1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



20 ' 



increased the wealth of chemical knowl- 

 edge to such a degree, that it is now 

 quite impossible for a student of the 

 science to cover it in toto. The chemists 

 of today are forced to choose a special 

 field of investigation, and the effect of 

 this rapid growth of the science has 

 naturall}' also been felt in the Bureau 

 of Chemistry in the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, and last year led to a 

 division of the work, whereby each 

 branch of chemical investigation was 

 enabled to define closely its field, and 

 to concentrate all thought and efforts on 

 the associated problems. 



The need of a laborator}^ which would 

 devote all of its time to the study of the 

 chemistry of forest products, both in its 

 theoretical and practical applications, 

 had been felt for some time, and it was 

 eventually decided to establish such a 

 laboratory. The plans for the organi- 

 zation of the laboratory' were prepared 

 b}' Dr. Wiley, and were approved by 

 the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

 Chief of the Bureau of P'orestry. The 

 writer was selected by Dr. Wiley as 

 chief of this laboratory. I believe I 

 can truthfully claim it to be the first of 

 its kind in the United States, if not in 

 the world. A number of laboratories 

 devoted to the chemistry of tanning 

 materials and other materials used in 

 the manufacture of leather are in exist- 

 ence in England and on the Continent, 

 but this line of work forms but a small 

 part of our field. Although the labo- 

 ratory has now been in existence only 

 ten months, the number of problems 

 which we are working on, or which we 

 intend to take up during the coming 

 year has grown far beyond our expecta- 

 tions. The scope of the work can prob- 

 ably be best illustrated by a brief review 

 of the investigations so far planned. 



The first work taken up by the lab- 

 oratory was a study of the chemical 

 composition of the wood and bark of the 

 Quo CHS /'riiiius, Que reus alba, Quercus 

 rubra', and Quercus velutma, our object 

 being the determination of the relation- 

 ship existing between the chief constit- 

 uents and the variations occurring in 

 different sections of the trees. This in- 

 vestigation has been extended to the 

 Western Hemlock, and other trees will 



be taken up in turn until we have an 

 exhaustive series of analyses covering 

 the most important American species. 

 Naturally an inve.stigation of this kind 

 is mainh' theoretical, but it nuist not 

 be forgotten that it has also a practical 

 value, especially with trees which are 

 important sources of tanning materials. 



In response to a general demand, we 

 have formulated plans for a .stud}' of the 

 availability of certain hitherto unused 

 woods as a source of wood pulp. Spruce 

 and Poplar have so far been chiefly used 

 for this purpose, but the supply of these 

 woods is rapidly being exhausted, and 

 other woods will in time have to be used. 

 It is proposed to make this work most 

 comprehensive, both from a chemical 

 and microscopical standpoint. The va- 

 rious woods will be subjected to the pro- 

 cesses of disintegration now used, the 

 conditions obtaining in practice being 

 imitated as closely as possible, wlien the 

 resultant pulp will be studied with ref- 

 erence to the yield, nature, and condi- 

 tion of fiber and utilized as a basis for 

 papers. The results thus obtained will 

 then indicate the variations necessary 

 in the processes so as to make them con- 

 form to the properties peculiar to each 

 wood. In connection with this work 

 we have planned a study of the compo- 

 sition and physical characteristics of 

 the various papers containing either me- 

 chanical or chemical wood pulp which 

 are found on the American market, our 

 ultimate object being the establishment 

 of a paper-testing laborator}' similar to 

 that now operated by the German Gov- 

 ernment in Berlin. The necessity of 

 such a laborator}^ is apparent when we 

 consider that practically all official pub- 

 lications are now printed on such paper, 

 and that the life of wood-pulp papers is 

 in general very brief. The importance 

 of certain standards is self-evident, and 

 we hope to establish and enforce these 

 for the American papers, at least in so 

 far as they are furnished to the govern- 

 ment. 



An investigation recently suggested 

 and which will receive our attention as 

 soon as the material is at hand is a study 

 of the chemical composition and phys- 

 ical properties of American-tanned sole 

 leathers, for the purpose of determining 



