WHAT IS WASTK? 979 



such wasteful utilization exists, since to leave 65 per cent of the cubic 

 volume of a tree in the forest would necessitate leaving a large part of 

 the bole in the forest — a practice nowhere existing at the present time. 

 As an illustration of ordinary utilization practice, there may be cited 

 the case of a 26-inch d. b. h. southern yellow-pine tree recently meas- 

 ured by the writer and which showed the following cubic contents : 



Contents, Per cent of 



cubic feet total contents 



Stump 3-996 3.02 



Bole 113.828 86.09 



Limbs 14-357 10.89 



Total 132. 181 100.00 



Of this amount, 98.537 cubic feet, or 74.5 per cent of total cubic 

 contents, was taken to the sawmill, instead of the 35 per cent mentioned 

 by the author of the article. 



The bole when sawed into lumber would yield the following products : 



Amount, Per cent of 



cubic feet total volume of tree 



Lumber (rough) 59-33 44-89 



Sawdust 17-993 i3-6i 



Slabs 20.930 15-83 



The final yield of lumber, therefore, was 45 per cent of the volume 

 instead of 15 per cent, as stated in the article. 



From a 14-inch tree, measured at the same time, there was taken to 

 the mill 67 per cent of the total volume, the lumber yield being 46.5 per 

 cent of the total cubic volume of the tree. 



While the measurements of two trees are not a sufficient basis for con- 

 cluding that the above percentages may be assumed as en average, yet 

 the fact that the measured trees represented the general run of the 

 timber being logged, and the final results were so nearly equal, shows 

 that the yield in lumber far exceeds 15 per cent of the total cubic con- 

 tents of a tree. 



In discussing sawdust as a waste product, the reader is led to believe 

 that it is a source of heavy expense to the mill operator, since "there 

 are not enough dolls to stuff into lifelike rotundity with it, nor enough 

 bar-room floors to sprinkle with it. , . . Others try to burn it, but 

 without much success." 



As a matter of fact, for years sawdust has been burned in sawmill 

 power-houses with great success, and has furnished and still furnishes 

 the chief fuel which provides power for driving sawmill plants. Far 

 from being a liability to the sawmill operator, it has a distinct money 

 value to him, because it permits his power-house boilers to be stoked 



