Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-06-09


Washington, June S-Shoe-blacking
owes it's peculiar aromatic odor, faint
ly~ suggestive Of the deep woods where
spruce or hemlock needles pad the
ground, to an oil which Is manufacture
ed from these same kinds of needles.
Similar oils are obtained from the foil
age and small twigs of various cone
bearing trees, and find use for a num-
Der OF purposes. In Europe the finer
OF these oils are used extensively as per-
fume in soap. They are common COM
ponents of liniments and other medici-
nal preparations. Cedar oil is chiefly
used in the preparation of insecticides,
and, to some extent, In making lini-
ment.
Investigations Of the yield and the
value of the oil obtainable from come
of our southern and western trees have
been made by the Forest Service, part
ly with a view to the possible utiliza-
ton Of waste material left after lum-
boring in the National Forests. In
these Investigations, longleaf and west
ern yellow pine leaves produced the
most promising results, but the needle
oils obtained from these pines did not
surpass the already firmly established
spruce and hemlock oils. The large
quantities of needles and twigs on
Forest Service timber sale areas are
nof 0nIu a ahaar uuoafo huf oIo0 forro N
special fire hazard. An increased mar
ket for leaf oil would make possible
the utilization of some of this waste
material.
The industry, though small, is fairly
old 10 the United States. The value of
the annual production of needle oil is
about $50, 900. Black and white spruce
and eastern hemlock produce very SIM
liar oils, 10000 to sc, 1000 pounds annual
ly, worth As to so cents per pound.
Red cedar produces Is, 200 to 20. 900
pounds of oil having the same value
per pound as the spruce and hemlock
oil. A few other species furnish the
rest of the conifer-leaf oil produced In
the United States. Besides the home
product, small quantities of needle oil
are imported from Europe. One of
these, silver fir oil, brings four dollars
a pound. In most cases these oils have
a pleasant odor. A few are disagreed
when first distilled but become pleas
IN with age.
The greater portion of the oil produc-
ed in the United States is distilled by
small farmers in New England during
the winter months when farm work Ia
slack. In 1912, a Seattle firm began
the Oscillation of leaf oil from western
red cedar On a large scale, but found
that at the going market value of 40
cents a pound the oil scarcely repaid
the cost of production. 1t was chiefly
used In manufacturing an insecticide
containing 85 per cent of cedar oil and
IS per cent of an absorbent made from
the finely ground shells of peach pits.
Four dollars and a half to five dollars
and a half per ton, depending on the
oil content, was paid for the leaves and
twigs.
A firm at Grants Pass, Oregon, has
patents covering methods aad appara-
tus for utilizing western yellow pine
needles in the production of fibre after
the oil Is removed by distillation.
Their plant consists of wooden tanks
with steam connections with a daily
capacity of 1000 pounds of raw materi-
al from which ten pounds of oil are OBJ
tanned and, by suitable treatment, the
spent needles produce a long tough
fibre that can be woven into fabric or
mixed with hair and made into mat
tresses.
The distillation process Is very SIM
pie. Steam is passed through the
needles, usually at atmospheric press
ure. The oil volatilizes and the mixed
vapors pass into a cooling apparatus
where condensation takes place, leav
ing a layer of oil and a layer of water.
Distillation by steam under pressure is
more rapid and produces more oil.
Cutting the needles in small pieces be-
fore treatment increases the oil produc-
ton. Young trees yield most. Trees
growing in the open contain more oil
than those in a dense stand. The win
ter and spring months are best for oil
content.