34 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



October 25, 1920 



J. J. NARTZIK 



INCOKPOBATED 

 MILLS GENERAL OFFICES 



GRAND RAPIDS, MINN. '^^^ MAUD AVENUE ^ND WAREHOUSE 

 CHICAGO CHICAGO, lUL. 



DBS ARK, ARKANSAS 



Rotary Cut Veneers 



and 



Panels 



CARLOAD LOTS OR L. C. L. SHIPMENTS 



Forest Conservation by Better Utilization 



(Continurd from pa<je 31) 



practicable to bring about large savings and thus to re- 

 lieve the drain upon the growing timber we have in hand. 

 A few of these possibilities will be named, more to suggest 

 the profitable and practical field which lies ahead. 



Since we are considering the general subject of making 

 timber last longer, it is perhaps proper to mention first 

 the possibilities of timber preservation. Of ties alone the 

 railroad and electric lines of this country use approxi- 

 mately 120 million a year of which about 28 per cent are 

 treated. The average life of a railroad tie properly 

 treated is 15 years; of an untreated tie about lYz years. 

 If all ties were treated the average consumption would 

 thus be reduced one-half or to 42 ^ million ties, a saving 

 of over 1 Yz billion board feet. In its report of 1920 the 

 Tie Committee of the American Railway Engineering As- 

 sociation estimates the saving would be somewhat greater 

 or about 2 billion board feet. 



Railroad ties, however, are not the only wood products 

 rubject to profitable preservation treatment. If we in- 

 clude in addition poles, posts, piles, mine props, shingles 

 and lumber used under conditions much subject to decay, 

 the annual saving by the application of efficient preserva- 

 tive practice would amount to some 6 billion board feet. 

 It is too much to expect of human nature that every stick 

 of timber which technically ought to be treated will be 

 treated but it is within the realm of reason to save some 

 4 or 5 billion feet of timber by extending standard 

 treating practice. 



Segregating the secondary wood-using industries which 

 can use large quantities of cut-up or dimension stock, it 

 is found that their total consumption amounts to 8 or 9 

 billion feet. Deducting 25 per cent to cover the large 

 dimension sizes bought in standard lumber dimensions, 

 there remains some 5 or 6 billion feet of small dimension 

 stock. For the most part this stock comes from standard 

 lumber sizes and to that extent diverts standard lumber 

 sizes from uses requiring standard dimensions. How^ 

 much of this small dimension stock might be made up by 

 closer utilization at the mills or by interchanged utiliza- 

 tion among the wood-using industries it is impossible to 



say, but there is a great field here for conservation by de- 

 veloping a more intense manufacturing of slabs, edgings, 

 crooked, small and defective logs now wasted. It has 

 been estimated that all requirements for this small dimen- 

 sion stock could be met from timber now wasted. If that 

 is the case it would reduce the present drain upon our 

 forests some 5 or 6 billion feet. 



The forest requirements of the paper industry of the 

 United States amounts to some 6 million cords annually 

 of which about 4 million cords are utilized by 

 processes other than ground wood pulp. We are leaning 

 on Canada for 20 per cent of this supply. The best utili- 

 zation that has thus far been accomplished under chem- 

 ical processes is 45 per cent of the w^ood substance. Thus 

 for every cord of wood pulped by these processes some 

 55 per cent of the original weight of the wood is lost. In 

 terms of our annual consumption of pulpwood this 

 amounts to over 2 million cords. It is the usual practice 

 for pulp mills to store their wood over considerable 

 periods and recent investigations indicate that improper 

 methods of storing result in an actual wood loss of 1 or 

 I 5 per cent in the weight of the wood. This means an 

 annual loss to the industry and to the nation of 5 75,000 

 tons of pulpwood with a valuation of over $1 1,000,000. 

 But the waste of pulpwood does not end here. The ravvf 

 wood is converted into ground wood pulp, and much of 

 it must necessarily be ground during periods of high water 

 then held in storage. Infection with consequent decay is 

 apt to occur causing a large annual loss estimated by the 

 industry at $5,000,000 annually. Thus systematic 

 studies to develop most efficient practices in this field 

 should further reduce the present drain upon our timber 

 in hand. 



It has been estimated that there is an annual loss ex- 

 ceeding one billion feet in the seasoning of lumber. 

 While this may not be a complete loss in the sense that 

 the lumber cannot be used, it is a drain upon higher qual- 

 ity material and contributes directly to the accumulation 

 of low grade and less usable lumber. By the introduction 

 of proper methods of kiln drying, it should be possible 

 eventually to cut that loss in tw^o. Similarly in the steam 

 bending of material going into furniture vehicles, etc., 

 there is a large loss of high quality lumber, much of which 

 it would be possible to save by systematic studies and in- 

 vestigation to determine how various species can be bent 

 with minimum loss. The great box industry, using some 

 four and a half billion feet of lumber annually, offers 

 another field for relieving the annual drain upon our 

 forests. This industry is already engaged in the develop- 

 ment of boxes Vk^hich will not contain more lumber than 

 is necessary to serve the purpose. What saving would 

 be possible in this field cannot, of course, be estimated, 

 but during the war boxes which were tested at the Forest 

 Products Laboratory and then redesigned on lines of 

 balanced construction showed savings in lumber ranging 

 from 20 to 40 per cent. This, of course, is very much 

 higher than would be shown for the average commercial 



box. 



iVotitinucd un par/e 42) 



