8 WOOD TURPENTINE. 



the damage arising from their nonuse may be prevented. Thus it 

 happens that business men and inventors have been actively devising 

 and exploiting apparatus and processes for the recovery of the tur- 

 pentine from this waste wood, and to distinguish it from ordinary 

 gum turpentine the product is quite properly spoken of as wood 

 turpentine or stump turpentine. 



Judging from statistics, the production of gum spirits of turpen- 

 tine in this country is now on the decline, as the census reports show 

 that in 1909, 28,941,000 gallons; in 1908, 36,589,000 gallons; in 1907, 

 34,180,800 gallons; in 1905, 30,170,499 gallons; and in 1900, 

 38,488,170 gallons were produced. On the other hand, the value 

 of the turpentine was $12,654,000 in 1909; $14,112,400 in 1908, 

 $18,283,300 in 1907; $15,170,999 in 1905, against $14,960,235 in 

 1900. The pine timber available for turpentining is rapidly being 

 exhausted, as is quite generally recognized among turpentine oper- 

 ators, and under present conditions no material permanent increase 

 can be expected in the output of gum turpentine. This fact, as has 

 been stated, is one of the chief reasons for the interest which has 

 developed with regard to wood turpentine. If we accept the con- 

 clusion that the demand for turpentine can not be fully supplied 

 from the present sources, it is reasonable to assume that if wood tur- 

 pentine may be used for the same purposes, or for some of the pur- 

 poses, for which gum spirits is used, it should find a ready market. 

 The turpentine-using industries have been slow to accept wood tur- 

 pentine, and although there is a market, it is still unfavorable, 

 largely because of the nonuniformity of the product. 



The owner of pine lands and the lumberman are directly interested 

 in wood turpentine from another point of view, that of "the profitable 

 utilization of waste wood. In general, such methods of using wood 

 are less profitable than to dispose of it through the usual channels, 

 but the method utilizes material of little value for other purposes, 

 which, when unused, is a source of danger from forest fires. Further- 

 more, the profitable utilization of waste timber and stumps makes it 

 possible to clear cut-over lands at a minimum expense and prepare 

 them for cultivation. 



While it is well known that there are immense wastes of wood 

 incident to the lumber industry, there are so few exact data that no 

 accurate calculation can safely be made either as to the waste at the 

 mill, including slabs and sawdust, or in the forest, including tops, 

 laps, culls, dead-and-down timber, and stumps. Some figures on 

 the subject, however, may not be without interest: The Census 

 Bureau estimates that in 1908 approximately 11,000,000,000 board 

 feet of southern yellow pine were cut; of Douglas fir, 4,000,000,000 

 board feet; and of western pine 1,225,000,000 board feet, a total of 

 approximately 16,000,000,000 board feet. If the waste at the mill 



