ETHYL ALCOHOL FROM WOOD WASTE. 3 
AMOUNT OF WOOD WASTE AVAILABLE. 
The amount of wood waste produced by converting a tree or a 
sawlog into lumber is, of course, variable and depends upon the diam- 
eter of the tree, the quality of the timber, and the efficiency and 
equipment of the sawmill. The following tabulation shows that more 
than half of the cubic contents of the tree is wasted : 
Per cent. 
Entire tree 100 
Stump 2 
Top 18 
Sawdust 12 
Bark 10 
Per cent. 
Slabs 8 
Edgings 8 
Shavings 4 
62 
This includes limbs, top, and stump — the parts of the tree left in 
the woods — in addition to the waste at the mill or factory. The mill 
waste, particularly the part available without extra transportation 
charges, is of great interest in connection with the manufacture of 
ethyl alcohol. 
The annual cut of lumber in the United States for the five or six 
years preceding the World War was approximately 40,000,000,000 
feet board measure. 2 The mill waste from this cut has been estimated 
by Margolin 3 as follows : 
Per cent. 
Sawlog 100 
Bark 13 
Sawdust 13. 5 
Edgings and trimmings '. 8.7 
Slabs 8. 7 
Careless manufacturing and accidents 3.5 
Loss in cutting to standard widths and lengths 1.7 
Total waste 49. 1 
Lumber 50. 9 
For each thousand board feet of lumber produced from sawlogs 
(which is equivalent to 83.3 cubic feet of solid wood) there is, according 
to the above table, 80 cubic feet of waste, distributed as follows: 
CU; ft. 
Bark 21. 3 
Sawdust 22 
Edgings and trimmings 14. 2 
Slabs 14. 2 
Careless manufacturing and accidents 5.6 
Loss in cutting to standards 2.7 
Total 80 
2 The Lumber Industry, Part IV, Bureau of Corporations, U. S. Dept. of Commerce; The Production 
of Lumber in 1913, Bulletin No. 232, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
3 Report of the National Conservation Commission, vol. 2. 
