A Decennial Record 71 



proper inethods of storage to both pulp and pulp wood and by treating 

 the pulp with antiseptics. These possibilities should be fully investi- 

 gated, and the limiting concentrations of antiseptics already found 

 effective should be clearly determined. 



Much more comprehensive work should be done in studying the 

 chemistry and fundamental practice of the cooking processes, as at 

 present conducted b}' the pulp and paper industry. These processes 

 have not been improved to any degree for a long period, and there 

 appears to be little doubt but that there is great room for improve- 

 ment, not only in cooking but likewise in the bleaching processes. 



Over 50 per cent of the weight of the wood that enters the 

 chemical pulp mills, or over 2,000,000 tons, is now dissolved in the 

 cooking liquors. Of this less than a third finds ultimate use and that 

 merely as a fuel. It contains, however, methyl and ethyl alcohols, 

 acetones, acetic acid, various oils and materials from which it should 

 be possible to obtain a vast number of other valuable products. The 

 pulp-maker, however, is not essentially a chemist and avoids by-prod- 

 ucts processes that are purely chemical. It is a problem that should 

 be undertaken by the research men. 



Physical Properties of Wood 



The laboratory's work in this field has been along two main lines : 



( 1 ) The development of efiicient methods of kiln drying lumber, and 



(2) the identification of woods and the relation of their structure to 

 their properties. The latter is important and fundamental to the 

 determination of the penetrability of different woods by preservatives, 

 fire-retardent solutions, coatings and glues, the explanation of phe- 

 nomena occurring in kiln drying, such as shrinkage, casehardening, 

 etc., and the detection and effect of decay and other strength-reducing 

 factors. 



Considerable work along both lines has been done by the labora- 

 tory, but the respective fields are so large and the laboratory's facili- 

 ties so small in proportion, that many of the more fundamental prob- 

 lems remain incomplete. The seasoning process is an especially weak 

 link in tlie cliain of processes transforming the log into the finished 

 product, and the annual loss incident to poor seasoning runs into many 

 millions of feet. The laboratory has worked out some of the funda- 



