246 



FOREST PRODUCTS 



More complete discussion of the utilization of charcoal is found in the 

 chapter on Hardwood Distillation. 



The price obtained for charcoal has been the determinant factor in 

 the activity in the industry. For the past fifty years, the price, deliv- 

 ered at the nearest railroad station, or at the point of consumption, has 

 varied between 4 and 8 cents per bushel. Before the great European war 

 it was a "drug" on the markets at 4 to 6 cents per bushel, but with the 

 impetus given to the demand for all forms of fuel within recent years, it 



PhotograpJi by Nelson C. Brown. 



FIG. 67. A view of the yard of a saw mill at Vallombrosa, Italy, where mill waste, 

 including slabs, edgings and trimmings were converted into charcoal. The three pits 

 in the foreground are almost ready to burn. The production of charcoal was greatly 

 stimulated during the war owing to the price of coal having risen from $10 to $15 up 

 to $80 to $140 per ton. The manufacture of charcoal is one of the most important 

 uses for wood in Italy. Each pile contains about 40 cubic meters of wood. Before 

 the war charcoal brought about $2 per quintal of 220 Ib. whereas in 1919 it brought about 

 $8 for the same amount. These piles show the type of charcoal kiln commonly 

 employed in Italy. 



has risen to 7 and 8 cents per bushel and even much higher in places in 

 the years 1917 to 1919. Owing to the stimulation in the hardwood dis- 

 tillation industry, however, during the war, the acid factories have 

 increased their output of charcoal and the number of open-air pits have 



