THE SOUTHERN CYPRESS. 15 
COST OF MANUFACTURE. 
The investment required in the manufacture of cypress lumber is 
considerably higher than for most kinds of timber. The essential 
factor is the high initial cost of logs delivered at the mill. Briefly, 
the high expense of manufacture is due to: 
(1) The costliness of the equipment required for logging. 
(2) Cypress is mostly cut mto 1-inch lumber, and very little goes 
into dimension stock, as is the case with the southern pines. 
(3) The stock is usually held from 8 months to a year, and some- 
times for 2 years, in order to permit of thorough air-seasoning. ‘This 
entails large holding charges. 
On the other hand, cypress forests are in the lowest situations, 
affording water transportation in many cases for logging and in some 
cases for shipping lumber. Float logging, the method of the earlier 
days, was relatively cheap. In Louisiana the timber lies so far from 
the water fronts and places where artificial canals are practicable 
that pull-boat logging is said now to average from $1 to $3 more per 
1,000 board feet than overhead-cableway skidding and swamp 
railroads. The fire danger, with the necessity of clearing rights of 
way and of slash disposal, is eliminated in cypress logging. 
- Logging railroads are built on piling over swamps at costs ranging 
from $9,000 to $12,000 per mile, and sometimes $15,000 for main 
lines. Temporary logging spurs on mud piles, cribbing, or sawdust 
beds cost from $1,000 to $2,000 per mile. The usual equipment con- 
sists of locomotives and cars, in addition to the combined skidders 
and loaders for getting the logs from the stump to the car. The 
climax of logging machinery, the 135-ton duplex spar skidder in use 
on the Santee River, S. C., and perhaps elsewhere, costs approxi- 
mately $28,000 set up and ready for operation. Water log- 
ging by steam requires heavy dredge boats for digging canals, pull 
boats equipped with skidding engines and tons of steel cable, and tow- 
boats for getting the logs to the mill. Frequently logging is done by a 
combination of both methods. In order to avoid undesirable shut- 
downs, the logging capacity of cypress plants is large in relation to 
the mill capacity. 
The cost of manufacturing cypress is subject to very wide variation, 
due mainly to the different conditions in logging and the varying 
soundness of the timber. In the older supply regions costs often run 
nearly double those in the more virgin districts. The figures below 
will indicate the general range of cost in complete manufacture: 
Cost per 1,000 
Logging: 3 board feet. 
Gudiine (price permtree,,8 to l2icents).. 2.1.0 soc a.c 52. 20 ho). $0. 15 to $0. 20 
Cutting (paid by the tree or thousand board feet).............- . 60 . 80 
Skid danovandilondarag titi Shige! oo oT go eee el Wee 2 1. 95 2. 90 
