Undoubtedly considerable improvement has been made in recent years. One of the most encouraging steps taken has been the organization, through the initiative of the Corporacion de Fomento, of a producers cooperative through which mill owners can market their product and receive help in grading and inspection, and guidance and aid in the purchase of machinery and equipment. This organization offers an excellent medium through which better methods and equipment can be brought to the attention of small mill operators. Such educational work would undoubtedly be greatly strengthened also by the system of forest extension later suggested as one desirable means of public aid to private timberland owners. This is important, for one of the great difficulties in improving small mill practice will be in reaching isolated mill operators with convincingly presented suggestions, preferably accompanied by demonstration, as to possible improvements. The importance of this educational phase with the average small mill operator or manager can hardly be overemphasized, for more production per worker is the key to successful industrialization and a higher standard of living in Chile. Capable and efficient supervision and adequate job training are two essential steps toward this goal.

Indeed, if such educational work could be made effective there are a number of steps, chiefly in the use of labor-saving devices, better tools and care of tools, and improved supervision, and job training, which could be taken immediately to produce savings and greater efficiency in both woods and mill. For example, felling saws and wedges should replace the outmoded axe now employed, with resulting greater output per man-hour at less labor. Better woods supervision and strict enforcement of company regulations would bring down stump heights, now a matter of personal convenience and usually high, and save excessive loss in the first log, often containing the highest grade products. The axe itself, a heavy single-bitted instrument, though skilfully handled by Chilean workmen, is probably less efficient than the lighter double-bit now used on most lumber operations in North America. Some comparison of their average efficiency should be made. The use of cross-cut saws and wedges would save not only 8 to 12 percent of the lumber now wasted in the axe scrap but additional trimming and degrade. A simple coupling device of chain or tongs would save the additional waste in notching the log for skidding. Waste in bucking and log making could also be greatly reduced by cutting logs at longer lengths than the customary 4-1/2 varas (12 feet, 4 inches) and, more importantly, by cutting to variable lengths such as 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 feet, as necessary to obtain complete utilization of the merchantable portion. If fallers can be hired during the summer, then summer felling plus immediate hauling and milling would be superior practice, and should result in less degrade than winter felling plus storage in the woods until sawed. It is very doubtful if breakage is much influenced by the season of felling; experience elsewhere fails to substantiate the belief, and some operations in Chile have already broken away from this practice. Logs stored on the ground as felled until reached for hauling are probably more subject to stain, decay, and insects, even if winter-felled, than summer-cut logs in a well-conducted operation aimed at delivering them at the log deck as soon after felling as practical.

As to transportation it is doubtful if the individual small mill, cutting about 1,000 board feet per hour, can afford a tractor for skidding and concentrating. Here the traditional ox-cart method is often satisfactory and acceptable. Some improvement might be made by the use of horses in steeper country, where logs are ground skidded to concentration points, but if such stock is not available various means can be used to brake logs on sharp pitches, such as wrapping chains around them, and they may be slid or rolled by hand down steep slopes. Ground skidding is used, of course, only to bunch logs at a point from which carts can be used. In order to get out the larger logs and logs of greater length it may be necessary to use high-wheel carts rather than the solid-wheel oversized bummer now used, underslinging the logs and putting on as many yoke of oxen as required. The short hauls, now com

mon, and direct delivery at the deck with a minimum of storage are, as has been stated, very effective; but closer attention could be given on many operations to location of mill sites to provide the best possible conditions for down-grade log hauls, adequate site room and suitable outhaul conditions. This will become more important as operations get farther back from the central valley and the terrain more mountainous. Milling operations can also be materially improved by more attention to mill layout to eliminate excessive handling, and to utilize rolls and other mechanical means, where possible, in place of sheer manpower, and by such simple devices as an overhead log turner for handling larger logs. However, rate of production in milling is chiefly a matter of the power available to the head saw. As most mills in Chile are badly under-powered, material improvement here must await the installation of new and better mills or the replacement of existing machinery. Small

mill experts1 recommend a steam engine boiler of around 100 horsepower capacity, weighing about 8 or 9 tons. This would furnish adequate power for a mill capable of cutting about 1,000 board feet per hour.

A mill of this size could readily support a truck for hauling green or partially dried lumber to the railroad station or other concentration point. Package piling might be usefully employed. A one and one-half ton truck should be suitable, equipped with dual-wheel trailer where roads are adequate. Truck and trailer are capable of hauling about 8-1/2 tons (3,000 to 4,000 board feet) per load on reasonably good roads.

Portable Versus Permanent Mill

Although the small mill will continue to be a factor in Chilean forest economy, there has been a growing interest in lumbering as a primary enterprise, and there now exist in Chile a small number of wellorganized and managed lumber organizations, some of which own and operate their own timber as well as planing mills, dry kilns, and retail yards. This trend has been stimulated by a better home market for Chilean lumber, with wider appreciation of the utility of native woods and the rising costs of imported products due to protective tariffs and the continued depreciation of Chilean currency. In addition, the removal of most of the original forest from the central valley area leaves existing stands in the actively operated areas north of Puerto Montt in the coastal cordillera and the foothills of the Andes, where logging is more difficult and expensive and larger and better financed operations almost a necessity. Mountainous areas, lacking access development and covered with comparatively heavy stands of large trees, are ordinarily exploited by medium to large-sized operations, because development, especially transportation, usually requires capital and engineering knowledge beyond the reach of small operators. A number of the larger organizations are already operating with tractors and trucks at least in part, and only the gasoline and equipment shortages brought about by the war have prevented much greater mechanization.

There is a very real question as to whether or not these larger, better managed, better financed organizations should operate with a series of small portable mills or attempt to concentrate their cut in each major property at a larger2 permanent or semi-permanent mill. As previously stated, well-managed and adequately equipped portable mills may well be the most economical method of operating hardwood stands, a conclusion already reached by some small mill experts in the United States. This is primarily because such mills can be set close to the cutting area and log haul minimized. Larger mills with permanent settings must always face the penalty entailed in longer log haul, a relatively expensive operation, for logs weigh approximately twice as much as the lumber cut from them. Portable mill operations conducted by a large, well-managed parent company could certainly eliminate or minimize some of the inherent disadvantages in the average portable mill operation, such as

These suggestions on logging and sawmilling practices are based primarily on recommendations made by C. J. Telford and associates of the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. They are elaborated on in the Appendix and in U. S. Dept. of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication No. 509.

2In this discussion the term large or larger is used in a relative sense only; medium-sized mill cuts approximately 3,000 to 6,000 board feet per hour. It is assumed that this mill will be located at a permanent site on or near a railroad or other common carrier. A really large mill would seem impractical and undesirable under Chilean conditions.

inadequate equipment and supervision and lack of a competent marketing organization. These faults are usually due to lack of proper financing and resulting inability to furnish proper equipment and necessary services in planning, supervising and selling, and in job training. All of these could be corrected in part by a well-financed parent company, just as they could and should be supplied, to individual mill owners through a cooperative organization offering marketing facilities and technical guidance, perhaps on a fee basis.

Under such circumstances small portable mill operations could be made more efficient. Logging might or might not be fully mechanized, depending on fuel costs, size of cut, and terrain; but tractor operation, where desirable, should be entirely feasible because the size of combined operations would be sufficient to support equipment of this kind, and trucks and tractors could be shifted as needed between various mill operations. The small mill operation would probably require a smaller capital investment in permanent roads and similar improvements. It might, however, be more difficult to furnish adequate planning and supervision for several small operations, as compared with one large one, and in staffing several small ones, as against one large with competent, well-trained' men, particularly in Chile where skilled labor is scarce, though under skilful management these difficulties should not be

insurmountable.

It seems certain, however, that a number of disadvantages of small mills can not be fully overcome.

(1) It would be impossible to obtain as great diversification in production and as good grade and quantity yields, because of less efficient equipment and inability to support the services of as efficient a sawyer.

(2) The portable mill would be very limited in opportunities to utilize waste because of the difficulty of concentrating it at small mills in sufficient amounts, and the impermanence of the mill site inherent in the system of shifting the mill at fairly frequent intervals to minimize log haul.

(3) Fewer labor-saving devices could be installed. At the larger mill the cost of these installations would occur only once.

(4) Poorer housing and working conditions would be maintained, thereby increasing instability of labor supply.

Accordingly, from a purely business standpoint, assuming adequate equipment, financing and supervision, adequate logging and engineering services, permanency of operation, and the existence of a competent marketing organization, the main problem of small portable versus larger permanent mills seems to be whether or not the profits to be gained from more efficient operation, including higher grade and quantity yields and the utilization of mill waste, will compensate for the higher production costs incurred in hauling logs longer distances prior to milling. This is a question that can only be satisfactorily answered for each individual situation. The answer will obviously differ depending on many complex and interlocking factors, varying from character of management and terrain to the availability of markets for byproducts.

In Chile the best that can be said is that on the average wellmanaged operation in the central area the differential in hauling logs versus lumber now amounts to about 1 peso per pulgada, or 100 pesos per thousand board feet of lumber manufactured. This cost is probably high for it is a contract price containing some profit and based on an average operation of fairly large size, with an average hauling distance of 20 kilometers. It should be lower where smaller tracts are operated and on selected operations under conditions more favorable than average. It

tor.

seems probable also that an aggressive road-building and maintenance program would reduce this item materially. In any event, this added cost would be compensated for in part on the average band mill operation by recovery of more lumber of higher quality. In the United States this averages about 7 percent more lumber and a 5 percent rise in value of the lumber produced due to better grade recovery and other merchandising advantages of the larger mills. In Chile experience indicates that band mills will recover some 12 to 15 percent more lumber. These savings combined amount to about 48 pesos per thousand board feet. This would leave some 52 pesos to be compensated for by additional efficiencies on band versus combined portable mill operations or by sale of waste. It is computed that the average mill operation in Chile, in view of the character and size of timber and general type of operation, will yield from 2.2 to 2.5 stacked cubic meters of usable mill waste per thousand board feet sawed, over and above sawmill fuel needs. Accordingly, this mill waste would have to bear a value of about 21 to 23 pesos per cubic meter if the band mill operation is to be economical under the conditions described. This should be the minimum disposal value required for an average or better than average moderate-sized operation. It would vary greatly, of course, depending on such factors as the size, soundness and species of logs being cut and the sawing practice of the operaThere is every probability, as will be brought out later, that waste can be utilized economically at this price. Therefore, in view of other possible efficiencies not included in the above computations, larger band mill operations at a fixed site would seem to be a sound business proposition. In addition, from a national standpoint, there are other factors at least equally important. Any rural industry offering profitable part-time employment as a supplement to agricultural activities has obvious social and economic advantages. It seems very doubtful, in the rough terrain common in the forested areas of Chile, that the woods waste of several small mills could be concentrated economically at some central point. Accordingly, the operation of mediumsized permanent mills offers the only real hope of establishing a number of promising woods waste industries. Furthermore, larger permanent mills offer the only real hope for the manufacture of higher quality material, and such material is needed in meeting the demands of more exacting markets, such as export markets, and in producing lumber at lower unit costs through greater production per man-hour. One other factor should be mentioned. The larger operations will of course require the acquisition and consolidation of good-sized land holdings, for adequate road systems and mill installations cannot be depreciated satisfactorily against small volumes of timber.

Cost estimates and other details of a model mill at a fixed site and accompanying kiln and planing mill are given in the appendix, pages 228 to 231. A mill of this character should cut about 24,000 board feet per 8-hour day. Logging might or might not be seasonal, depending on available labor and the possibility of some skidding and hauling during the winter season. Felling would follow the pattern outlined for the smaller mills. Skidding in rough terrain would be by sliding or rolling logs by hand in steeper places, or by skidding with oxen, while tractors would be used where the terrain permitted and fuel costs were not too high. The mill, a single band, would have edger, trim saw, live rolls, a hog and conveyors for refuse and lumber. Part of the stock would be air-dried, but part would go to a kiln located at the mill site, which should be located at a railroad or port at a point reasonably accessible to outside markets. A planing mill would form part of the general operational set-up. Equipment would be fast and reasonably heavy, capable of turning out high-grade work at satisfactory speed. Obviously the