34 BULLETIN 1003, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



are used in the manufacture of roofing cement and shingle stains, 

 and as a softener and binder in treating heavy cotton cloths with 

 metallic resinates, for water and mildew proofing purposes. In Rus- 

 sia a similar pine product is used extensively as a leather dressing for 

 harnesses, boots, etc. Either by itself or mixed with tar it might 

 be successfully employed in the preparation of cordage, tar soap, 

 moth-proof paper bags, leather dressings, etc. Bacteriological tests 

 have shown it to possess a phenol coefficient equal to one-half that 

 of carbolic acid. 



Both the light and heavy crude oils, as well as some of the other 

 products of this investigation, were examined to determine their 

 adaptability to flotation purposes by the United States Bureau of 

 Mines at Salt Lake City, Utah (page 54), and also by several mining 

 companies operating in the western States. One company reported 

 that while all the pine oils were generally satisfactory for zinc ores, 

 the crude light oil and a partially refined pine oil were particularly 

 good. Another stated that the results differed only slightly from 

 those obtained with oil from the southeastern pines, this being one of 

 the most effective oils for flotation purposes. Probably all would be 

 good for copper ores if used in conjunction with kerosene sludge acid. 



PITCH. 



The average yields of pitch from all classes of wood are not widely 

 different except those from dead, down wood, which are much smaller 

 than those from richer woods. No tests, either physical or chemical, 

 have been developed with which to compare the qualities of the 

 different samples of resinous-wood pitch found in commerce, other 

 than the presence or absence of foreign matter, and no specifications 

 on the basis of which to make such comparisons have been estab- 

 lished. For this reason, and because its most important application 

 is for impregnating fibers in the manufacture of oakum and cordage, 

 and for closing seams in the decks of vessels, when it is combined in 

 various proportions with tar and turpentine to secure the consistency 

 desired, a systematic examination of individual samples of this ma- 

 terial has not been made. These differ so little, the only apparent 

 distinction that could be drawn between samples being a slight varia- 

 tion in their relative hardness, that a general description will suffice. 



The pitch is a black, brittle to slightly pliant solid, having a 

 specific gravity of 1.144 to 1.148 and in hardness varying from that 

 of common rosin, in the more brittle, to that holding a finger print 

 and possessing slight tackiness in the softer samples at ordinary tem- 

 peratures. So susceptible is it to temperature changes that samples 

 which were found to be tough or pliant through the day became quite 

 brittle during the night. Its melting point is consequently very in- 

 definite. It behaves like a viscous fluid at 75° to 100° C, is sirupy 



