SELLING WOODLOT PRODUCTS ON MICHIGAN FARMS. 17 



cord, per thousand board feet, etc. This is less true of log sales for 

 veneer and other uses; buyers usually secure these at lowest prices, and 

 it is best to obtain bids from a number of different sources. As a rule, 

 the larger the size of a sound, high-grade log, the higher the price it 

 will bring. 



Lumber. 



Among lumber dealers there is a strong prejudice against farm lum- 

 ber, due to the fact that it is commonly poorly manufactured and poorly 

 graded as compared with the lumber cut in the larger stationary saw- 

 mills. Most of the farm lumber is sawed in small portable mills with 

 circular saws, and the work is paid for at so much a thousand board 

 feet — usually $3.50 or f4. It is of course to the advantage of the sawyer 

 to turn out as many thousand feet a day as the capacity of his mill will 

 permit. Getting the best lumber out of a log requires considerable judg- 

 ment and necessitates a frequent turning of the log, which materially 

 reduces the daily output. It is probable that a good sawyer could, by 

 taking care as to grades, save as much as $10 per day over what ordinary 

 portable mill lumber is worth. Most of the larger plants which use lum- 

 ber, therefore, get it from the big sawmills or from wholesalers who are 

 able to supply well manufactured stock of specified grades in the amounts 

 and at the times required. 



There are many establishments in the State which do, however, buy 

 lumber from farmers, and even fairly high grade lumber. Usually this 

 lumber is bought "log run" (No. 2 common and better) or No. 1 common 

 and better. Woodworking companies usually buy sawed lumber on de- 

 livery. Local lumber yards often prefer to buy standing timber "by 

 the lot" or by "acreage," either hauling the logs to a mill in town or 

 sawing them out on the spot in a portable mill. In such deals there 

 are apt to be no standard grade values, the lumber being purchased at 

 prices reached in bargaining. 



Lumber is put to a great many different uses, each having different 

 requirements which can not be stated to advantage in a bulletin of this 

 . size. It is necessary, however, to be thoroughly aware of such require- 

 ments, so that as much as possible of the material can be sawed to fit 

 them, and as little as possible rejected at the yard after being hauled. 

 This applies both to grade and to size. Some plants want l-inch lumber, 

 others thicker material. Plants which require lumber only for such 

 purposes as furniture, finish, etc., usually require only the higher grades. 

 It is usually best, when possible, either to sell such companies in 

 the log — observing, of course, the points regarding competitive bargain- 

 ing already mentioned — or to haul the logs to some established mill 

 accustomed to producing high grade lumber, and have them sawed out 

 there. Where lower grades are purchased, as for example No. 2 com- 

 mon and better, a good portable mill, operated by an experienced sawyer, 

 may be secured, and the cull lumber rigidly graded out. By grading 

 rigidly the farmer may avoid loss through the rejection of culls at the 

 point of delivery. 



Much high grade lumber undoubtedly goes into the construction of 

 farm buildings. The farmer should look on this as a distinct loss until 

 he has proved to his own satisfaction that he could not get better value 

 from the logs or lumber either from local or from distant buyers. It is 



