The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-10-25
VARIOUS USES OF WOOD.
Science Finds New Places for Forest
Produce.


In addition to the ordinary uses OF
wood with which we are familiar, mankind
is dependent upon the forest for variety
of products whose appearance does not
indicate their origin, say members OF
the forest service, Numerous as these
products are, and as extensive as Is their
Use at the present time, science is con-
stantly learning new constituents which
enter into the makeup of wood and is
finding new uses to which these constitu-
ents and those already known can be
put. Powder for munitions or blasting,
disinfectants for protection against con-
tagious disease, and artificial silk for
clothing are among the products obtained
in whole or in part from wood.
Charcoal, as everyone knows, is essen
tial for the manufacture of black pow
der. All OF the acetone used as solvent
in making nitrocellulose powders is de-
rived from acetic acid. product of hard
wood distillat ion. Great Britain, it is
said, is dependent upon the United States
for acetone used in making cordite. Black
walnut is 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 reduced
and other woods, notably birch, are being
substituted. From Europe comes the
complaint that there is "A shortage of
willow for making wooden legs.
Pure wood alcohol is the only sub
stance which can be converted COM
mereially into formaldehyde, which is
used for distinction against
such contagious diseases as smallpox,
scarlet fever, and tuberculosis. The ex
perts at the forest products laboratory
have conducted extensive experiments on
the production OF grain or ethyl alcohol
from wood and have been successful in
work in raising the yield
and lowering 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 confer
Gus sawdust and other material which is
now wasted every year to profitable
use.
By converting cellulose, one of the ele-
ments of wood, into gelatinous mate
rial, known as yiscoe, a wide field is
opened up for the utilization of wood
waste, and a new line OF products, vary
ing all the way from sausage castings
to tapestry, is added to the already
engthy list. Many of the so-called silk
socks, neckties and fancy braids now on
he market contain artificial silk made
rom wood.
About nne-tenths of all the paper |
which we use is made from wood. Be
tides the detailed investigations of the |
Methods of making newsprint paper, and
II the production of paper from woods
hitherto unused for that purpose, which
ave been conducted, kraft paper, which
ompares favorably with the best on the
market, has been produced experimental
y at the forest products laboratory, from
ongleaf pine mill-waste.
This kraft paper is brown in color and
) very much stronger than ordinary pa
ers. 1t is used for variety of pur
oses and, cut into strips, is spun or
visited into thread which is then woven
nto onion and coffee bags mating, suit
asses and wall covering. similar to bur
,p, and furniture closely resembling that
lade from reeds, as well as other articles
{ common use.
Within the past year, the forest prod {:
cts laboratory has, by cooperating with
succeeded in getting a dye
lade from mill waste of Usage orange
ut on the market as substitute for
lstic, which we import from Jamaica
nd Tehuantepec.
These are-only few examples of the
arious lines of work carried on at the
,rest products laboratory, say the men
charge. Other activities, ranging all
lie way from the study OF decay in wood
, that of the resistance of wood to fire, r
re in progress, and new discoveries are
being made. incidentally, the
rest products laboratory, at Madison,
lis, was the first OF its kind in the
orld and is probably still the best
luipped. With the possible exception of
no other country has done as
uch as the United States systematical-
to investigate the possibilities of its
rest resources.