The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-30
HALT IS CALLED
 ON FOREST WASTE
Decrease of Timber Makes
 Question a Serious One
VALUE OF WASTE PRODUCTS
Experiments By the Forest Service of the United States Government Show That the Greater Part
 of the Tree Is Wasted.

w douiiiS tulls OCluDef SB.-tSpecIai. D--IeSf than 50 per cent of the average tree as 1t stands in the woods comes into the market in the form of merchantable pro ducts, according to the statistics of gov ernment experts. The remainder is al. lowed to go to waste. Some trees sup posed to be of little value have been habitually neglected altogether and left In the woods to fall and decay.
 The seriousness of this waste question made little impression on lumbermen and the users of lumber until forests began to fail and prices reached q point where building operations were handicapped Lumbermen have too often gone into the richest forests of the country and merely skinned the cream taking only choice parts of the trees, and vast ing the remainder Scarcity has now called halt, and made it necessary to put the whole tree to its best use.
 Investigation Begun.
 The forest service early realized the need Of turning 10 account what was thrown away and it began investigations with that end in view. Because of lack of facilities in Washington. laboratories were established in other cities. the ipNhAipi bl Nilltn StcllGu to DC most advantageous for the particular study concerned. The first of these was at New Haven. Conn. in the old chemical laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific school of Yale university Experimental and analytical work was carried on, such as the analysing of preserved timbers the determination of the quantity of tanning material and cellulose in various woods and bark, experiments to discover the quantity of material leached out by allowing logs to stand in water for vary ing periods, and studies to establish standards and values of commercial ereo- sotes
 Value of Wood Pulp.
 Work progressed even with a limited force, and shortly a laboratory was es- tablished in Boston to investigate the value for pulp purposes of various abund- ant woods, and to save the valuable spruce and poplar forests for lumber. The results of this work were most eneour- aging. A number of wood flores were shown to be valuable raw material for paper Some of these were, so far as color, strength, and various other quail tiles are concerned, better for certain purposes than spruce.
 The wood dstillatlon industry was also given careful study with most satisfactory results. An expert made an extended tour of investigation through the south, and furnished an exhaustive report on the condition of the industry of that section. Later experimental studies res suited in method of chemical examina- ton which not only demonstrates the relative value of turpentine obtained from the piue tree by various methods but also shows that it is possible by steam distillation processes to obtain from refuse southern pine a grade of tnr- pentine equal for all practical purposes to gum spirits. which Is the product obtained by scarfyns the trunks Of lv- ing trees Circulars setting forth the re- suits in detail are now in preparation by the forest service.