14 
BULLETIN 
11, TJ. 
S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
COST OF LUMBER PRODUCTION. 
In most of the region covered by this report the logs are cut by 
small portable or semiportable mills. The large mills are limited 
to the southeastern corner of Virginia, but even these are now securing 
the bulk of their logs by rail or water from North and South Carolina, 
as the supply in Virginia is largely cut out. In the future there will 
be only small mills which can be cheaply moved so as to saw up profit- 
ably isolated lots containing as little as 100,000 feet of standing tim- 
ber. These, therefore, will deserve chief consideration in the man- 
agement of loblolly-pine forests. 
The cost of producing lumber, from the stump to the railroad or to 
a local market, exclusive of price paid for standing timber or stump- 
age, includes the folio wing items where the milling is done by portable 
mills located in or near the timber: (1) Cutting and logging to the 
mill; (2) milling, including sawing and " sticking up;" (3) hauling 
lumber to the railroad or factory, including loading and unloading; 
(4) contractor's profit. For large mills located on the railroad there 
is in place of the hauling item a small charge for loading on the cars, 
and the cost item of logging to the mill is always considerably higher. 
Cost Exclusive of Hauling. 
The cost of producing loblolly pine lumber by small mills in the 
region, exclusive of hauling, is about as follows : 
Table 6. — Cost of lumbering (except hauling) per thousand board feet. 
Minimum. 
Average. 
Maximum. 
$0.50 
1.50 
2.00 
.50 
§0.75 
1.75 
2.50 
1.00 
§1.00 
2.00 
3.00 
1.50 
4.50 
(3.00 
7.50 
Hauling. 
The cost of hauling is the most variable factor in the cost of lumber 
production by smaU mills, the variation being due to distance of mill 
from the railroad or local market, as well as to cost of team. A team 
of three horses (or mules) with driver can haul readily under present 
average road conditions in the region 2,000 feet of loblolly pine lum- 
ber a distance of 8 miles and return the same day, at an average speed 
of 2 miles an hour for the round trip. The cost of such a team in the 
region varies from So to $7 per day, depending largely on the season 
of the year. It is the custom for two such teams to work together, 
so that the two drivers can help each other in loading and unloading 
