigan for rock-elm stumpage, 

 only choice trees here and there being selected.^ 



COST OF LUMBER PRODUCTION. 



Since elm is commonly manufactured into lumber along with other 

 woods with which it grows in mixture, the cost of converting it into 

 lumber is difficult to ascertain. A theoretical cost can of course 

 be obtained by subtracting the stumpage value from the mill-run 

 value of the timber at the mill. For instance, subtracting the 1912 

 value of elm stumpage in Michigan (Table 14), which is about $9, 

 from the average mill-run value of soft elm lumber, which is ap- 

 proximately $25, leaves $16, which represents the cost of production 

 per thousand board feet, including the lumber manufacturers' profit. 



Portable sawmills in Michigan generally charge from $4 to $4.50 

 per thousand board feet for sawing. The lumber produced by these 

 mills, however, is often not well manufactured, and not so valuable 

 for many purposes as that turned out by large stationary mUls. 

 There is also usually more waste in the portable miU. 



MARKETS. 



Elm timber may be disposed of on the stump, in the log, or in the 

 form of manufactured lumber. Considerable quantities are sup- 

 plied from woodlots by farmers who sell the logs to wood-using fac- 

 tories or to local sawmills. 



1 These prices were compiled, in part, from quotations furnished by the Michigan Agricultural CoUege, 

 Lansing, Mich. 



