REPORT, OF THE FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORIES OF 
CANADAS FOR, THE YEAR 1915-16 
(Established in 1913 under the Forestry Branch of the Department 
of the Interior and located at McGill University.) 
On April ist, 1915, the permanent staff totalled twenty-three 
made up of seventeen technical men and assistants, and six office, 
assistants. At the end of the year, March 31, 1915, the staff numbered 
thirty-two of whom twenty-six were > engaged in technical work and 
six in office work. 
A favourable start has been made on an exhibit of forest products. 
A considerable number of specimens have been collected illustrating 
wood-destroving fungi, wood treated with preservatives, timber 
test specimens, materials used in the pulp and paper industry, etc. 
Some fifty-seven Canadian tree species have been produced in the form 
of logs which are being used for the preparation of wood specimens 
for exhibit and for distribution. 
TIMBER PHYSICS 
The personnel of the Division of Timber Physics now includes a 
wood technologist, a photographic chemist, and a laboratory assistant. 
The attention of this division has been devoted mainly to the deter- 
mination of physical and structural properties of wood which has 
undergone mechanical test in the Division of Timber Tests. The 
miscellaneous work done by this division includes a preliminary 
study of “rotholz,’’ a new selective stain for pulp fibres, the examina- 
tion of discoloured birch, identification of fibres and wood, fibre 
dimensions of Douglas fir, etc. 
TIMBER TESTS 
Most of the time during the year has been spent in the testing 
of small, clear specimens of Douglas fir and of mine props and booms 
in commercial size from Nova Scotia. A certain amount of miscel- 
laneous testing has been carried out to compare the relative strength 
of green and kiln-dried wood, to find the relation of moisture to strength 
and to get an idea of the effect of “rotholz’’ on strength. These mis- 
cellaneous tests totalled 164. 
