FOREST SERVICE. 241 



lumber grades. This reform is a very large task, but if rightly 

 accomplished its value to the country can hardly be overstated. 



A few examples will serve to illustrate to what extent the work of 

 the laboratory bears upon the standardization of lumber and other 

 forest products. During the year standard methods of mechanical 

 tests of woods, developed through many 3'ears of w^ork, were adopted 

 by a committee representing the American Society for Testing 

 Materials — the first step to its final ratification by the society and 

 ultimately by the American Engineering Standards Committee. A 

 committee appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to develop a 

 general national building code also adopted the laboratory's recom- 

 mendations having to do with the use of wood in buildings. A safety 

 code for ladders, as developed by the American Engineering Standards 

 Committee, included the laboratory 's recommendations for the selec- 

 tion of side rails. Uniform specifications for railroad ties, formulated 

 under the direction of two sponsors appointed by the American 

 Engineering Standards Committee, one being the Forest Service, 

 were tentatively adopted by a committee representing 13 national 

 organizations. 



The 5^ear marks also the conclusion of an exhaustive research 

 initiated early in the war to determine the kinds of woods and manu- 

 facturing conditions necessary to insure efficient airplane propellers. 

 The work has conclusively proved that aside from wearing properties, 

 practically all commercial American woods, w^hether quarter or slash 

 sawed, can, under proper manufacturing conditions, be satisfactorily 

 used. This knowledge at the time of the war would have saved 

 enormous expenditures for mahogany and walnut. Other results of 

 value in connection not merely with propellers, but with all high- 

 grade glued-wood products, w^ere secured concerning the conditions 

 necessary for the most effective gluing, the methods that afford best 

 results, water-resistant ^lues, protection coatings to increase the 

 resistance of glues to moisture, and the best methods of joining and 

 splicing laminations. It was found that with proper gluing, forms 

 of joint, and joint construction, a joint strength equal to that of the 

 wood can be secured. All of these matters make for the more 

 economical use of wood. 



Continued attention was given to the study of boxes, crates, and 

 fiber containers — a subject of great importance and many ramifica- 

 tions. Its purpose is to enable the commerce of the country to be 

 carried with a minimum of wood consumption and a maximum of 

 service. Approximately 16 per cent of our lumber goes into crates 

 and boxes, while the use of fiber containers is increasing very rapidly. 

 The failure of containers in shipment results in enormous annual 

 losses. The general character of this study* and some of its results 

 have been outlined in previous reports. New and valuable informa- 

 tion on the causes of weakness and how the requisite strength can 

 be secured with more economical use of material was obtained. 



Similarly, the practicability of eliminating waste in wood-using 

 industries due to sawing full-length lumber into pieces of the size 

 and kind desired for manufacture, instead of purchasing such pieces 

 as "dimension stock" from the saw^mill, where its production would 

 result in a marked economy of material as well as in lower freight 

 costs, was given much attention and found to promise enormous 

 savings. New and important results were obtained in the study of 



