Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-13
Making Wood Do
More Work.
by Frederic j. Haakfn

Washington, ID. G. Jan. f0.-To
make two trees grow where ono grew
before is IN general the aim OF the
United Statee Forert Service: but
that branch Of II known as tho Forest
Products Laboratory. az Madison.
WisconsOn. has demonstrated the
possibility OF doubling the wood Cup
ply in effect in another way--by max
ing ono tree do tho work. or furnish
tho amount Of material. that two trees
did before
The Forest Products Laboratory
was started as q branch of the For
eat Service working o-operatively
with tho University Of Wisconsin in
1910, with about 80 employees. The
number Of employees was Subsequent
iy increased to about 500, but tho labor
atory due to the small appropriations
given and the rise In salaries and all
other costs, Il now has little more than
half that number of employees. In
dustrlal concerns have learned the
value of it's work. and are applying TO
Il In considerable numbrFs for aid, bat
most of these requests must be refused.
No less than 1ss such specific re-
quests for assistance from business
concerns have been received la the
last eight months Most OF them have
necessarily been refused. Nearly all
Of the business concerns were willing 10
pay for the services they requested,
but even so IL was impossible 70 rem
dor them becanse there were not ia
cilities enough available
Research stopped.
And this inability to meet the
specific requests OF business is a small
part Of tho difficulty. Research work
which could ultimately save the coun-
try millions of dollars has been stop
ped for lack Of funds In this situa-
ton the Forest Product. laboratory
appeals TO Congress and to the coun-
try for better support and offers
fncts and figures 70 prove that IL is
worth II
Its case is worth considering BE-
cause il is typical Many other con
structiye, governmental activities
which pay "A large dividend in actual
increased production og industry. arc
being starved out Just as tho Forest
Products Laboratory s. while enor-
nous amounts are asked for army and
navy support. for the enforcement Of
prohibition. and for other non-con-
strUctive activities.
r is not meant 10 imply that these
are not needed. But appropriations
of this sort. and those BY which tho
Congressman hopes 70 bring money
into MS own section. such az river
and harbor appropriations seem 70
pass with little criticism. while the
much smaller needs Of the government
for constructiv scientific work are
attacked az rank extrava gance
Thus the Forest Products Laboratory.
during the entire ten-year period n lts
existence. has cost the nation bur two
million dollars. II claims to have repaid
this many times over by creating new
taxable values. For example the claims
actually paid by the railroads for loss
and damage 70 goods in transit auaoCnts
70 800. 900. 900 annually. The Forests
Products Laboratory found that a large
part Of this loss was due simply 20 a
wrong method OF mailing covers on box
Is. An improved method OF mailing has
been worked OUT By the laboratory ana
adopted BY the National Association of
Box Manufacturers and through them
by many companies and shippers. Il 3
pointed out that II this method results
n saving OF but one per cent. il viii
Millions Saved.
Again. II is a matter OF record that
during the war experiments conducted
at the laboratory in making water-re-
sistauL giues and in the use OF piywood
saved the War Department 81, 600 600.
Investigations made at the laboratory
during the past year IN the use OF cot
ton hull dber and second-cut cotton
linters for pulp have made available
100000 tons OF material for this pur-
pose. Plants for making paper pulp
out OF this new material have been es-
tabhshed. with total capacity OF 500
tons 4 day, ard the annual sales value
OF their products IS SIS 900 600. The
laboratory has made a study Of me
methods Of taking turpentine from pine
trees, with the result that methods
have come into use which yield more
turpentine ard destroy less timber. The
average annual saving resulting from
this work IS 100000 per year. In
these and other ways the laboratory
claims 20 have increased production
and decreased waste 70 the amount of
az least $50 .000, 900 a year.
What the laboratory asks is that a
small percentage OF the wealth which
ii has created be given back 70 il for
doing new constructive work. The
tasks that await il are far larger and
more important than those Il has done.
The field IN which it works in the
first place is an enormous one. The iurn-
bur and wood using industries IN this
country represent an investmnt Of S12.-
oo0 900 goo. they employ about a million
people, they are first among the aa-
tons industries in the number Of en-
ployees and second in the invested
capital and IN annual value Of their
products. Our civilization IS built cC
wood as much as Of steel. and there
is no substitute for wood in most OF
the ways il is used. We face A constant
dwindling Of the source OF supply. The
use Of wood is second in
Importance among Industrial problems
only to the establishment Of a sound
forest policy.
Waste OF Wood.
And we waste wood from the time
the tree is cut until the finished prod
uct IS put on the market Logging
operations in the woods are enormously
Losses in the seasoning of
wood in this country are estimated at
sac. 100000 annually. The use OF pre-
seryatlve processes on ties, poles. posts.
pning, mine timbers. shingles, lumber
and other wood exposed 10 the weather