The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-09
FOREST PRODUCTS LITTLE KNOWN ARE EMPLOYED WIDELY
Science Constantly Learn ing New Constituents En-
 tering Into Wood.

Washington, Nov. 9.-In addition to the ordinary uses of wood with which we are familiar, mankind is de- pendent upon the forest for a variety of products whose appearance does not indicate their origin, say members of the Forest Service. Numerous as these products are, and 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 constituents and those already known can be put. Powder for munitions or blasting, disinfectants for protection against contagious diseases, and arti- ficial 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 a solvent in making nitroceIulose pow ders is derived from acetic acid. a product. of hardwood distillation. Great Britain, it is said, is dependent upon the United States for acetone used in making cordite. Black wal nut is a standard for gunstocks, and AOA past two years that our supply of this valuable 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 ma king wooden legs.
 Pure wood alcohol is the only sub stance which can be converted com incredibly into fornaldehyde, which is universally used for disinfection against such contagious diseases as smallpox, scarlet fever, and tubercu- losis The experts at the Forest Pror ducts Laboratory have conducted ex- tensive experiments on the production of grain or ethyl alcohol from wood and have been successful in experi- mental work in raising the yield and lowering the cost of production. If this process can be put on commer- cial basis, the foresters say, it will re- suit in putting the millions of tons of coniferous sawdust and other mate rial which is now wasted every year to a profitable use.
 By converting cellulose, one of the clements 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 pro- ducts, varying all the way from saul sage 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 con- tain artificial silk made from wood.
 About nine-tenths of all the paper whicfh 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 favor ably with the best on the market, has been produced experimentally at the Forest Products Laboratory from long Ieaf-pine mill-waste. This kraft pa per is brown in color and is very much stronger than ordinary papers. It is used for variety of purposes, and, cut into strips, is spun or twisted into thread which is then woven into on- ion and coffee bags, mating, suitcases and wall covering, similar to burlap, and furniture closely resembling that made from reeds, as we'll as other ar ticles of common use.
 Within the past year the Forest Pro- ducts Laboratory has, by cooperating with manufacturers, succeeded in get ting a dye made from mill waste of osage orange put on the market as substitute for fustic, which we import from Jamaica and Tehuantepec.
 These are only a few examples of the various lines of work carried on 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- ing made. Incidentally, the Forest Products Laboratory, at Madison, Wisconsin, was the first of its kind in