266 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



In the investigation of analytical methods applicable to turpen- 

 tine and rosin, a method for detecting and approximately estimating 

 the quantity of coal-tar adulterants in turpentine was devised and 

 published. A study Avas made of the effects of various solvents upon 

 the results obtained in determining acid and saponification numbers 

 of rosin esters and similar bodies containing metallic resinates. An 

 electrically heated instrument was devised for use in shaping and 

 resurfacing the faces of rosin samj^les so as to facilitate more accurate 

 grading. 



Examinations of 55 samples of turpentine from small paint and 

 general merchandise stores throughout the East showed that the 

 practice of selling adulterated turpentine or mineral oil substitute 

 for pure turpentine is still quite prevalent. In most cases from 10 to 

 20 per cent of the samples from any locality were found to be adul- 

 terated. Regrading in the laboratory of about 1.200 sample cubes 

 of rosin, representing shipments totaling about 10,000 barrels, showed 

 that most of the various lots represented contained considerable mis- 

 graded rosin, in some cases as high as 70 per cent. Many instances 

 of misgrading by two grades or more were found. 



Samples of gum collected by representatives of the Forest Service 

 from different species of pine in the Florida National Forest were 

 distilled to ascertain the yield of turpentine and rosin, and tests 

 were made to determine the quality of these products. 



Two statistical reports were published during the year, including 

 a preliminary report on production and stocks in the hands of prin- 

 cipal consumers for the first half of the 1921 naval stores season, and 

 a report showing stocks of turpentine and rosin held by factors, 

 dealers, and exporters at the ports and principal distributing points 

 of the country on March 31, 1922. the end of the 1921 naval stores 

 year. In order to avoid duplication and because the work could be 

 done more economically and efficiently by technologists working on 

 naval stores problems, this bureau entered into an agreement with 

 the Bureau of the Census regarding the collection and compilation 

 of statistics on production of turpentine and rosin and stocks held 

 at the points of manufacture. Statistical data were collected on the 

 distribution of the world's production, trade, and consumption of 

 turpentine and rosin. Additional data have since been compiled and 

 a paper on the subject has been prepared for publication. 



Department Bulletin No. 898, Turpentine. Its Sources, Properties, 

 Uses. Transportation, and Marketing, the original edition of which 

 became exhausted soon after publication, was revised and reprinted 

 in September. Department Bulletin No. 1003, The Distillation of 

 Stumpwood and Logging Waste of Western Yellow Pine, was pub- 

 lislied in December. This completes a project which was conducted 

 in cooperation with the University of Idaho for the purpose of de- 

 termining the value of different species of wood for distillation pur- 

 jjoses and the most profitable utilization of stumps and other Avood 

 waste. 



Tentative standard types for the four commercial grades of tur- 

 pentine were prepared. Several sets of these standards, set up for 

 convenient use, have been distributed to State inspectors of naval 

 stores, the chairman of the naval stores committee of the National 

 Paint, Oil, and Varnish Association, and the secretary of the Turpen- 



