The compilation of the logging history of the Fruit Growers Supply Company was a very enjoyable project.  In their meticulous annual reports there was always some interesting fact. Take for instance of the above photograph that shows 54 million board feet of lumber. The reason why Fruit Growers was in the lumber business was for a supply of box shook, the components used to make a wooden box to ship citrus, since this was before cardboard. Anyhow, if the lumber depicted above was used for box shook, it would only meet one-third of the boxes needed by Sunkist for that year.

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For what ever unknown reason, I have been intrigued by this photograph. It was taken in 1932, by well known photographer Clark Kinsey. The Fruit Growers Supply Company hired Kinsey to photograph their operations at Hilt and Susanville.  Fruit Growers it should be noted is the purchasing agent for the citrus growers marketing co-operative known today as Sunkist.  Photographs such as these, in addition to filming the operations were important tools to show the citrus growers how their money was being invested to provide them wooden boxes at a reasonable price to ship their fruit.

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As we explore Lassen’s lumber industry’s past, there are references to the volume of a million board feet (mbf).  During the 1920s, the lumber mills of Lassen County had an average annual output of 250 million board feet of lumber.

George Cone, who worked in the Lumber Division of Fruit Growers provided this definition using that mill’s output for the 1922 season at 62 million board feet. If it was placed on a single freight train, that train would extend eighteen miles. And since it took 6,000 board feet of lumber to build an ordinary house in those days, Cone figured that the 1922 output could build 60,000 houses. According to Cone, with an average household consisting of five persons, this production could provide the housing needs of 300,000 people!

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