TIMBER PHYSICS. 



NEED OF THE INVESTIGATION. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Scientific research is satisfied with its results without any reference to their practical applica- 

 tion. Increase of knowledge is its selfsufQcient aim. Whether this may in the end bruig us an 

 increase of power to control nature's forces or to utilize them to better advantage is not the concern 

 of science, and yet all increase of this power has come directly or indirectly from such scientific 

 research. Ackuowledguient of ignorance, then, from a scientific point of view, is suificieiit to 

 establish the need of an investigation. From a practical and economic point of view, however, it 

 would still remain necessary to point out whether and why the need is a pressing one and what 

 direct benefits uiay be expected from such an iuvestigation. 



It will be admitted by all who have to handle wood in building, engineering, and manufacturing, 

 that our knowledge regarding the i^roperties of our various timbers is jiot very satisfactory, and 

 that while attempts more or less systematic have been made to determine these properties, and 

 knowledge gained from experience exists among those wlio have handled certain classes of woods 

 for certain purposes, there does not exist much reliable pul)lished information for general use. 



It is also a well-known fact that from this ignorance of the value of our varied timber wealth, 

 and its special adaptation to particular uses, large quantities of valuable material have been wasted. 

 Everybody is famihar with the waste of our fine black walnut timber for fence rails, posts, and 

 fiLrewood. Until twelve or fifteen years ago many million feet of hemlock were left to rot in the 

 woods, after the bark had been taken for tanning purposes, or this timber was not cut at all 

 because its value for building purposes was not understood or was underrated. 



In Alabama, along the Louisville and Nashville Eailroad, a few years ago a large amount of 

 chestnut oak was felled for the tan bark alone, the wood of the trees being allowed to rot, because 

 railroad people did not know its value for railroad ties. The Division of Forestry, by a little 

 circular, called their attention to the superiority of this timber for tie purposes, and now the wood 

 is utilized, and thus for this region alone a saving of from $40,000 to $50,000 annually was eU'ected, 

 or more than three to four times as much as the annual ai)propriations for the Division of Forestry. 



Even now many thousand cords of this valuable wood are lost there and in other regions when 

 the bark is taken for tanning purposes, while the wood itself, which contains as much and more 

 tannic acid per cord than the bark, is left unused, because it can not be profitably transported in 

 its original form. Presently a new wealth will be developed for the tanners, where it was not 

 looked for. 



Our railroad system requires annually 80,000,000 ties, costing the railroad companies about 

 $.30,000,000. Their life in the average may be computed at six and one-half years. There are 

 means of doubling their life easily by using only the more durabhi kinds, ])aying proper attention 

 to the handling of the ties and by impregnation with fungus-resisting materials or by other proc- 

 esses. Such increase of durability may bo obtained by an expenditure of, say, $20,000,000, by 

 which an annual saving of more than $."),000,000 would be effected, or 2.5 per cent on the additional 

 outlay. These figures are extremely conservative and the advantage might readily be dcmbled. 

 We could multiply such examples of wasteful practice in every direction, arising at least in part 

 from lack of knowledge. 



17244— No. 6 1 1 



