76 BULLETIN 440, V. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
the machinery for transmission of power to the sawing equipment 
on the mill floor. There are also various conveyors for transporting 
bark, pieces of slabs, and trimmings to the main refuse conveyor. A 
special conveyor delivers the sawdust to the boiler room for fuel. 
The standard equipment for a double-band mill is six 60 inch by 
16 foot boilers, capable of operation at 150 pounds steam pres- 
sure. One of these furnishes steam for the various steam appliances 
and the other five supply the engines. One or two engines capable 
of producing an aggregate of from 500 to 650 horsepower are neces- 
sary. The usual plant consists of two engines, one with about 200 
horsepower and the other about 400 horsepower, or there may be 
one large engine of from 450 to 500 horsepower and a small one of 
from 100 to 150 horsepower. The engine room also contains a 
generator for electric light and one or more steam pumps. 
A very important part of the work in a band mill is the filing of the 
saws. Expert labor and special equipment are required. The filing 
room is usually located in the garret above the mill floor. Unless acci- 
dents occur, four saws are used daily on each band mill. Usually 
a stock of four or five saws is kept on hand for each band. The usual 
filing room equipment consists of one band saw gumming and filing 
machine, a similar machine for circular saws, one roller for band saws, 
an anvil, forge, and various hand swages. 
The standard crew of a double-band mill contains, in addition to 
the men mentioned above, an engineer and two firemen, a millwright, 
an oiler, one laborer tending refuse conveyor and burner, and one 
laborer clearing refuse on mill floor. When the mill is operating two 
shifts the entire crew given above is duplicated at night. The mill 
superintendent, two filers, and a laborer clearing refuse on the 
machinery floor are on duty only during the day shift. A watchman 
is required at night. The common practice is to work two 10-hour 
shifts, one during the day and one at night. When some mills oper- 
ating only in the day shift wish to increase slightly the output, an 
extra shift of 2J hours is worked in the evening by the day crew. 
This procedure is termed working a time and a quarter. If this is 
continued long the crew is liable to become overworked and the pro- 
duction suffer. This is particularly true with regard to the band 
sawyers, upon whose skill and watchfulness the correct manufacture 
of each log largely depends. 
The usual crew of a double-band mill consists of 36 men for a single 
shift and 68 men for two shifts. The amount sawed is usually slightly 
greater during the day shift. The daily labor cost at a double-band 
mill operating two shifts is approximately $265, which, prorated o^er 
a daily output of 240,000, is about $1.10 per 1,000 for sawing. Infor- 
mation available indicates that the direct cost of sawing at double- 
band mills in this region normally varies from $1.10 to $1.20 per 
