186 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPAETMENT OP AGEICULTUEE. 



must of course be the advancement of the public welfare. It is 

 believed that this may be best served by working out, in a spirit of 

 fairness and helpfulness, a more fully developed national policy for 

 dealing with forest resources. This should prove of advantage to 

 the consumer and the manufacturer alike. 



Utilization of National Forest timber. — ^In the forest products 

 investigations problems affecting the administration of the National 

 Forests were given first place. Some of the more important investi- 

 gations and results were the development of a method of refining hep- 

 tane from digger pine and cooperation with the Bureau of Stand- 

 ads to establish the use of this material in the standardization of 

 candlepowers ; the further development of methods of drying west- 

 ern larch ; the development of greatly improved methods for drying 

 white fir ; the determination of the cause for collapse in kiln drying 

 western red cedar and the partial development of a remedy; re- 

 searches to determine the cause of brown stain in sugar pine, which 

 often depreciates the value of the lumber by more than $10 per thou- 

 sand; the collection of material and its preparation for publication 

 showing the value of the National Forests as a source of tie mate- 

 rial and pulp wood ; a special examination of the National Forests in 

 Alaska to determine their pulp possibilities; promising results in 

 the development of a method for creosoting Douglas fir which will 

 not decrease the strength of the material; the manufacture of an 

 excellent kraft paper from Douglas-fir mill waste; in cooperation 

 with the Geological Survey, attempts to locate deposits of basaltic 

 rock suitable for the manufacture of pulp stones, now imported at 

 heavy expense from Europe; and the completion of nearly 13,000 

 tests on 19 different species of National Forest timbers. 



Studies of lumbering methods and costs, as well as mill scale and 

 depreciation studies, were continued in the districts on a more in- 

 tensive basis. These studies have already furnished data of great 

 value for appraisals of National Forest timber and also have made 

 possible increased operating efficiency in the lumber industry. 



Assistance to Federal Departments. — Aid to other departments 

 through expert advice Avas more extensively given than ever before. 

 It included the preparation of planting plans and the direction of 

 field planting; the examination of timberlands, timber appraisals, 

 and the preparation of plans for conservative management; the 

 preparation and revision of specifications for Government purchases 

 of wood and wood products ; inspection and check inspection of such 

 purchases; the determination of mechanical and chemical properties 

 of wood; analyses of wood preservatives; the preservation of piling 

 and other wood products ; methods of storing and handling lumber ; 

 and the market value of timber. It has been given the Panama 

 Canal, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Eeclamation 

 Service, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Bureau of Chemistry, the Office 

 of Public Eoads, the Bureau of Plant Industry, and both the War 

 and Navy Departments. 



Forest Products Laboratory. — ^A growing interest in the work of 

 the Forest Products Laboratory was manifested. About 3,000 lum- 

 bermen, engineers, chemists, foresters, and others, including visitors 

 from Canada, Holland, Germany, Chile, Portugal, Japan, the Philip- 

 pine Islands, Mexico, and England, visited it. For the first time it 



