

Table 13. — Production and employment 



data in the lumber industry 



, 79^41 







Daily mill capacity (11 board feet) 



iliUs 



Total annual 

 capacity 



Mill produc- 

 tion 



Mill employ- 

 ment 



Woods cut 



Woods em- 

 ployment 



1-4 



Number 

 9 

 13 

 4 

 5 

 9 



M board feet 

 2,600 

 11,000 

 11,000 

 48, 400 

 160, 700 



M board feet 



500 



1,100 



1,400 



11, 600 



59, 400 



Man-days 



800 



1,700 



2,100 



24, 100 



125, 400 



M board feet 



500 



1,100 



1,700 



16, 300 



88, 400 



Man-days 



700 



6-9 



1,400 



10-19 



1,900 



20-39 



23,200 



40-79 



114,000 









Total. 



40 



233, 700 



74, 000 



154. 100 



lOS, 000 



141, 200 







■ Based on a 10-hour operating day and net log scale (Doyle) at the mill, according to commercial scaling practice. No mills of 80 M board feet capacity 

 or larger. 



The hardwood sawmills of the United States 

 produce mostly industrial lumber. The relative 

 importance of the two classes of products, however, 

 varies greatly with the locality. Mills producing 

 chiefly industrial lumber tend to move into areas 

 having sufficient timber of high quality — yielding 

 at least an average of 50 to 60 percent No. 1 com- 

 mon or better lumber — to warrant operation. This 

 survey unit contains perhaps more uncut old- 

 growth hardwood timber than any other equal 

 area in the United States, which accounts for the 

 fact that over 95 percent of the material produced 

 in the sawmills of the unit is from industrial lumber 

 mills. 



The 74 million board feet ^ of logs manufactured 

 into lumber in 1934 (table 13) by the 40 sawmills 

 (including a very small volume of pine lumber) was 

 approximately 30 percent of the rated plant capac- 

 ity. Nearly all of the logs from which this lumber 

 was cut came from the forests of the north-Louisiana 

 delta. The 154,000 man-days of mill labor re- 

 quired to produce the lumber, on a basis of 200 

 working days per year, represented full-time 

 employment for about 770 men. As a matter of 

 fact, owing to the amount of part-time employment 

 in a number of the smaller mills, a larger number 

 of individuals were actually employed. The item 

 of mill labor includes labor in the mill proper, in the 

 office, and in the yard and loading. 



The difference between the 108 million board 

 feet of logs (Doyle scale) actually removed from the 

 forests of the unit for lumber production in 1934 

 and the 74 million board feet of sawmill production 



1 Net Doyle log scale. Throughout the discussion of 

 forest-products industries the Doyle log scale is used because 

 it is the one used by operators in this territory. Further- 

 more, practically all forest-production statistics for the delta 

 hardwoods are shown in this scale. 



represents approximately the volume of logs cut 

 from the forests of the unit and shipped to sawmills 

 elsewhere. The 141,000 man-days of woods labor 

 required to produce this total volume of logs was 

 equivalent to full-time employment for over 700 

 men. "Woods employment" covers all steps in the 

 operation from the stump to delivery at the saw- 

 mill, except common-carrier service. 



Lumber-mill labor in this unit is supplied by full- 

 time professional sawmill workers plus a small pro- 

 portion of transient common labor. Woods labor is 

 also largely supplied by full-time professional woods 

 workers. W^ith the development of truck logging, 

 however, an increasing proportion of the logging 

 work is done by part-time contractors, who may 

 alternate between logging and other forms of 

 public work. 



In the Mississippi River Delta conditions are 

 favorable for logging all year except for 3 to 5 

 months during the season of winter rains. Even 

 during the winter, logging is possible on the better 

 drained, more accessible situations. 



Until recently, mule teams and eight-wheel 

 wagons were commonly used to transport logs from 

 the stump to the railroads, and in some few cases, 

 directly to the sawmill. Since 1925, motortrucks 

 have become very important in moving logs from 

 the woods to the common carrier and in many 

 cases directly to the mill, thus often supplanting 

 both the logging railroads and, under favorable 

 conditions, the eight-wheel wagons. Although 

 mules still serve for bunching and loading, tractors 

 are now being successfully introduced to replace 

 the mules, and caterpillar-tread wagons are now 

 beginning to supplant the eight-wheel wagons. 



Since early times there has been and probably 

 there always will be some rafting and barging of 

 logs on the principal streams; and much of the 



