406 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



inent of slow-burning construction and of fire stops. 

 During the war, a cheap and practical wood coating was 

 developed for airplane propellers which practically pre- 

 vents the absorption of moisture and thus eliminates 

 the shrinking, expansion, and warping which make air- 

 plane propellers useless. Investigations of this character 

 should be extended to wood finishes and protective 

 coatings in general, with the practical certainty of great 

 benefits in durability and resistance to the absorption 

 of moisture. There is a very general and urgent demand 

 for the development of satisfactory coatings and finishes. 



"Intensive technical studies of the operations of mill 

 and shop practices of lumber, pulp and paper, and the 

 secondary wood-using industries such as veneer and 

 cooperage plants, furniture factories, sash and door mills, 

 vehicle and implement factories, and various kinds of 

 specialty shops by highly-trained technical men able to 

 review the processes and problems of these industries 

 in an entirely new light, can unquestionably bring about 

 savings and increase efficiency amounting to many mill- 

 ions of dollars annually. 



"The greatest possibility for utilizing the two-thirds 

 or more of the material in the woods which is now 

 wasted before the final product appears is through the 

 chemical industries. Of these, the pulp and paper in- 

 dustry is the most important. Tests already begun to 

 determine the feasibility of using other American species 



ior pulp should be completed for all promising species. 

 Further studies are needed to improve the efficiency 

 of paper-making processes. The demand for specialty 

 products made of pulp is rapidly increasing, and much 

 work should be done on such products as fiber silk, 

 twines, rugs, fabrics, and so forth. Losses through the 

 decay of wood pulp in storage now amount to several 

 millions of dollars annually, and the development of 

 methods to eliminate this will benefit the supply, quality, 

 and cost of print paper. Methods employed for the dis- 

 tillation of both hardwoods and softwoods are still 

 primitive. 



"Comparatively few species are used, whereas there 

 is a possibility of using many, and the use of waste ma- 

 terial can be greatly increased. Much should also be 

 done regarding the possibilities of utilizing the products 

 of wood distillation. 



"Wood pulp made from spruce is now practically the 

 basis for most of our news-print paper, and while the 

 demand for news-print paper is increasing at an enor- 

 mous rate the supply of spruce logs is decreasing at an 

 alarming rate. Already the shortage is acute, and we 

 are facing a paper shortage that threatens the suspen- 

 sion of many of our newspapers of the country. In the 

 hearings on this bill we are told that 2,000 to 3,000 small 

 newspapers face extinction unless the news-print supply 

 is increased. No doubt, other woods can supply the 



TESTING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF LARGE BEAMS 



The specimen undergoing test is a laminated floor beam. While the use of laminated construction for members of this character is not new, 

 it has recently received a decided impetus and experiments are under way to determine the exact value of the present types of laminated 

 construction and to develop improved types. In testing these beams the load is applied through the two pads resting on top of the beam, 

 each pad being one third of the distance from the center of the beam to the outer supports. Pressure is applied to the pads by means of 

 the metal beam, resting on them, and the two vertical screws opposite its center. The actual load is measured by the weighing beam 

 shown in the right foreground. 





