The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-11-13

OliESI products laDOfalOfy Is d lOu-
era institution under the forest
4 @A service of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, and is located
at Madison Wis. The results of the
.& experiments made at this institution
$YWW4D@E are open to the public, and infor-
NNU/ 4 nation on any of the subjects treat
kNHRlt1IA ed briefly in this article may be OBJ
&~Se6G~SA tanned in detail from the laboratory
&&SAsAs=6 free. This is the only large institu-
ton of its kind I'm the world, al
though number of other countries are now plan
ming to adopt the idea. Rudyard Kipling once
wrote:
Twelve hundred million men are spread
About this earth, and / and you
Wonder, when you and are dead
What will those uckless millions do?
II we change the closing lines Of this stanza
10 read:
And I and you,
Wonder. when all the trees are gone,
What will those Iuckless millions do?
The kindly sarcasm of the Kipng humor dlsap-
pears and we are confronted with question Of
vast Importance for our consideration and action.
The Importance Of the broad problems would
possibly be more sharply recognized If we view
the sitlIati from a somewhat less altruistc and
international standpoint and consider only the
one hundred million people within the borders of
tent TO which forest products enter into the COM
forts, cOnvenlences and pleasures of many, If not
mn OF this vast multitude of people.
You rise In the morning from your wooden bed
q and walk about on the wooden floor of your wood
zen home; you battle with soap probably contain
ing or prodYed in part with product from
wood, anOn your face with a lotion containing
alcohol very likely produced from wood waste, put
en your h6se manufactured from wood fiber, step
hafo ycar leather shoes requiring tannin from
wood for aheir manufacture, and then proceed to
FhraBkfass where you sit upon a wooden chair, in
front of a wooden table and read the daily news
resolved over telegraph lines supported by wood
sen pol3 from paper made OF wood pulp and
printeS with ink manufactured from a forest
prodUSG. Ii reasonably prosperous, you now jour
new TO your Office in an automobile with wooden
smokes in the wheels probably travel at least part
ar the way over wooden pavement and finally
settle yourself in your Office surrounded by wooden
trimmings and furniture and dig into the daily
Sessers and reports which are again dependent
;vrruau the supply of wood pulp paper. II, by
chance. you have occasion to travel, you board
= wooden railroad car Tor at least one made to
anpear like wood and travel over tracks sup
ported by wooden cross-ties. The food which you
eat the clothes which you wear the materials
and supplies necessary for the comforts OF your
acme and the conduct Of your business, all are
r.eefved In containers some of wood and some
- cher lint practically all of forest products.
These accustomed comforts and privileges OF
.uxfsfpnce are dependent upon a very wide va
r5sfv of Industries, dependent to greater or less
.yerree upon forest products. These supply use
tut and necessary occupation to some million or
more people. They include 20 per cent Of the
178OO0 manufacturing plants in the country.
The future of these varied and tremendous in
sIustries Is dependent upon supply of raw ma
4erfal. their ultimate and greatest success de-
x,eufIent upon the wise selection and most eff
ssIent handling Of this raw material. This means
fYat authentic knowledge of the properties of the
material and how to most efficiently utilize them
Is Ia the long run. essential to their continuation
on sound economic basis.
These considerations inevitably lead us to the
forests and here again we are confronted with a
demand and necessity for knowledge Of the prop
,rftes and possible uses and utilization OF the
rnanv available species of trees. Without 1t, 1t is
impossible to know which trees to cut or which
20 grow. what is their value. how best to utilize
them or what to do with the enormous quantity
OF waste material.
II was such broad conceptions as these that
,lsd TO the development OF the forest products
lIahorafory which was established in 1910 by the
forest service United States Department of Agri-
culture. in cooperation with the university of
Wisconsin, Federal appropriations maintain the
orranizatiOn and provide necessary supplies and
equipment The university provides the buildings
and light heat and power.
The forest products laboratory is called an In
4itntion of Industrial research. It's object is to
acquire disseminate and apply useful knowledge
or the properties uses and methods Of utilization
~ al forest products. This is a broad field OF
almost unlimited scope: the surface has been but
rartiaIly scratched
II has been said that research is primarily 3
gnntter of men who work upon the frontiers Of
Euo,riedge conquerlng the new domains" Re
search may be done-as matter of fact is done
individually separately, disconnectedy and prog
rcss OF some sort will undoubtedly result But t