The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-03-20
By Earle w. Gage.

Uncle Sans forest experts are la
boring to conserve the remaining 49,
100000 acres of virgin forests in such
a manner as to give the people the
largest returns, and with an eye to
the future needs of the United States
are working to reforest the 81 900, 900
acres of wholly idle land and 235,OOO,-
900 acres of partly idle forest lands.
Aside from this campaign these same
experts are saving the people OF the
country millions each year in the eco
/ nomical utilization OF the 24,O00,O O0,-
900 cubic feet of wood removed from
! our forests annually.
1T is a curious fact that until a
comparatively few years ago almost
no thoroughgoing study was made OF
material so widely used and that en-.
tiers into our daily life in SO many dif-
ferent ways as does wood, " advises
DR.. Samuel T. Dana, of the forest
service. Highly paid chemists and
engineers were employed to inveSti-
gate steel and concrete and oil and
rubber and a hundred other products,
but wood was apparently taken for
granted.
yet wood, being more complex,
more valuable and less efficiently util-
| lied than any of these, was actually
| in greater need of investigation. The
need was early recognized by the for
est service, though not until the es-
Enlistment of the forest products lab
oratory at Madison, Wis, was it pos
sibe to undertake, the work in an et-
fective manner. Since then the prog
iress that has been made constitutes a
fascinating story of achievement in a
hitherto almost unexplored field"
A hundred and one important ex-
periments and studies have been made
of various woods at the Madison lab
oratory in the last decade, with the
result that millions of dollars are saw
ed each wear by utilization for COM
mercial purposes of woods previously
thought worthless. In truth, Uncle
Sans experts have been responsible
for the nationwide putting to work
OF wood waste.
By establishing new grading rules
based on the discovery that the
strength of southern yellow pine and
Douglas fir varies directly with the
relative amounts of sprlngWood and
summerwood makes it possible to. OBJ
tain the same strength as before from
structural timbers with the use OF
about 20 per cent less material. An
additional saving is being effected by
the substitution for more valuable spe-
! cies OF cheaper woods, the suitability
OF which has been demonstrated by
mechanical tests at Madison.
Millions of feet OF hickory, the
standard wood for handles and spokes,
| have been wasted annually in the past
because of the general belief that the
red heartwood was inferior in quail
tv to the white sapwood Exhaustive
tests proved that this prejudice is un-
founded and that weight Tor weight
sound heartwood is fully as strong
and tough as the sapwood. This dis
coverv not only increased materially
the available supply of hickory, but
converted the large amounts OF heart
wood formerly wasted in the. woods
and at the mill from a liability into
an asset.
spectacular than forest fires but none
the less deadly. How many realize
that the drain upon the forests caused
bv the necessity of replacing decayed
railroad ties, mine timbers, poles
posts, piling, bridge timberS and 9th
er material used under exposed con
ditions equals the loss due to fires
The remedy is to defy the decay-pro-
ducing organisms by treating the
wood with creosote, zinc chloride, so
dunn 1uoride, or other wood preser-
vative. The wonderful possibilities o.
saving wood is illustrated by the tact
that the average life of railroad tie
! is seven and half years il laid un-
treated, or Is years when treated witt
some form OF preservatlve.
America demands millions OF boxes
and crates in packing her products o
, factory and farm for market. In tact
approximately IS per cent OF the ma
: tons lumber cut is for the purpose o
supplying this demand for packages
but which. because of improper size
strength and shape, is responsible toi
| a formidable waste OF material and al
appalling loss due to breakage. In
single wear the railroads paid more
than $780, 100000 for goods lost anC
: damaged in shipment as result o
faulty containers, and that CONSTITUTED
small part OF the total loss. Test
LOT thousands of containers made, Will
a revolving drum devised by the Tor
lest products laboratory have made
possible improved designs which IN
crease strength, decrease cost and SAVE
shipping space. The wonderful posi-
bilities of adopting these moderr
methods OF packages is illustrated by
one large canning company which
packs 100000 boxes year, anC