230 



FOREST PRODUCTS 



The prices secured for the products of dry distillation are shown as 

 follows: They are given f.o.b. plant for the month of May for both 19 14 

 and 1919. 



PRICES OF DRY DISTILLATION PRODUCTS 



The cost of production at one prominent plant in the South was 

 estimated to be about $15.00 per cord in 1914 and since that date the 

 cost gradually increased up to about $30.00 per cord or an advance of 

 100 per cent. At this plant good lightwood was secured for $3.50 

 per cord in 1914 whereas $7.50 was paid per cord in 1919. The wood is 

 always paid for on the basis of weight, it being obvious that the heaviest 

 dry]wood contains the most fatty constituents. The depreciation charges 

 on these plants are exceedingly heavy because the expensive metal 

 retorts burn out in about four to five years. Taxes, labor, repairs, sup- 

 plies and equipment as well as the cost of wood have advanced in price 

 considerably since 1914. 



STEAM DISTILLATION AND EXTRACTION 



The introduction of steam distillation and extraction has been much 

 more recent than distillation by the destructive process. 



The woods used for this branch of the industry are the same as have 

 been described for the destructive process. The wood is " hogged " 

 or reduced to small chips as in the case of reducing the wood for making 

 paper pulp by the sulphite process. In some plants sawdust is also 

 used. In the steaming process the chips are placed in vertical or 

 horizontal retorts which are equipped with steam coils so that the wood 

 can be reduced by live steam. The chips are steamed for three to four 

 hours from low-pressure boilers, during which time the turpentine and 

 pine oils are largely removed. The steam and oil fibers pass into a con- 

 denser and then into a separator, the oils and crude turpentine rising to 



