800 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



An article in the Canadian Forestry Journal, by A. W. Schorger. 

 chemist in the U. S. Forest Products Laboratory, describes the uses of 

 wood and wood products for the belligerent forces and uncommon ways 

 in which they are of use to the civilian population. 



Charcoal, for this purpose best made from dogwood, willow, and 

 alder, forms 15 per cent of ordinary black powder, which is useful in 

 shrapnel shells, the smoke produced helping the gunners more correctly 

 to determine the range, and it alone has been found satisfactory for 

 filling the rings of time fuses of these shells. Resin is employed for 

 filling the spaces between the bullets, its low melting point making it 

 acceptable for this purpose. Black powder is also used for armor- 

 piercing shells, high explosives not being satisfactory, since they explode 

 on contact. The Allied forces are still wondering where Germany 

 secures nitrocellulose for the manufacture of smokeless powder, since 

 cotton was made contraband of war, and the general belief is that wood 

 is the raw material from which it is obtained. 



Resin is used in civilian life in the making of cheap soaps and size 

 for paper. A recently proposed substitute for this latter use has as its 

 base again a forest product, namely, wood tar. 



One rifle per man per month is the estimate given by the supply de- 

 partment, which means an enormous drain on American walnut trees, 

 the best wood for the purpose of gunstocks, birch sometimes being used 

 as a substitute. Rapid destruction of bridges, etc., by a retreating army 

 necessitates their hasty replacement by the pursuers, and wood is usually 

 the most easily available material. Trench warfare, of course, makes 

 great inroads upon forests for walls, floors, braces, etc. The work of 

 the construction and engineering battalions calls for material for rail- 

 roads, etc. Germany is using absorbent surgical dressings made from 

 wood cellulose, Sweden having two factories engaged in this manu- 

 facture, slings from crepe paper, and splints from fiber boards. Rus- 

 sian soldiers are wearing paper shirts, recent weather-proofing processes 

 having greatly improved these garments, which have been used in Japan 

 for many years ; the fact that they are cheap enough to be discarded 

 when soiled being, of course, favorable to their use by men in active 

 military life. 



As regards the civilian population, first, non-combatants made home- 

 less have again to be provided with temporary shelter, and again wood 

 is the most easily available material. The poorer classes among the 

 Germans and Austrians use paper vests, socks, and handkerchiefs ; 

 blankets and coats are padded with cellulose wadding; mattresses are 

 filled with tree foliage and sphagnum moss. 



