A Dkckxxiaj, Kecokd 115 



in further detail. You will, this afternoon, get a first hand compre- 

 liensive idea of its present seo]je. Suffice it to say that prior to 1917 

 it composed a personnel of approximately 80, expanding during the 

 next 18 months to 500 and at present including slightly less than half 

 that number. The aggregate expenditures over the entire ten-year 

 period are in the neighl)orhood of two million dollars a yearly average 

 of about $200,000. This is but an insignificant sum when the breadth 

 of the field and magnitude of the problems are considered. The re- 

 sults of much of the work cannot, of course, be (pioted in dollars and 

 cents. Certain otlier results, however, enable the use of such a yard 

 measure, and a few of them will, I am sure, serve to convince you that 

 organized industrial research is a ])aying proposition. 



For example: The Ijuilding and construction trade uses annu- 

 ally ai)})r()ximately five and one-half billion feet for structural pur- 

 poses where strength is important. This material is worth roughly 

 $200,000,000. Investigations at the Forest Products Laboratory on 

 the mechanical i)roperties of American woods have given knowledge 

 permitting a twenty per cent increase in allowable working stresses 

 in many structural timbers. If the results arc actually ap])lied to only 

 ten ])er cent of such material, the annual saving will equal $4,000,000. 



The claims for loss and damage to commodities in shipment actu- 

 ally ])aid by the railroads amount to $100,000,000 annually. Proper 

 nailing. develo])ed and recommended ])y the Forest Products Labora- 

 tory, and a(l()])tc(l ])y tlie National Association of Box Manufactiu'- 

 ers, and through them by many companies and shi])pers. if conserva- 

 tively estimated to save but one ])er cent of tliis loss, means a total 

 saving of $1 ,000.000 a year. 



AVork on water-resistant glues and plywood for airplanes carried 

 on at the laboratory during the war emergency alone saved the War 

 Department $().()00.000 in their procurement of such material during 

 a twelve months ])eriod. 



Investigations carried on at tlie laboratory during tlie ])ast year 

 regarding the use of liuU fiber and second cut cotton linters for pulp 

 and paper have made available 200,000 tons for this purpose and have 

 resulted in the establishment of large plants with potential production 

 of 300 tons per day and an annual sales value of $15,000,000. 



