A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 1391 



FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AND UTILIZATION PROBLEMS 



Fundamental research on wood structure, composition, and proper- 

 ties is of controlling importance . to improved wood utilization and to 

 studies having direct practical applications. The relationship is 

 obvious. For selection of material, knowledge of wood structure 

 and its effects on strength and physical properties will give a scientific 

 basis far in advance of existing standards. In the many uses requir- 

 ing modifications or adptations of the material, such as impregnation, 

 gluing, and painting, a knowledge of the cell and its parts and of the 

 movement of liquids from one part to another will make possible 

 better, more economical, and more efficient processing and better 

 service of the product. 



An adequate knowledge of the chemistry of wood is necessary for 

 the development or improvement of chemical processes of wood 

 utilization, including the manufacture of pulp, paper, rayon, and 

 plastics. In this field lie the greatest possibilities of new wood 

 products for new uses. Full understanding of the chemistry of wood 

 as related to biological factors opens the way to processes of conver- 

 sion that may prove cheaper and more efficient than any now known. 



In brief, it is through the methods of fundamental research, largely 

 neglected hitherto as far as wood is concerned, that we must look for 

 future significant progress in technical guidance to improved products 

 and practices and for the development of new products. No one 

 can gainsay the effectiveness of such research until the undiscovered 

 world of wood fundamentals has been explored. To this end the 

 concerted efforts of the chemist, the physicist, the biologist, the 

 bacteriologist, the engineer, and the silviculturist must be intensively 

 applied, with all the tools of modern science such as the ultracentri- 

 fuge, the X-ray, and the ultraviolet ray, and all the adptations of the 

 new instrumentalities that research is learning to effect in the sphere 

 of atomic behavior. 



COOPERATION IN FOREST PRODUCTS RESEARCH 



On account of the many fields in which forest products research 

 is needed and the large and urgent problems remaining unsolved in 

 each, it is obvious that the work ahead presents a responsibility for 

 many agencies. By no means should it be considered the task of 

 any single group or organization. The concerted and best-directed 

 efforts of all agencies that have a defined interest in the forest program 

 is called for. This means full participation not only by the Federal 

 and State governments, colleges, and endowed institutions, but also 

 and especially by private industry concerned with the manufacture, 

 marketing and use of forest products. 



The manufacture and distribution of forest products is all in private 

 hands. Many concerns are too small to engage in the research 

 necessary for highly efficient operations, but many are large and have 

 obligations which are now being met only in small part. The com- 

 petitors of wood, by using research, force similar action upon the 

 forest industries. The private operator cannot depend upon others 

 for all the research he will need. Research organizations sponsored 

 by industry cannot be created or developed too rapidly. 



The States should make a large contribution to forest products 

 research because of their expanding ownership of forest land, which 



