8 BULLETIN C;3, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF ACEICULTUBE. 



CUT AND CAPACITY OF REPORTING MILLS. 



For the purpose of determining within a reasonable degree of ac- 

 curacy the relation of the cut to capacity of the mills of the country, 

 data was asked of the mills as to the quantity of lumber that could 

 be cut if the price and demand were yery favorable. More than one- 

 half of the total number of mills which reported furnished figures on 

 capacity, and these figures are compiled in Table 4 below. The 

 computations bear out the generally accepted statement that the 

 larger the plant the nearer to capacity it is operated. The figures 

 themselves show that the class 5 mills reporting ran to approximately 

 71 per cent of capacity, class 4 mills to 64 per cent, class 3 mills to 50 

 per cent, class 2 mills to 34 per cent, and class 1 mills to but 17 per 

 cent. The aggregate quantity reported cut by the mills making 

 returns as to capacity was approximately 55 per cent of the capacity 

 of the mills as a whole. It should be taken into consideration that 

 much speculation must necessarily enter into the individual calcula- 

 tion as to quantity of lumber which could be produced economically; 

 and that each case would be modified by varying factors, such as 

 capital, log supply, equipment, labor, markets, and shipping facilities. 



Table 4. — Reported cut and capacity of reporting 



mills. 







Cut of mills 

 reporting 



capacity. 



Number 

 of mills 

 report- 

 ing ca- 

 pacity. 



Capacity 

 reported. 



Total 

 mills. 



Total cut. 



Total 



Feet b. to. 

 20,847,608,000 



9,566 



Feet b. m. 

 37,942,157,000 



17, 269 



Feet b. to. 

 34,791,385,000 









14,271,909,000 

 1,825,068,000 



540 

 251 



20,052,040,000 

 2,868,515,000 

 5,155,422,000 

 2,969,126,000 

 6,897,054,000 



907 



464 



2,363 



2,577 



10, 958 



23,011,296,000 



Class 4 



3,365,902,000 

 4,575,926,000 



1,736,787,01)0 



Class 3 



2,561,037,000 1,321 

 1,006,886,000 1,491 

 1,182,708,000 S-9R3 



Class 2 



Class 1 



2,101,474,000 











LUMBER PRODUCTION BY STATES. 



The growth and decline of lumber production in the several States 

 is traceable in Table 5 (p. 9-11), which details by States for 12 calendar 

 years the total number of active sawmills reporting and the quantity 

 of lumber reported sawed. The accuracy of the 1915 and 1916 figures 

 is comparatively greater for the Western States than for the Eastern 

 States, since the district offices of the Forest Service are in more 

 intimate touch with the mills than it is practicable for the Washing- 

 ton office to be with the larger number of mills east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. More reliable computed figures can also be given for the 

 West. 



The tabulation not only permits of a comparison by years for each 

 State, but records the results of events which have served either to 

 retard or accelerate the production of lumber in a State or group of 

 States. For Washington is shown a cut in 1916 that is three times 

 as great as the 1899 cut. Louisiana's mill output has been all but 



