20 THE AMES FORESTER 



solution material, galactan, which, converted into fermentable 

 sugars, constitutes raw material for grain alcohol. Larch saw- 

 dust, hydrolyzed under pressure with acids, yields sufficient sugar 

 to produce 35 gallons to the ton. Spruce sawdust yields 25 gal- 

 lons. Probably 40,000,000 gallons of denatured alcohol were used 

 in the United States in 1916, and huge quantities were exported. 

 Grain alcohol from wood is no longer a mere possibility ; it is 

 today being manufactured in a large plant located in the South 

 and using mill waste of southern yellow pine. Thus Mark 

 Twain's statement that the country would never go dry as long 

 as every table leg was good for a jag seems to be verified, 

 Nor is this all. Galactan in oxidation yields large quantities 

 of muric acid, a substitute for tattaric acid in the manufatcure 

 of baking powder, an industry in which large quantities of tar- 

 taric acid are employed. Hydrolyzed galactan becomes galactose, 

 which, with the addition of a small amount of alkali and subjection 

 to heat, is transformed into a fine sweet syrup. 



Seven billion pounds of artificial silk made from wood are 

 used annually in this country. This material goes into silk 

 sweaters, hose, neckties, fancy braids and millinery. It is merely 

 cellulose reduced chemically to a gelatinous substance known as 

 viscose. Some of the tough sausage casings now in use are 

 also made of viscose, and this substance will undoubtedly find 

 a great many uses. In Germany, since cotton is no longer ob- 

 tainable in sufficient quantities, soft, artificial cotton is made from 

 wood cellulose for surgical purposes. 



Another interesting field of research for the utilization of wood 

 waste and one giving promise of unusually important commercial 

 results has to do with the manufacture of kraft paper and its 

 remanufacture into a great variety of products. Kraft is a 

 very tough paper because the action of the chemical used for 

 reducing the wood to pulp is not severe enough to seriously 

 weaken the fibres. Its natural color is brown, but it can be 

 dyed easily by adding color to the pulp. In the form of tough, 

 heavy wrapping paper it enters every home. Longleaf pine, 

 western yellow pine, sugar pine, redwood, white fir, red fir, and 

 a number of other species yield excellent kraft. It is used for 

 large envelopes, book covers, imitation leather, especially that em- 

 ployed in the furniture industry, cardboard and matting suit 

 cases, etc., and if cost of leather continues to go up we may 

 eventually wear wooden shoes made from specially prepared 

 kraft. Like most papers it is usually made up in the form of 

 wide, sheets which are wound on cores into large rolls. These 

 rolls are cut into long ribbons or strips of varying widths which 

 are in turn fed into spinning machines for the production of 

 yarns and reeds. Sometimes the paper is gummed and coated 

 with cotton fleece before spinning and the yarn so produced 

 is used in the manufacture of cheap towels and napkins. One 



