Figure 36. — Portable sawmills of this type sawed 70 

 percent of the lumber in 193$. 



piedmont, where in 1938 they sawed over 90 percent of the 

 lumber. About 70 percent of the State's lumber cut was 

 produced by small sawmills (table 24). 



Table 24. — Lumber production by region and mill capacity class, J 937 and 

 193S 



Year and region 





Mill capacity class 

 (Board feet per 10-hour day) 





Less than 

 10 M 



10 M to 

 19 M 



20 M to 

 39 M 



40 M and 

 over 



All mills 



1037: 



Coastal Plain 



Piedmont 



M boa rd 

 feet 



288, 800 

 581, OCO 

 158, 600 



M board 



feet 



117,300 



38, 900 



38,500 



M board 



feet 



185, 400 



4.500 



49, 900 



Mboard 

 feet 

 97, 100 



M board 

 feet 



688,600 

 624,400 

 247, 000 









Total _ 



1, 028, 400 



194, 700 



239, 800 



97, 100 



1,560,000 



1938: i 



Coastal Plain 



Piedmont.. . .. 

 Mountain 



309, 800 

 539, 900 

 132,900 



109, 100 

 31,800 

 25, 000 



159, 300 



6,400 



35, 500 



89, 300 



667, 500 

 578, 100 

 193, 400 



Total 



982, 600 



165, 900 



201,210 



89, 300 



1, 439, 000 



1 Compiled from dala obtained cooperatively with the Bureau of the Cen- 

 sus for mills culling more than 50 M board feet per year. 



Closely akin to the small portables are the 1 14 mills with 

 a cutting capacity of 10 M to 19 M board feet per day and 

 an annual production of 1 ,000 to 2,000 M feet. The smaller 

 mills in this size class are moved frequently and their mode 

 of operation is similar to the small portables. The larger 

 mills with production approaching 20 M feet per day are 

 usually semipermanent; logs are hauled from the logging 

 operation by truck, or purchased delivered at the mill 

 yard. Over half of the mills of this class are located in the 

 Coastal Plain, where they cut 16 percent of the lumber; 



as a whole they account for 1 1 percent of the State cut. 

 Circular saws are the usual epuipment, although a few of 

 the permanently located plants have band saws. About 

 three-fourths of the mills of this class in the Coastal Plain 

 operate planers, but in the piedmont and mountains the 

 proportion is less than one-fourth. 



The 45 mills cutting between 20 M and 39 M feet per 

 day are located in the Coastal Plain and mountain divisions. 

 The Coastal Plain mills cut about two-thirds pine and one- 

 third hardwoods and average about 6 million board feet 

 per year, or one-fourth of the regional total. They have a 

 full complement of manufacturing equipment, including 

 dry kilns, and their general organization provides for effi- 

 cient utilization of second-growth timber. About half of 

 their logs are purchased delivered and the rest are obtained 

 as stumpage. The 9 largest sawmills in the mountain 

 region are hardwood mills of this size class. All but 2 are 

 band mills and their product is chiefly unfinished hard- 

 wood lumber. In 1938 they cut about one-fifth of the 

 lumber produced in the mountain region, but it is proba- 

 able that some of these mills will cease operating within 

 the next decade as the old-growth timber on which they 

 depend is gradually depleted. 



In 1938 there were in North Carolina only five operating: 

 sawmills with a capacity of 40 M board feet or more per 

 day. All were situated in the Coastal Plain at or near 

 Elizabethtown, New Bern, Washington, Hertford, and 

 Elizabeth City, respectively. Their capacity ranged from 

 40 M to 125 M board feet per 10-hour day, and their 

 annual cut varied from 9 to 25 million board feet per 

 mill. This output amounted to 13 percent of the lumber 

 cut in the Coastal Plain, but only 6 percent of the State 

 total. 



42 



