Wood Distillation 159 
Service has conducted experiments to determine the compara. 
tive value, not only of birch, beech, and maple, but also of red 
gum, oak, hickory, chestnut, and aie gum, for their distilla- 
tion products. In New York the oak and hickory may 
ultimately be utilized profitably, but the distillation of chestnut 
is not at present a success on account of its low yields of the 
desired products. 
The distillation plants demand wood which is allowed to 
season for a year in five-foot cordwood length. The products 
obtained have a variety of uses. The charcoal is used in blast 
furnaces for the production of pig iron, in copper and sugar 
refineries, in the production of gunpowder, and as fuel. Wood 
alcohol is sold under a variety of trade names, and most widely 
used as a solvent in the production of shellacs and varnishes. 
Acetic acid is used in the manufacture of wood vinegar. The 
calcium acetate resulting from the action of acetic acid on 
milk of lime (Ca(OH.).) is the basis of many commercial 
acetates. Both ethyl aleohol (C.H;O0H) and methyl alcohol 
(CH,0OH) are commercially produced from wood. Denatured 
aleohol, with its admixture of wood alcohol, has become a 
market article of high importance. Distillation is comparatively 
a new utilization of forest products in the United States, and 
the business is growing rapidly. Owners of farm woodlots 
having an abundance of the principal species needed for hard- 
wood distillation, including beech, birch, and maple, should 
obtain substantial benefits by the further growth of this 
industry; but the practice of allowing distillation operators 
to strip woodlots of all valuable young growing stock, which 
has been too common in some southern counties, should be 
discouraged as far as possible. It is a short-sighted policy, 
both for the owner and the welfare of the State. 
EXCELSIOR 
In New York, as elsewhere, cottonwood is the favorite excel- 
sior wood. Any soft wood that has a fairly long or tough fibre 
will make excelsior. Several woods, among them being 
