Omaha daily bee., 1917-04-18
The Department of Agriculture
Forests IN Wartime.
Bg Frederic j. Haskin

Washington, D. c., April l5.-One OF the UNI
expected little shortages that developed under the
enormous demands for war material of the last
| three years was lack OF wood for gun-stocks.
| You cannot make a good rihe-stock out of any
| kind OF wood; there are only few woods that
will do, and the very best of all is American
| walnut.
There was not enough seasoned American wal
nut to meet the demand. A rife only lasts a
month on the, war-front, and the modern rifle has
the stock running the full length OF the barrel.
There was great cry from all the rifle factories
for walnut. Plenty of green walnut was to be
had, but very little seasoned What was needed
was who could devise process for season.
ing walnut in few days or weeks, instead OF
waiting on nature to do it in long months. The
man was found in the United States forest service.
He was loaned to the biggest rifle manufac-
turer in the country, and he worked out process
for kiln-drying walnut that produced as fine a
wood as any that could be seasoned. This man is
said to know more about wood for rhe-stocks
than any other expert in the world.
This is only an incident detail OF one branch
OF the muniton problem but it is an important
detail and significant incident 1t points to pre-
paredness in the forest service, and the forest
service has important work to do in war. Our
forest resources will be great asset to ourselves
and our allies in this emergency.
Take the matter Of so-called naval stores"
for instance Naval stores is a term that covers
work-tar, pitch, turpentine and rosin These
products are essential to every navy In 1879 the
American congress appropriated 100000 to buy
up timber reserve in the south for purposes Of
naval construction. The timber bought was live
oak which was then the most valuable material
for ship-building. In 1916 Henry S. Graves, chief
forester Of the United States, remarked that the
congress would have done better to locate its
timber reserves in the yellow pine forests instead
of the live oak since the naval stores yielded by
yellow pine have become of far greater import
ance in the navy than timber itself.
Today the southern pine forests furnish 90 per
cent Of the naval stores used in the world. With
infinite labor the French government has built up
a smaller industry OF the same sort on the barren
sand dunes of southern France. Today such land
with mature trees on it sells for $l60 an acre in
France.
Since the French have had to plan and labor
for the resources that nature gave to America
gratis. they have developed the most efficient
methods possible for utilizing what they have
built up. The forest service laboratories have
studied the French methods, and are introducing
into our own south system of tapping the trees
for turpentine which will increase the total yield
OF tree four-fold.
Another interesting thing in connection with
the naval stores industry i'll wartime is the use
of rosin in shrapne The space between the bull
lets in a shrapne shell is filled with rosin. The
uct--black POWDER made from charcoal In spite
OF the universal use of smokeless powder, black
powder is still used for the explosive charge in
shrapnel. No great explosive force is needed for
the purpose, and the cloud of smoke given off by
black powder is just what the gunners need to
mark the bursting point of their shells to correct
their range.
The forest service is one of the most I'M
portant divisions OF the Department of Agricul-
ture. Numberless wood products are needed in
modern warfare. and the forest products labora-
tory is in position to work out the best meth
DDS for producing and testing them, as well as to
furnish the government with the necessary in
spectors to pass on the materials offered, On the
other hand, the actual forest administration work
of the forest service is Of vital Importance to the
nations meat supply, through its regulation and
conservation of the grazing
Since the grazing national forests has been
under departmental supervision the number of
animals that the range supports has increased
over 50 per cent, and the grazing is in better con-
dition than it was when the service took charge
There are still 2S0000,00O acres of public land
used largely for grazing, which lie outside the ma
tonal forests not under government supervision
These enormous areas are not supporting nearly
as many meat animals as they might under bet
ter system. A wise emergency war measure, and
one which would benefit the country greatly,
would be the placing OF the grazing on these pub
lie lands under the supervision OF the experts Of
the forest service
Many minor uses are found for wood products
in war Finely ground fresh wood -four is said
to make fine dressing for wounds. On the Rus
sian front many of the soldiers are wearing paper
shirts made from wood pulp. They borrow this
custom from the Japanese. The shirts have many
advantages for war work, notably because they
are cheap that they solve the problem of clean
liness and thus do much to prevent wound infec-
ton. A dirty paper shirt can be burned and re-
placed with fresh one The garments are said
to be warm and comfortable.
In the matter of timber resources, as a source
Of wood and its numerous products, the United
States has an inexhaustble supply. More i'm
portant even than the raw material is the knowl-
edge and the methods necessary to make use Of
it. The time has come when the years of patient
work by the scientists of the Department will bear
its fruit.