14 BULLETIN 272, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
feet, the value of the short-log section left is $0.64, or about 15 cents 
more than is paid on an average for felling and cutting the trees where 
the cypress runs good size. The wood left in a-similar stump 3 feet 
in diameter at the top gives a waste of about 33 cents per tree. If 
operators would spend a few minutes in figuring the total value of the 
timber left in stumps above a 3-foot maximum many would, in all 
likelihood, revise their system of cutting. 
MILLING. 
Large-sized mills are the rule in the cypress industry. Many mills 
average daily runs of from 80,000 to 100,000 board feet. The larger 
mills in Florida and Louisiana turn out on an average up to 200,000 
- feet daily, and a few cut as much as 275,000 feet by using two double- 
cutter band mills and resaws. With the exception of a few inland 
swamp districts, the majority of cypress mills are located with refer- 
ence to convenience in the transportation. of either logs or lumber, 
or both, by water. Logs are rafted to the mill through lakes, bayous, 
and sometimes artificial canals, for distances of from 50 to 125 miles. 
The typical mill is equipped with a double band saw, shingle and lath 
mills, up-to-date planing mill, dry kilns, and a lumber yard of 
unusually large size. Nearly all use pond storage, and many have 
complete dry-log yard equipment in addition as a provision against 
irregularities in girdling and logging during extended high-water 
periods. Ordinary labor is usually paid for by the day, and the more 
expert by the month or year. In the highest form of organized 
manufacture the entire manufacturing operation from the standing 
tree to the loaded car, with a few minor exceptions, is done under 
contract at a stipulated price per 1,000 feet. 
WASTE IN MILLING. 
In mill practice, complete utilization is the rule rather than the 
exception. The products of the ordinary mill are lumber, lath, and 
shingles, and a great variety of planing-mill products. The refuse 
burner gets little of the sound timber except small trimmings and 
sawdust, but a good deal of trash im advanced stages of decay. 
Because of the large number of standard short lengths and the strong 
demand, slabs are worked closely for lumber, and the remainder is 
sent along with the trimmings into the secondary mills, producing 
shingles, lath, pickets, ete. Im younger cypress, where the butt 
swell is prominent, butt logs furnish a large amount of such material, 
and all is in excess of the log scale. Pieces down to 4 inches in width 
by 12 inches in length are utilized for tubs, buckets, washing ma- 
chines, etc. Planing-mill orders include a great variety of small 
sizes for special uses in contact with water. There is still opportunity 
for considerable improvement in the utilization of small-sized waste 
on the part of many operators in cypress. 
