FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 251 



it need only be said that one of the greatest obstacles in the utilization of waste 

 through distillation is the disposition of the charcoal, which amounts to from 

 40 to 50 bushels per cord of wood. There is not a large market for charcoal, 

 aside from the requirements of iron furnaces. More than once the lumberman 

 who with great expectations started out to get a profit from waste through dis- 

 tillation has found it necessary to become a maker of pig iron in order to save his 

 charcoal. Pig iron can be kept indefinitely with little los.s and marketed when the 

 best prices can be obtained, whereas charcoal must be almost immediately con- 

 sumed. However, carrying charges become very heavy when a distillation plant 

 has on hand a two or three years' output of pig iron. 



Of course, the erection of a distillation plant is only one of many possibili- 

 ties in the utilization of waste wood. Where practicable, however, such a plant 

 affords the most complete utilization yet secured, but, as in lumber manufacturing, 

 there is danger of frequent over-production. 



Mills favorably located often find a good market for their soft-wood slabs 

 and edgings for pulpwood. Again, the smallest forms of waste, which cannot be 

 used otherwise, are run through a "hog," ground up fine, and sold by the ton for 

 fuel for plants of other kinds. The manufacture of hardwood ties from timber 

 whicb if sawed into lumber would probably produce little but low grades has 

 been a profitable undertaking for some well-located mills. The saving of very 

 short stock for box lumber and the cutting of the small hardwood dimension 

 stock for chair factories have at times proved remunerative. 



In accordance with the universal principle that material is saved only when 

 it has a value, and that the closeness of timber utilization is in direct proportion 

 to stumpage values, we find in some eastern lumbering operations (where the 

 decreasing supply of merchantable timber has greatly increased its value) a 

 utilization complete enough to satisfy the most extreme conservationist, while in 

 the far West (where there is yet an abundance of standing timber of low value 

 and a sawing capacity in excess of the market demand) there is a most regrettable 

 amount of waste. While much of this waste of western timber is unavoidable 

 under present conditions, it will gradually increase with the increase in population 

 and diversity of consuming demands. 



Although numerous unsuccessful attempts have been made to utilize Douglas 

 fir waste on a commercial scale, the latest experiments of the University of Wash- 

 ington indicate that utilization of this character may reach a practical stage. The 

 first attempt along this line was to use fir stumps for distillation, in the hope that 

 the products obtained might partially pay for clearing the land. It was found that 

 the cost of removing the stumps greatly exceeded the value of the resulting 

 products. More, recent experiments with sawmill waste have been encouraging, 

 since it appears that the products are nearly as great from stumps, while the 

 initial cost of the mill material is very much less than of stumps. While it prob- 

 ably would not pay to manufacture acetate of lime ait present, there is a market 

 in Washington for the light oil and part of the tar for shingle stains. There is 

 a possibility that the rest of the tar may be used as a wood preservative, and 

 there is promise that experiments now under way will result in a better charcoal 

 market. 



