FOBEST AND RANGE RESOURCES OF UTAH 



61 



Utah market through the advantage of large-scale production and 

 the wide variety of uniformly manufactured products, such as floor- 

 ing, ceiling, lath, and finish of all kinds. The small local millman 

 who produces only rough or simply surfaced lumber is under a big 

 handicap in competing in the general market. In most cases the 

 only market left him is the settlement far from the railroad. Im- 

 ported lumber is found in all yards located on the railroads and in a 

 number of yards in the timbered regions as far as 20 miles from the 

 railroads. Practically 93 per cent of the lumber (excluding props, 

 poles, etc.) used in Utah is imported from other States. More effi- 

 cient sawmills and more attention to grading of the lumber are 

 needed in Utah if local production is to be increased. 



A third reason why only scant use is made of local timber is that it 

 is of somewhat poorer quality than the people have become accus- 

 tomed to using. The Utah timber yields smaller quantities of high- 

 grade material and more 

 boards of narrow width 

 and more knotty timber. 



LUMBERING AND MILLING 

 PRACTICE 



There are two main 

 classes of small sawmill 

 operators in Utah: Those 

 who operate the small saw- 

 mill as a side line to farm- 

 ing, stock raising, or a 

 small lumber yard, and 

 those who operate the small 

 sawmill as a business and 

 devote all of their time and 

 energy to the work. 



These mills can not make 

 finishing stock to compete 

 with the larger mills of the 

 Northwest, because they do 

 not have the necessary machinery. It would be possible, however, for 

 light machines of moderate cost to be used in connection with portable 

 mills (fig. 32), for making all kinds of finishing stock. Many port- 

 able sawmills in the United States are manufacturing lumber prod- 

 ucts and putting them on the market in competition with the larger 

 plants. (Fig. 33.) Utah manufactured lumber, however, has often 

 come to market with the following defects : 



shrink and leave wide cracks as it dries after 

 To make an even flat surface with 



Green and heavy. It will 

 being put into a building. 



Thick at one end and thin at the other, 

 such lumber is impossible. 



Uneven lengths and widths. All must be sawed off by hand before using. 



On the other hand, the lumber from the large mills on the coast 

 or in eastern Oregon comes to local yards : 



Dry and ready to use. It does not shrink. 



It is surfaced and sized; that is, it is smooth and of equal 

 thickness. 



