TABLE 12.—Annual 
DISTILLATION OF STUMPWOOD. 13 
lumber cut of western yellow pine in the United States (9). 
| 
Volume. 
State. 
1914 1915 1916 1917 1 Stumpwood 2 
| Bd. fe. Bd. ft. Bd. ft. Bd. ft. Cords. 
OF TG) OE Sg de | 409,953,000 | 389,991,000 | 494,973,000 | 478, 565, 000 239, 282 
Oregon...............-.....---..| 210,488,000 | 189,203,000 | 399,102,000 | 470, 488, 000 235, 244 
Meesbineton. ©... 6 lst: 8.5. | 175,426,000 | 148,789,000 | 188,215,000 | 220, 924, 000 110, 462 
daho,.....................------| 159, 839,000 | 201,858,000 | 240,160,000 | 315, 009, 000 157, 504 
“1 OTS REWARD Rag a eg 134, 568,000 | 118,920,000 | 138,206,000 | 150,905, 000 75, 452 
Lci0s OO ES a 8 ee 78, 667,000 | 75, 843, 000 92, 133, 000 78, 147, 022 39, 074 
Meee iloxicos er 54,728,000 | 61,466,000 | 72,004,000 | 76,149, 793 38, 074 
Mnipendois. 2) OL tie ts | 65,117,000 | 37,241,000 | 27,848,000 | 35, 328, 000 17, 664 
Seth Dakotac..-....2..5-2--2-. | 18,744,000 | 22,457,000 | 25, 466,000 | 29, 045, 000 14, 522 
Metaphor 2) te ___ 19,885, 000 6, 476, 000 6, 880, 000 8, 354, 000 4,177 
Mota sss teh ose sce Sek 1, 327, 366, 000 |1, 252, 244, 000 |1, 684, 987, 000. |1, 862, 914, 815 931, 455 
1 From records of the district foresters. 
2 For 1917 only. 
SUMMARY OF TABLE 12. 
emer OIOIe 19141917 SINCHISLV © aecsaccro = ate micid oe. power oes bP ssloteeoc smerd-b cee So ds (board feet).. 6,127, 511, 815 
Total area equivalent cleared, 1914-1917, inclusive, assuming 5,000 feet 
ROL AP Om CLEACLG a a tyy PEI Sonn n core pay alm nein oiwwred acres we heise iis ete (acres)... 1, 225, 502 
Seeehoual- stump wood, 1914-1917, inclusive ,: s2- <2... 222. fee. oe este e et ee (cords). - 3, 063, 755 
If the areas are not agricultural in character, they should be 
allowed to reforest. In this case the land-clearing problem is not 
so important, although the stumps should be utilized, if it is economi- 
cally possible to do so. Table 12 shows that for the entire area of 
western yellow-pine land the average volume of stumpwood is 2.5 
cords an acre, or 100 cords for every 40-acre tract. Probably half 
of this land carries double this amount of stumpwood. Be that as it 
may, it is certain that many thousands of cords of stumpwood must 
be removed before those who desire to make homes on the splendid 
yellow-pine lands, some of which are known to be among the best 
remaining lands obtainable for agriculture, can bring them into the 
proper state of cultivation and production. 
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION. 
In January, 1914, the Bureau of Chemistry, United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Department of For- 
estry of the University of Idaho, at Moscow, Idaho, began a study 
of the destructive distillation of logging and land-clearing waste in 
the State of Idaho, particularly of the yellow-pine stumps of that 
region. These investigations were instituted with the twofold pur- 
pose of ascertaining the feasibility of more effectively utilizing the 
timber resources of the Northwest and of reducing the net cost of. 
clearing cut-over lands for agricultural purposes by the recovery of 
commercially valuable products from the stumps. The work resolved 
itself into determining (a) the nature, amount, and probable value 
of certain by-products obtained in clearing the land of stumps by 
