HARDWOOD DISTILLATION 



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February of 1916 to 65 cents and on October i, 1916, to 70 cents. These 

 advances were made possible by the rapid increase in the price of de- 

 natured alcohol, this material now being 60 cents per gallon. There is 

 every indication that the price of both alcohols has gone sufficiently high 

 for some time to come. In the spring of 1916, 97 per cent refined alcohol 

 brought 70 cents per gallon. Methyl acetone was worth 90 to 95 cents 

 per gallon and pure methyl or Columbian methanol was worth $1.00 a 

 gallon. 



With the increased use of both acetate of lime and wood alcohol, the 

 demand for charcoal has not kept pace with these other two products, and 

 consequently prices have suffered very materially. In 1917 charcoal 

 was only bringing around 5 to 6 cents per bushel. In 1914 it was bring- 

 ing 7 cents a bushel wholesale at the acid factory. The estimated pro- 

 duction of charcoal in this country before the war broke out was about 

 5,000,000 bu. a month and the iron furnaces took by far the greatest 

 proportion of this. 



Practically all of the products of the wood distillation industry are 

 sold wholesale in carload lots at the factory. The wood alcohol is shipped 

 in tank cars or in tight barrels. Charcoal is shipped in sacks and the 

 acetate of lime is also shipped in sacks or bags. Up to the present time 

 no regular market has been developed either for the wood gas cr wood tar. 

 Both of these are usually now consumed as fuel underneath the retorts. 

 It is very likely that some time in the future a definite market will be 

 developed for the utilization of wood oils and wood tar. It can be made 

 into creosote, but the process is so expensive that this form cannot com- 

 pete successfully with coal-tar creosotes. 



The following table shows a comparison of values of products per cord 

 under conditions prevailing in 1914, and those occurring in 1916. This 

 table is based upon the average of yields of acetate of lime, wood alcohol 

 and charcoal per cord. The values are those described before. The 

 table shows that the operators were receiving more than twice as much 

 for their products under market conditions in the spring of 1916 as they 

 did under those prevailing before the war : 



