The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-10-29
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Wise Utilization OF Whole Tree VII!
FoTestaI Shortage il Southern
Yellow Pine.
:


present rate of cutting, the supply, Of
the longleaf yellow pine of the south,
one Of Americas most useful forest
trees will be nearly exhausted,' say
the experts Of the United States For
est Service. If these pine forests are
wiped out one Of the south's import
ant industries will die-the produc-
ton Of the so-called naval stores.
The lumber Of the Southern yellow
pine brings SIS to $35 per thousand
feet, its turpentine 56 cents per gal
lon, it's rosin from $4.35 to $6.95 per
2SO pounds, and its pitch 1926 per
$50 pounds. All of these prices are
gradually becoming higher and higher
on account Of the increased demand
and the scarcity Of the products. For
merly, turpentine could be purchased
for 30 cents a gallon. Now 56 cents
must be paid at wholesale. and the
consumer of gallon lots will pay at
times as high as $1.00.
In the face Of these fast increas-
ing prices, people are still found
who say that there is yet an mex
haust;ble supply Of yellow pine in
the south, and that all talk about a
famine is unwarranted. Such state
ments are not justified by conditions
and the yellow pine numbering indus
! try will soon be in the face of ser
ious shortage unless decided changes
are made in the present methods,
and unless valuable products now 60
ing to waste are utilized. The long
leaf pine is a slow-groving tree and
does not make timber with anywhere
near the rapidity that it is being cut.
The situation calls for making the
very best use Of the present supply.
There are at present in the woods
Of the south vast quantities Of pine
logs and tall stumps left as result
Of careless numbering in the past.
This material is rich in turpentine
and could be made to yield from ten
to fifteen gallons Of refined spirits
per cord. Besides this, there is a
great waste at the sawmills in the
form of slabs, edgings, and sawdust,
all of which must have a value, bu:
at present is, for the most part, SIM
ply burned to get it out of the way.
In fact, not more than so per cent of
the tree as it stands in the forest
comes to the market in the form Of
valuable materials.
In the year 1906 the reported cut
Of southern yellow pine was some II
billion board feet. A conservative es-
innate Of the actual amount of tur-
pentine alone, to say nothing of wood
fiber and other materials, which
could be produced from the waste
wood of this one year, would place
| the amount at not less than 80 mil
lion gallons. This is surprising fl
cure, when it is remembered that it
represents an amount almost equal to
the present annual production Of
gum spirits in this country. If this
product were extracted from the
wood and sold at even the current
price Of good wod turpentine, the
gross saving would be easily $14,4O0,-
900.
Men have realized for some time
that an enormous waste Of valuable
substances is going on, and few
have succeeded in extracting the tur-
pentine and placing on the market a
material Of a fairly good quality. In
the majority Of cases, however, the
article has been Of an inferior grade,
due generally to the fact that the
technical methods used have been
faulty. As a result Of this, wood tur-
pentine is at present often considered
as an adulterated material, or at best
as a poor substitute for gum spirits.
It is true that in some cases these
opinions are well founded, but infer
ior products have put an unnecessary
damper on the whole industry.
The Section of Wood Chemistry Of
the Forest Service has lately been in
vestigating this subject, and some
valuable results have been obtained.
It has been found that for the recov-
cry Of turpentine from Wastewood
the steam Gistillation process is far
superior to taat Of distilling the
wood destructively. The crude tur-
pentine is in ali cases more uniform,
and the final refined materials are