Is There a Wood Famine Coming? 53 



slopes where nothing else will grow, and thus pre- 

 vent many a landslip. 



The destruction of trees goes on in our day 

 faster than ever, and wood has never been more 

 necessary than it is today. So here we have per- 

 plexing us the old questions which puzzled Eng- 

 lish statesmen centuries ago : What will become 

 of us if the woods are destroyed? 



As timber must be used so fast, and nature re- 

 places it so slowly, it is most important that we 

 waste as little as possible. Some waste cannot 

 be prevented. 



About thirteen per cent of a log is lost in the 

 bark, and more goes into sawdust. Too often this 

 is left in heaps to decay, yet most of the wood al- 

 cohol and acetate of lime used in the country 

 might be extracted from the sawdust of the birch, 

 beech, and maple cut up into boards in northern 

 mills, and most of the turpentine which we need 

 could be obtained from the pine mill waste of the 

 southern states. As it is, living trees are felled 

 in the northern forests for the sake of their wood 

 alcohol, and sturdy standing pines are tapped and 

 bled for their turpentine. Already we are begin- 

 ning to make use of the chemical treasures in saw- 

 dust, and if we can go on in this thrifty practice, 

 the lives of many trees will be saved. 



In making boards, about eight per cent of the 

 lumber is cut away in what are called " slabs " — 

 little pieces sawed off to bring the boards down to 



