18 BULLETIN 1437, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
with a daily capacity of at least 40 cords is an essential, and it must 
not be scattered over too wide an area. Although there is a fairly 
satisfactory supply of red alder, the wood delivered at a distilla- 
tion plant would probably cost more than the raw material utilized 
by plants in the Middle West and East. Together with lower yields, 
this makes successful competition with eastern distillation woods all 
the more unlikely. 
In the local markets charcoal is about the only product of the dis- 
tillation process that could be sold to advantage. The possibilities 
for creating a domestic demand for charcoal are apparently good. 
With the development of metallurgical processes another large 
market for charcoal may be created. As it is difficult to ship char- 
coal for long distances, the market would of necessity be local. Prac- 
tically no acetate of lime is used on the coast at present, and the 
consumption of wood alcohol approximates the output of a single 
good-sized wood distillation plant. The largest opportunity for 
marketing the chemical products seems to lie in the export trade. 
CHARCOAL 
The sole powder-manufacturing concern in the Pacific Northwest 
region uses alder in the production of charcoal, preferring it to 
softwoods. This concern uses both slabs and bolts, in all about 1,000 
cords. One cord of alder will yield from 650 to 700 pounds of char- 
coal. Otherwise, alder is little used in the production of charcoal. 
FUEL 
Except as a relatively small amount results from land clearing, 
practically no alder is used for fuel. Douglas fir, a better and more 
abundant wood, or the other hardwoods of the region are preferred. 
Alder has a fuel value of about 80 per cent of that of Douglas fir, 
TO per cent of white ash, and 60 per cent of white oak. 
The packing industry of the Pacific Northwest is using some alder 
sawdust for smoking meats, for which it has proved satisfactory. 
SECONDARY INDUSTRIES 
Table 5 shows that the largest demand for alder on the part of 
secondary industries, is made by the furniture industry, which used 
in 1923 slightly less than 72 per cent of the cut. Next in order is 
the chair industry which used 18 per cent. Four per cent is used for 
woodenware and novelties, and the remainder for paper plugs, fix- 
tures, brushes, dairymen's supplies, laundry appliances, truck bodies, 
and miscellaneous articles. 
This table shows also that the demand for alder has shifted some- 
what in recent years ; that in some industries the demand has shrunk 
considerably or entirely ceased, while in others it has greatly in- 
creased. This condition is not due to the properties of the wood 
but rather to the increasing demand for alder, which has tended to 
force certain industries to turn to the more plentiful supply of soft- 
woods. For example, in past years relatively large quantities of 
alder were used by the general millwork factories, whereas the 
amount so used at present is negligible. A swing from enamel to 
natural finish might bring this industry again into the alder market. 
