652 



Yearbook of Agriculture 1949 



products manufacture, or whatever 

 his interest may be. The list he gets 

 includes the titles of all the other avail- 

 able lists, and he can go on from there 

 should his interests broaden. 



The titles of the available Forest 

 Products Laboratory publication lists, 

 together with a general description of 

 the subject matter covered and some 

 of the more popular publications men- 

 tioned in those lists, are given in the 

 last section of this Yearbook. 



Single copies of any of the available 

 Laboratory publications are free on 

 request. 



On some subjects associated with 

 wood, the Laboratory can offer little 

 help. For instance, it is not the direct 

 source of information on problems of 

 forest management, forest protection, 

 or general conservation subjects that 

 are in the province of the Forest Serv- 

 ice headquarters in Washington and 

 the various headquarters of the 10 For- 

 est Service regions. The Laboratory 

 has no body of research results on for- 

 est insects ; that is taken care of by the 

 Bureau of Entomology and Plant 

 Quarantine in Washington, D. G., and 

 its field staff. 



On the other hand, inquiries regard- 

 ing decay, stain, and mold organisms 

 are handled at the Laboratory by the 

 Division of Forest Pathology, main- 

 tained by the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry, Soils, and Agricultural Engi- 

 neering. 



Because research on wood finishing 

 at the Laboratory has dealt mainly 

 with exterior finishes, little information 

 is available on such matters as furni- 

 ture finishing and refinishing. 



The information to be had is prin- 

 cipally in the field of wood properties 

 and processing as they may affect wood 

 utilization. Trade practices, such as 

 carpentry and cabinet-work instruc- 

 tions, and details of plant woodwork- 

 ing machinery and its lay-out, mainte- 

 nance, and operation are not covered. 



The Laboratory maintains a mailing 

 list for those who wish to keep as nearly 

 up to date as possible with the results 

 of its research. Every 6 months, those 



on the mailing list receive a brief com- 

 pilation of abstracts of the reports, 

 technical notes, and trade-journal ar- 

 ticles published during the previous 6 

 'months. Any publications that are of 

 specific interest can then be requested. 

 The mailing list is made up only of the 

 names of people who have asked to be 

 placed on the list. 



Those who read the trade journals 

 of a particular wood-using industry will 

 find that a considerable amount of 

 information from the Forest Products 

 Laboratory appears from time to time 

 in a number of journals in the form of 

 signed articles by staff members. 



Another important means by which 

 the results of research at the Labora- 

 tory are acquired by users of forest 

 products is by visiting the institution. 

 In an ordinary year some 3,000 indi- 

 viduals from every part of the United 

 States, generally representing indus- 

 trial plants (such as paper mills or 

 furniture factories) visit Madison and 

 spend from an hour to a week ironing 

 out production problems concerning 

 wood, acquiring standard information 

 on wood, or discussing new products. 



A few individuals return periodi- 

 cally to find out at first hand about new 

 developments in wood products and to 

 discuss those developments with the 

 men working on them. A visit to the 

 Laboratory involves, for the visitor, the 

 expenditure of travel money and, on 

 the part of the Laboratory staff, con- 

 siderable consulting time. Neverthe- 

 less, where large quantities of valuable 

 forest products can be conserved, it is 

 most productive of results. Although 

 the time of the technical staff is fully 

 engaged by the research program, vis- 

 itors will find staff members easy to 

 approach and ready to give them care- 

 ful and friendly attention. There is no 

 charge for consulting service. 



The Forest Products Laboratory 

 does no routine testing work. It is not 

 possible, for instance, to bring stock- 

 manufactured items of wood to the 

 Laboratory for testing. That is a logical 

 activity of commercial laboratories. 



The nearest approach to a routine 



