HARDWOOD RECORD 



ii:i;i: .sa\vi;u i.nt(i r.ous maiu; a.\ kntiuk i/aki-uai). 



riKlit kiuil of figure was I'ouml but the shape 

 mill conditions were such that would cut to 

 an advantage. The diameter of the l>ntt of 

 lliis log was 82 inches. 



These qualities made this a very valuable 

 ]• ire of wood, but we see so many statements 

 <it fabulous values of certain jiieces and kinds 

 of figured wood that the majority of the bet- 

 ter posted readers and dealers in hardwoods 

 and veneers generally consider them exaggera- 

 tions. .\s such they are more injurious than 

 beneficial to the trade, especially when spread 

 among the people who are in possession of tlie 

 supply from which the raw material for any 

 hardwooil specialty must be drawn. There- 

 fore it is sutiicient to say this was a very 

 valuable piece of wood. * 



There is no class so cautious in their deal- 

 ings as the farmers. It is an injustice to 

 them, however, and a false statement to say- 

 that they haggle for the last penny and ad- 



vance prices of their commodities on the 

 slightest pretext. To the contrary, they are 

 as fair and honest in their dealings as other 

 men. .\ certain party with whom I was ((uite 

 recently endeavoring to make a deal with a 

 view of buying his walnut limber was a fair 

 type of this class. By his feigned inditfer- 

 ( nee I was led to believe he was not particu- 

 lar about selling it at all when really he was 

 anxious to <lispose of it. He played his part 

 well, saying things were in such Bad shape 

 at present, in financial matters, that the 

 money would be safer in the trees standing 

 doun ill the woods pasture on his farm than 

 it would be in the bank, and he did not waut 

 to take any check or scrip. I agreed to give 

 him hard cash, gold if he exacted it, and as 

 he could not sec any further objections to my 

 proposition that he could turn to advantage, 

 we closed a deal, but at a price I would 

 rather had been much lower in view of pres- 

 ent ii>n<litioiis. —J. V. Hamilton. 



Wood Distillation. 



Lumbermen are becoming more and more 

 interested iu the commercial distillation of 

 hardwoods and the Forest Service announces 

 that it has been impossible to answer these in- 

 quiries by letter as fully as desired, so it has 

 compiled a brief circular which states con- 

 cisely a few of the principal facts. It is not 

 intended to be technical in nature, or to con- 

 tain the results of original investigations, but 

 rather to furnish some general information 

 concerning the wood distillation industry as 

 it now stands in this country. Portions of 

 this introductory article, which is from the 

 pen of W. C. Geer, are herewith presented : 



There are two distinct processes for obtain- 

 ing valuable products from wood by distilla- 



tion — ilestructivi' distillation and steam distil- 

 lation. In the destructive jirocess the wood 

 fiber is broken down and new compounds are 

 formed, but in the steam process this is not 

 properly the case. In both processes the vola- 

 tile compounds of the wood are vaporized. 



Ill destructive distillation heat is applied 

 below the wood-containing vessel, which has a 

 comparatively small pipe as its only outlet. 

 The heat vaporizes the volatile compounds, 

 such as water and turpentine, and breaks 

 down the nonvolatile compounds, such as cel- 

 lulose and the wood gums ; it forms a num- 

 ber of new compounds, usually of a simpler 

 chemical nature, and these in turn are vapor- 

 ized with the water and turpentine, leaving a 

 residue of charcoal. The decomposition of the 



wood in this i)rocess is exceedingly compli- 

 cated anil is not j'et fully understood. 



In steam distillation, which is much sim- 

 pler, the wood is chipped and placed in a 

 closed receptacle into which steam is blown 

 from a boiler, and the volatile compounds 

 which are not chemically united with the rest 

 are vaporized and carried out of the retort 

 with the steam. Though in practice the wood 

 is often so much overheated that the wood 

 fiber is slightly decomposed, and though it is 

 i|iiile possible to carry the overheating so far 

 that tlie process becomes one of destructive 

 ijistilialion, it is nevertheless true that "steam 

 ■ listillation," as the term is technically used, 

 signifies the separation of volatile products 

 from wood with, at most, but little decompo- 

 sition of the wood fiber. 



With both these jirocesses the vaporized 

 compounds after leaving the retort pass 

 through water-cooled tubes, where they are 

 condensed into the crude liquors which after 

 refining yield marketable products. 



Different woods give different marketable 

 products after distillation. Thus, the hard- 

 woods—beech, birch, and maple — yield acet- 

 ate of lime, wood alcohol and charcoal, and 

 longleaf pine yields turpentine, tar, pine oils 

 and charcoal. This difference in the products 

 is duo to the fact that pine woods are resin- 

 ous, while hardwoods are nonresinous. From 

 the point of view of products, therefore, it is 

 necessary to distinguish between the kinds 

 of wood used, as well as between the distil- 

 lation processes. 



Hardwood distillation has been an estab- 

 lished industry iu the United States for a 

 number of years. The plants arc located in 

 the northern part of the United States, where, 

 except for the .\ppalacbian belt, hardwoods 

 are most common. 



The woods used are largely beech, birch. 



