THE FACTOR OF WASTE IN MANUFACTURE 13 



19. The Factor of Waste in Manufacture. A waste product is one for which a 

 profitable use has not been found. It is not sufficient that the product could be used 

 for some purpose if it could be transported to some place other than the site of its 

 first appearance as waste. The value of the product must be such as to bear the 

 cost of manufacture and transportation plus a profit. Unless some portion of a 

 tree yields products which fulfill these conditions, the whole tree remains unutilized 

 to finally die and rot, a true waste product of nature. In inaccessible places, entire 

 stands go to waste. 



Waste in tops and limbs represents those portions of the tree which under the 

 existing conditions do not yield profitable products. But little deliberate or inexcus- 

 able waste occurs over any long period without discovery and correction. The 

 per cent of waste for unprofitable portions of the trees is often as high as 50 per cent 

 for staves or other special products and 25 per cent or over for lumber. The average 

 of 16.6 per cent shown in Fig. 2 for lumber is far too high for bulk products such 

 as pulp wood or for trees with small limbs and boles of regular form. 



Bark is a typical example of a "waste" product. As fuel, it is not wasted. When 

 tannin extract or cork is yielded it is carefully gathered. For lumber, it is entirely 

 wasted, except as incidental fuel. The waste in sawdust, slabs, edgings and factory 

 finishing, when reduced to the lowest possible terms by good machinery, can hardly 

 be regarded as avoidable waste, since the product which results from this apparent 

 waste has a value much higher and a utility much greater than before the " loss " 

 of the extra bulk. 



When this sawdust and refuse is used as fuel in the mill, as is now the common 

 practice, it replaces coal, thus not only effecting a great economy but performing an 

 important public function in saving transportation costs on coal. The only real 

 waste in manufacture is where methods are used which unduly increase sawdust 

 and slab waste at the expense of finished products. Waste caused by seasoning of 

 wood is not avoidable, and increases the value of the product in greater ratio than 

 its loss in bulk. 



The per cent of actual avoidable waste in utilization of the tree is difficult to 

 determine or to prove. It constitutes the per cent of difference between what is 

 utilized in higher forms, and what could be utilized under the same economic condi- 

 tions, at a profit. It is a measure of the efficiency and alertness of the operator, 

 and will seldom exceed from 5 to 10 per cent even under exceptionally bad conditions; 

 while under good management this avoidable waste is probably not over from 2 to 

 5 per cent. 



The utilization of small-sized pieces and bulk products not only reduces the per 

 cent of waste in single trees, but brings entire trees of smaller dimensions into the 

 merchantable class, thus increasing the per cent of volume in a stand of timber 

 which is merchantable, and lowering the age at which trees can be marketed. Since 

 the number of trees per acre rapidly diminishes with increasing size, close utilization 

 of small diameters will very greatly increase the per cent of merchantable volume 

 in young stands and reduce the per cent of waste by natural losses of trees before 

 they reach the larger diameters. 



20. Actual versus Superficial Contents of Sawed Lumber. The variation 

 between actual cubic contents of sawed lumber, and the superficial contents as 

 expressed in board measure, must not be overlooked in Forest Mensuration. Log- 

 rules for board feet are uniformly "based on the sawing of boards 1 inch thick. Mill 

 tallies of lumber which is sawed scant, such as f-inch boxboard material, will con- 

 sequently greatly overrun the scale of the logs, in so-called superficial feet, which 

 is the number of square feet of surface measure regardless of thickness. On the 



