90 MINOR PRODUCTS OF CONIFEROUS TREES. 



the mechanical and the chemical. The two methods give different 

 results, the product of the mechanical being more granular, whilst 

 that of the chemical method is more fibrous and makes a better felt ;' 

 the former product is termed paper-pulp, the latter cellulose. Both 

 methods are well described in Dr. Schlich's "Manual of Forestry,"* 

 which the reader desirous of further information should consult. An 

 enormous amount of coniferous cellulose is now prepared both in 

 Germany and in the United States, which is also used for other 

 purposes, as tubes, vases, laboratory utensils, carpets, wax-cloth, packing 

 materials, etc. 



Among the minor products of the coniferous forest applied to 

 economic purposes, the following are the most important : 



Foliage. In North Carolina Fine-fibre matting is manufactured from 

 the leaves of Pinus palustris. The green Pine leaves collected in the 

 forest are first cleaned and then placed in a large iron cylinder set on end 

 and surrounded with steam pipes ; they are then thoroughly steamed, 

 the vapour being carried through pipes into an ordinary distillery worm 

 in an adjoining building. Pine-leaf oil, a valuable antiseptic, is 

 obtained in this way at the rate of about one half gallon for 100 Ibs. 

 of leaves. The leaves are then boiled to remove the silica which is 

 found in their outer covering, and which can be used in tanning- 

 leather. The leaves are next boiled again and bleached, and are then 

 ready to be dried which is done by machinery ; the fibre is then 

 ready for manufacture. Pine-leaf fibre has been found valuable by 

 surgeons in the. treatment of fractures and in dressing wounds ; it is 

 an excellent disinfectant, and probably many other uses will be found 

 for this Iong-negli3cted product of the Pine forests, f 



Wood Refuse. In the Landes, Basses-Pyrenees and adjacent districts 

 in the south-west of France, an immense quantity of the wood of 

 Pinus Pinaster, chiefly of trees that have been exhausted of 

 their resinous products, is converted into charcoal. Two methods are 

 followed : One, the more primitive and more simple but at the 

 same time attended with a great waste of material, consists in setting- 

 fire to a heap of the wood arranged in a particular manner 

 and covered with loose soil, the heap being allowed to burn until 

 the wood is carbonised sufficiently for use, which usually takes from 

 four to five days; by this method the volatile products of the wood, 

 as tar, pitch, etc., are, for the most part, lost. The second method is 

 more expeditious and more efficient in its action but far more costly, 

 as it involves the construction of an expensive apparatus in a fixed 

 station, and the inconvenience and labour of bringing the material to 

 it often from a long distance. The essential part of the apparatus 

 consists of a large iron retort for holding the wood to be converted 

 into charcoal, and which is heated over a furnace till the conversion 

 usually in a few hours is effected. Connected with the retort are 

 - various contrivances for collecting and condensing the volatile products 

 of the wood, so that whilst the operation itself occupies a much 

 shorter time, . it is also attended with a minimum waste of material. 



The wood of the stumps of Pinus lonyifolia in the Himalayan region 

 and of Pinus pahisfris in the southern States of North America 



* Vol. V. pp. 162, 163. 

 t Garden and Forest, I. (1888), p. 469. 



