WOOD AND ITS USES 323 



because, if not properly cooled, fire is likely to occur. The crude 

 distillate collected from the wood is refined to lime acetate or 

 acetic acid, and wood alcohol. The lime acetate is mostly used as a 

 urce of acetic acid and acetone, which are consumed mainly by 

 the textile and leather industries. The wood alcohol finds its 

 main use as a solvent, largely in the paint and varnish industry. 

 It is also used in the manufacture of dyes, formaldehyde, photo- 

 graphic films, and medicinal preparations. Most of the charcoal is 

 used in the steel industry to produce a high grade of steel from 

 iron ore. It is also used somewhat as a fuel, and in some medicinal 

 compounds. 



Softwood distillation products. — This industry is an 

 outgrowth of the hardwood distillation industry, but yields 

 K entirely different products due to the differences in the structure 

 and chemical composition of the raw materials. The industry is 

 confined to the coastal regions of the southeast, since this is the 

 source of the woods used almost entirely, namely longleaf and 

 slash pines. About 80% of the wood now used consists of stump- 

 wood, which is removed by blasting or pulling, generally eight to 

 ten years following logging, and 20% of lightwood, a highly 

 resinous, knotty waste material. There are two processes of 

 distillation used with these raw materials, the destructive process, 

 and the steam and solvent process. The former heats the wood, 

 in four foot lengths, in ovens, driving off" the gases which are 

 condensed and refined as wood turpentine and pine tar. The 

 wood itself is converted to charcoal. In the steam and solvent 

 process, the wood is ground into small pieces and then steamed 

 to remove turpentine and some pine oil, after which the residue 

 is extracted with gasoline to remove rosin. There is incomplete 

 utilization of the extracted wood chips in this process, though 

 some of it is manufactured into a fiber board. 



3. Wood Containers 



Cooperage. — All wood containers made of staves and ends 

 or heads held together by bands or hoops, are known as cooper- 

 age, which is separated into two broad divisions, slack, and tight 

 cooperage. These divisions are based upon diff'erences in woods 

 used, manufacture, and qualities of the containers included in 



