1548 



Canadian Foreslrij Journal, February, 1918 



wood process more and more atten- 

 tion has been turned to unbleached 

 sulphite pulp, bleached sulphite pulp, 

 kraft pulp, newsprint paper and high- 

 grade papers. The production of 

 soda pulp is still only 21 tons per day 

 while the imports amount to some- 

 thing like §500,000 per year, and 

 there seems to be an opening for the 

 utilization of some of the poplar 

 which troubles the forester in con- 

 nection with forest reproduction. 

 Waste sulphite liquor still carries 

 large (piantities of wood material 

 down the rivers but serious attention 

 is being given to the possibilities of 

 recovering ethyl alcohol, tanning solu- 

 tion and binders. Products of sur- 

 prising variety can be made from 

 kraft pulp and it is likely that paper 

 twine, paper textiles and leather 

 substitutes will be on our list of 

 forest products in due course. 



Acetone for War Uses 

 Among the distillation processes 

 I he destructive distillation of hard- 

 woods is of main importance in 

 Canada. It is gratifying that manu- 

 facture is carried beyond the stage 

 of crude products and that the 

 specially refined and derived products 

 are made in Canada for both local 

 and export trade. The process has 

 been vital in that it has supplied 

 practically all of the methyl alcohol 

 and acetic acid, so essential in the 

 scheme of moden civilization. The 

 war has given a new stimulus by 

 reason of the tremendous demand for 

 acetone as a solvent in the manu- 

 facture of cordite, the well-known 

 British propellent explosive. This 

 same pressure has introduced in 

 (Canada new chemical processes for 

 acetone and acetic acid which may 

 have a serious effect on the distilla- 

 tion of hardwoods. While hardwood 

 distillation is rather crude, it sur- 

 vives by reason of the variety of 

 useful products — wood alcohol, emth- 

 yl acetone, formaldehyde, acetic acid, 

 acetic anhydride, acetone, acetone 

 oils, charcoal, creosote oils, etc. An 

 important development is the Seaman 

 process now established in the United 

 States for the distillation of hardwood 

 sawdust and finely divided mill waste. 



Work of the Laboratories 

 In closing this brief discussion of 

 a large subject I beg to refer to the 

 work of the Forest Products Lab- 

 oratories of Canada. As you know 

 we are concerned with the varied 

 problem of wood utilization. The 

 fundamental basis is a Study of the 

 mechanical, physical and chemical 

 properties of Canadian wood species. 

 There are also investigations of pro- 

 cesses and it is clear that many field 

 studies will have to be made. In 

 addition to the present Divisions of 

 Timber Tests, Timber Physics, Pulp 

 and Paper and Wood Preservation 

 there is large scope for a Division of 

 Lumber to properly serve the lumber 

 industry in a technical way. It is 

 impossible to talk of expansion under 

 present war conditions, but it is right 

 to plan. In playing a part in the 

 better utilization of Canadian woods 

 it is clear that we must have the full 

 co-operation of foresters, as well as 

 lumbermen and all others concerned 

 with the handling of wood. There is a 

 growing need for more detailed know- 

 ledge of our forest resources. 

 Methods of utilization now known 

 could in many cases be applied if 

 there could be more discussion and a 

 closer touch between woodsmen and 

 process men. Foresters have raised 

 the problems of punky poplar, bal- 

 sam fir and birch and the utilization 

 of hardwoods in connection with re- 

 production of softwoods. These are 

 difficult questions but some action 

 may follow from a better under- 

 standing of the situation. There is 

 some indication that the large pro- 

 portion of soluble matter in the de- 

 cayed poplar may yield products of 

 value. An attempt is being made to 

 grind hardwoods for mechanical puip. 



WALNUT SCARCE FOR GUNS 



Black walnut, which has always 

 been the favorite wood for gun stocks 

 on account of its failure to splinter 

 badly when struck by a bullet, or bit 

 of shell, is extremely scarce at present. 

 Birch and maple are being tried out 

 by producers of hardwood lumber 

 for this purpose. 



