710 JOURNAI, OF FORESTRY 



They tend to give a reddish color, an effect which may be counteracted 

 by the use of ferric oxide. The authors think that this natural varnish 

 should compare favorably with the lacquer varnish now exported from 

 China and largely used in Europe. E. G. 



The Use of Wood for Fuel. Bulletin 753, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. Contribution from the Forest Service. Washington, D. C. 

 1918. Pp. 40. 



The title-page of this bulletin professes to be a compilation, and as 

 such it deserves considerable credit. As a historical document it will 

 serve to record the effort made by foresters throughout the country to 

 promote an increased use of fuelwood in order to conserve coal. For 

 the most part this was an emergency movement, and its real object may 

 be said to have ended with the signing of the armistice. So with the 

 bulletin, which was evidently conceived as a part of the propaganda 

 and was ready for distribution after the fuel crisis was past. The date 

 of publication is March 10, 1919 — four months after the signing of the 

 armistice. This, however, is a point scarcely open to criticism. 



The chief value of this publication, and the principal excuse for its 

 continued distribution, is that it contains within a single set of covers 

 practically everything of value that has hitherto been published regard- 

 ing fuelwood, its production and use, together with some of the meth- 

 ods employed to encourage a more wide-spread acceptance of wood as 

 a substitute for coal. 



When one considers the amount of attention which was given to this 

 subject during the period when we were in the war, it is disappointing 

 that a Government publication should contain such a paucity of original 

 scientific material. This is not a reflection upon the person who com- 

 piled the bulletin, but rather upon the profession, to which the nation 

 looks for such information. Apparently little thought has been given 

 to the subject of fuel values of the various woods since Sharpies' work 

 for the Tenth Census. The weights of woods have been revised by the 

 Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, but the heat values of the 

 various species of wood are still theoretical. Over six pages are de- 

 voted to tables of fuel values based upon the assumption that each 

 pound of dry wood contains 7,350 B. T. U. which are available when 

 the fuel gases are 300° F. 



Wood is such a complex material and there are so many varying 

 factors for each separate species that this table can at best serve merely 

 as an index of comparative wood-fuel values. This criticism is further 



