1376 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



frequently are faced with the lack of any practically available method 

 of preventing deterioration and consequently must suffer much larger 

 unit losses than the larger operations. Since the smaller mills cut a 

 large proportion of lumber that is subject to blue stain and are becom- 

 ing production factors of increasing importance, especially in the Gulf 

 States, the problem of devising efficient control methods for their use 

 is one of real importance. Recent tests of antiseptic solutions give 

 promise of yielding effective treatments that will be applicable to the 

 use of small as well as large mills. Further work of this type is 

 essential to insure the maximum satisfaction to the user of wood and 

 the best returns to the producer. 



The shipment, handling, and storage of lumber is another wide 

 channel of loss for lumber values. Stock that has had the most 

 careful manufacture and seasoning may suffer unaccounted increase 

 in moisture content and attack by stain and even decay in its transit 

 to the consumer via train, ship, and storage yard. The service of 

 research can assist industry here by surveying the conditions of ship- 

 ment and storage and recommending the proper safeguards against 

 deterioration, similar in general to the measures which are effective 

 in air seasoning. 



CONVERSION 



So many chemical and mechanical processes are involved in the 

 conversion of logs into marketable products that they cannot be 

 profitably discussed together. No consideration of products and 

 markets is possible, however, without special recognition of the part 

 these processes play. Conversion has received the greatest attention 

 from within the forest industries themselves. It has undergone 

 immense improvements, but it still stands to benefit greatly from 

 continuing research. In the case of pulp, plastics, plywood, and 

 dimension stock, conversion problems are touched upon elsewhere. 

 Reference is made at this point only to lumber. 



The larger sawmills operating on high-quality virgin timber have 

 kept abreast of the most modern developments in machinery and 

 methods. The losses in slabs, edgings, trimmings, and kerf are still 

 substantial, but they have been reduced to the point where further 

 reductions are extremely difficult. The pressing problems lie in the 

 development of efficient units for the conversion of timber of a low 

 quality and the smaller, scattered stands of virgin timber and second 

 growth. Experiments indicate the practicability, under certain con- 

 ditions, of an improved gang-saw mill and of a portable band mill to 

 replace the present small circular mill. It has been shown that pro- 

 duction costs can be reduced and the recoverable yield substantially 

 increased through the use of these recently developed units. The 

 possibilities in the portable band mill, in particular, need to be 

 developed to the fullest extent and as rapidly as possible. 



In all mills, improved technique for smooth dressing and surfacing 

 is needed. Factors affecting the smoothness of surface, highly im- 

 portant to many uses, have been found to lie in the moisture content 

 of the wood at the time of dressing and in differences in density and 

 growth-ring structure. But only hints are now available as to the 

 real solution of smooth surfacing free from tendencies toward raised 

 grain and "fuzziness." Paint has been found to adhere better upon 

 exposure to the weather if the lumber has been so cut that the bark 



