236 FOREST PRODUCTS 



Austria and France. In this country, only in restricted sections of the 

 hardwood forests of the East and in the softwood regions of western 

 Montana and isolated portions of the West and South, are the old char- 

 coal pits in operation. They are used to a limited extent near iron ore 

 reduction plants, and in comparatively inaccessible districts where good 

 hardwoods are abundant and cheap and the market is near enough to 

 attract its manufacture. 



According to the census of 1909, the production of charcoal in this 

 country amounted to 39,017,247 bu., valued at $2,351,644, or an average 

 value of about $.06 per bu. The census of 1880 shows a consump- 

 tion of 74,008,972 bu., valued at $5,276,736, or an average value of $.071 

 per bushel. In 1870 there were said to be 3473 charcoal operations in 

 this country. The reported production of 1909 was made in wood distilla- 

 tion plants, very little being made by the old crude charcoal pit methods, 

 and none of which was reported in the census statistics, whereas the pro- 

 duction in 1880 was made largely in open-air pits or beehive retorts, and 

 over 94 per cent of it was used in the manufacture of iron. 



With improved methods in the reduction of iron ore, and the greater 

 use of coke for the same purpose as that formerly supplied by charcoal, 

 the demand for the latter has gradually decreased. One of the principal 

 problems at present adduced by the operators of wood distillation 

 plants 1 is the difficulty encountered in the profitable sale of their char- 

 coal. In some sections it became a drug on the market prior to our 

 entrance in the war, and the prices for it decreased to an exceedingly low 

 level. 



In Europe the conversion of stumps, tops, branches and other wood 

 waste after logging as well as saw-mill refuse, such as slabs, edgings, etc., 

 into charcoal, is a common sight in all of the forested sections. Where 

 the market for charcoal is attractive, the making of this by-product is an 

 important means of complete and efficient utilization of the forest product. 



WOODS USED AND YIELDS 



The yields of charcoal depend upon the method and rate of burning, 

 the degree of heat, the kind, character and condition of the wood, etc. 

 Woods of high specific gravity yield the most and best charcoal. Conse- 

 quently such woods of great density as hickory, hard maple, beech, 

 birch, and the oaks are regarded as the best kinds of wood for making 

 high-grade charcoal. The lighter weight hardwoods and the softwoods 



1 See Chapter on Hardwood Distillation. 



