194 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



military' posts, for the construction of buildings in connection with 

 the new training camps, for ship building, for industrial housing, etc. 

 The war has also brought an unusual demand for special wood prod- 

 ucts such as material for artillerj^ carriages, escort wagons, and 

 other vehicles, rifle stocks, airplanes, shipping containers, and various 

 militar}' materials and equipment requiring the use of by-products. 



Critical problems have arisen relating to wood supplies, technical 

 qualities of woods heretofore little used, drjang processes, the de- 

 velopment of waterproof glue, the design and construction of lami- 

 nated structures and plywood, the manufacture of by-products of 

 wood, and many other matters. The research work in forestry and 

 forest products conducted by the Forest Service in past j^ears has 

 supplied a large part of the information needed by the military 

 branches. The need for special war materials, however, has called 

 for a great deal of information which in ordinary times would not 

 have been needed for some years and which would have been gathered 

 in the normal process of the research work. To secure this special 

 information speedily, practically the entire research organization of 

 the Forest Service has been placed on special war investigations and 

 the organization has been increased in size more than five times to 

 meet the situation. Information has been required by practically all 

 the war- work branches ot the Government having to do with the pur-, 

 chase of wood materials. These include in the Army the General 

 Staff, the Bureau of Aircraft Production, the Ordnance Department, 

 the Signal Corps, the Quartermaster Department, the Engineer 

 Corps, the Gas Warfare Service, and the Surgeon General's Office; 

 in the Navy the Bureaus of Construction and Repair, Steam En- 

 gineering, Yards and Docks, and the Navy Yards; the Shipping 

 Board; the Emergency Fleet Corporation; the Director General of 

 Railroads ; the War Industries Board ; the War Trade Board ; hous- 

 ing organizations; the Fuel Administration; and the Food Adminis- 

 tration. In addition, there has been cooperation and assistance to 

 the allied Governments and to the industries furnishing war ma- 

 terials. 



LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS. 



Among the most urgent problems requiring immediate extensive 

 research were those connected with the construction of aircraft. One 

 of the most exacting uses to which wood has ever been put is in the 

 framew^ork of airplanes and airplane propellers. In order to se- 

 cure satisfactory material, the methods of selection, treatment, and 

 use must be based on test data in the same way as is done with 

 other structural materials like iron, steel, and cement. The Forest 

 Products Laboratory had a large amount of data on the properties of 

 airplane woods at the beginning of the war. Much more was needed, 

 however, and since the war aircraft problems have occupied the at- 

 tention of about two-thirds of the force at the Madison laboratory. 



Information on the properties of various woods has been required 

 by the Bureaus of Aircraft Production and of Construction and 

 Repair in preparing specifications so as to avoid the use of material 

 lacking in certain needed properties, such as shock-resisting ability, 

 strength, stiffness, hardness, etc. 



Spruce has been the standard wood for the wing beams in air- 

 planes, upon which the strength of the wing depends, and for the 



