8 BULLETIN 673, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
CUT AND CAPACITY OF REPORTING MILLS. 
For the purpose of determining within a reasonable degree of ac- 
curacy the relation of the cut to capacity of the mills of the country, 
data was asked of the mills as to the quantity of lumber that could 
be cut if the price and demand were very favorable. More than one- 
half of the total number of mills which reported furnished figures on 
capacity, and these figures are compiled in Table 4 below. The 
computations bear out the generally accepted statement that the 
larger the plant the nearer to capacity it is operated. The figures 
themselves show that the class 5 mills reporting ran to approximately 
71 per cent of capacity, class 4 mills to 64 per cent, class 3 mills to 50 
per cent, class 2 mills to 34 per cent, and class 1 mills to but 17 per 
cent. The aggregate quantity reported cut by the mills making 
returns as to capacity was approximately 55 per cent of the capacity 
of the mills as a whole. It should be taken into consideration that 
much speculation must necessarily enter into the individual calcula- 
tion as to quantity of lumber which could be produced economically; 
and that each case would be modified by varying factors, such as 
capital, log supply, equipment, labor, markets, and shipping facilities. 
Table 4. — Reported cut and capacity of reporting mills. 
Cut of mills 
reporting 
capacity. 
Number 
of mills 
report- 
ing ca- 
pacity. 
Capacity 
reported. 
Total 
mills. 
Total cut. 
Total 
Feet b. m. 
20,847,608,000 
9,566 
Feet b. m. 
37,942,157,000 
17,269 
Feetb. m. 
34,791,385,000 
Class 5 
Class 4 
Class 3 
Class 2 
Class 1 
14,271,909,000 
1, 825, 068, 000 
2.561,037,000 
1.006; 886, 000 
1 ; 182, 708, 000 
540 
251 
' 1,321 
1,491 
5,963 
20,052,040,000 
2, 868, 515, 000 
5,155,422,000 
2,969,126,000 
6,897,054.000 
907 
464 
2,363 
2,577 
10,958 
23,011,296,000 
3,365,902,000 
4,575,926,000 
1,736,787,000 
2,101,474,000 
LUMBER PRODUCTION BY STATES. 
The growth and decline of lumber production in the several States 
is traceable in Table 5 (p. 9-11) , which details by States for 12 calendar 
years the total number of active sawmills reporting and the quantity 
of lumber reported sawed. The accuracy of the 1915 and 1916 figures 
is comparatively greater for the Western States than for the Eastern 
States, since the district offices of the Forest Service are in more 
intimate touch with the mills than it is practicable for the Washing- 
ton office to be with the larger number of mills east of the Rocky 
Mountains. More reliable computed figures can also be given for the 
West. 
The tabulation not only permits of a comparison by years for each 
State, but records the results of events which have served either to 
retard or accelerate the production of lumber in a State or group of 
States. For Washington is shown a cut in 1916 that is three times 
as great as the 1899 cut. Louisiana's mill output has been all but 
