Mexico Missouri message., 1916-11-23
FOREST PRODUCTS
OF wide VARIETY
Appearance of Many Of These
Gives No Indication of
Their Origin.
new USES FOR WOOD FOUND
Uncle Sans Scientists Are Constantly
Developing Field for Utillza-
ton of Timber Re-
sources.

SSNSicPuNA EiSid W. Seh@a-
ton of Timber Re-
sources.
Mankind is dependent upon the for
est for many products, the appearance
Of which gives no indication of their
origin. The ordinary uses of wood are
familiar to most persons but there are
many products of the forest which
people use constantly without realiz-
ing that they are made from wood.
Numerous as these products are and
as extensive as is their use at the
present time, Uncle Sans scientists,
working in the forest products labora-
tory of the government, are constant
ly learning new constituents which
enter into the makeup of wood and
are finding new uses to which these
constituents and those already known
can be put. Powder for munitions or
blasting, disinfectants for protection
against contagious diseases, and arti-
fetal silk for clothing are among the
products obtained in whole or in part
from wood.
Charcoal, as everyone knows, is es-
sential for the manufacture of black
powder. All of the acetOne used as q
solvent in making nitrocellulose pow
ders is derived from acetic acid. q
product of hardwood distillation.
Great Britain, it is said, is dependent
upon the United States for acetone
used in making cOrdite. Black walnut
! is q standard for gunstOcks, and has
| been so much in demand for the past
two years that our supply of this valu-
able wood has been considerably re-
duced and other woods, notably birch,
are being substituted. From Europe
comes the complaint that there is
shortage of willow for making wooden
legs.
To Utilize Sawdust.
Pure wood alcohol is the only sub
stance which can be converted COM
mercially into formaldehyde, which is
universally used for disinfection
against such contagious diseases as
smallpox, scarlet fever and tubercu.
losls. The experts at the forest prod
ucts laboratory have conducted extern
sive experiments on the production Of
grain or ethyl alcohol from wood and
have been successful in experimental
work in raising the yield and lower
ing the cost of production. If this
process can be put on a commercial
basis, the foresters say, it will result
in putting the millions of tons of conf
ferrous sawdust and other material
which Is now wasted every year to a
profitable use.
By converting cellulose, one of the
elements of wood, into a gelatinous
material, known as viscose, a wide
field is opened up for the utilization
of wood waste, and a new line of prod
ucts, varying all the way from sausage
castings to tapestry, is added to the
already lengthy list. Many of the So
called silk" socks, neckties and fancy
braids now on the market contain ar
tificial silk made from wood.
About nine-tenths of all the paper
which we use is made from wood.
Besides the detailed investigations of
the methods of making newsprint pa
per, and of the production of paper
from woods hitherto unused for that
purpose, which have been conducted,
kraft paper, which compares favorably
with the best on the market, has been
produced experimentally at the forest
products laboratory from long leaf
pine mill-waste. This kraft paper is
brown in color and is very much
stronger than ordinary papers. 1t is
used for a variety of purposes, and
cut into strips, is spun or twisted into
thread which is then woven into onion
and coffee bags, mating, sultcases
and wall covering, similar to burlap
and furniture closely resembling that
made from reeds, as well as other arti-
cles of common use.
Dye From Mill Waste.
Within the past year the forest
products laboratory has, by co-operat.
ing with manufacturers, succeeded in
getting a dye made from mill waste OF
Usage orange put on the market as q
substitute for fustic, which we import
from Jamaica and Tehuantepec.
These are only few examples OF
the various lines of work carried or
at the forest products laboratory, say
the men in charge. Other activities
ranging all the way from the study OF
decay in wood to that of the resist
ance of wood to fire, are IN progress
and new discoveries are constantly be