FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORIES OF CANADA. 



In addition to the lines of investigation previously carried o n 

 and reported to The Royal Society last year, the Forestry Branch ha s 

 this year entered into a new phase of Forestry in this country by the 

 institution of the Forest Products Laboratories. 



For several years it has been felt that the government should 

 do something to aid in the efforts to increase the efficiency of the utili- 

 zation of our forest wealth. To do this two things are necessary — 

 first, the present knowledge of the fundamental properties of our Cana- 

 dian woods must be increased, and secondly this knowledge must 

 be so presented as to point out to manufacturers methods by which 

 they can utilize their material to better advantage. 



The United States some few years ago being confronted with 

 a similar problem, met it by organizing the Forest Products Labora- 

 tory at Madison, Wis. In view of the splendid results which they 

 have obtained there it would seem that we in Canada would do well 

 to adopt a similar, scheme, making only such modifications as are 

 necessary to meet Canadian conditions. 



The Canadian Laboratories are stationed at Montreal and affili- 

 ated with McGill University. Such affiliation will mean a great 

 deal to the laboratories particularly in keeping the staff true to the 

 ideals of the work; their addition will also be of no mean value to the 

 University. 



The first work undertaken by the new laboratories will be that 

 of determining the mechanical and physical constants of the various 

 woods grown in Canada, particularly those of commercial importance. 

 These determinations will include such properties as strength, hard- 

 ness, shock resistance, shrinkage and expansion with moisture content, 

 specific gravity and also records of the characteristic structure of 

 different varieties. As the data on these various items accumulate 

 it is hoped it will be possible to correlate these properties by reference 

 to some basic one. The recording of the characteristic microscopic 

 structure will prove of considerable value in establishing methods 

 of identification of woods. 



Along with this will be carried on investigations of the use of 

 wood in the manufacture of paper and other cellulose products. 

 The fibre characteristics, methods of separating the fibres and of 

 utilizing them, are all subjects which will well repay close scientific 

 study. Later on it is expected that the laboratories will be able 

 to take up the problems of preservation, wood distillation, etc , and 

 also make some researches into the chemistry of the wood subs tance 

 itself. 



From this outline it will be seen that the work bids fair to be of 

 considerable interest both from economic and scientific standpoints. 



