SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
An Australian Forest Products Laboratory : 
Research on Forest Products.* 
By I. H. BOAS, M.Sc. 
’ 
Tur Nerrep ror Resnarcu. 
There is no necessity for me to suggest to a conference of foresters 
the need for research into methods of utilizing forest products. Every 
forest service in Australia has, of course, carried out more or less isolated 
investigations, and during recent years one or two of the services have 
begun to make research a regular and increasingly important part of 
their programme. There may be, however, need for emphasizing the 
necessity for federalizing such work, and organizing it in such a way 
that overlap is saved and waste prevented. 
So many of the problems that await solution are common to all Aus- 
tralia that it is manifestly absurd to attack them in various States. 
Take, for example, the question of distillation. Work on this has been 
begun in at least three States.. There has been no attempt to co-ordinate 
the work, or conduct it on common lines. It is quite impossible even 
to compare the results of experiments, for some are given as yields 
per cord, others as yields per ton. In some cases the moisture content 
of the wood is given, and in others it is not. In the accounts that I 
have read of these experiments, there is no indication that any attempt 
is made to register or control temperature conditions. Now, it is wasteful 
to proceed in this way. . Before setting out on experiments in wood 
distillation, it is essential, firstly, that full advantage should be taken 
of the accumulated experience of other places, and that a general plan 
of work should be laid down, with care, so that all results obtained should 
be directly comparable, and that all data are properly recorded. Unless 
this is done, much of the work may need to be done again. 
Whai I have said in regard to Federal control applies particularly 
to timber-testing. I have already emphasized, in a recent article to the 
Australian Forestry Journal, the need for standardizing this work. 
To any one examining the work done in the various States, it is obvious 
that the results obtained are not by any meaus comparable. 
In the case of kiln-drying, it is manifestly wasteful to establish 
various sets of experimental kilns. One bunch ot kilns ean work out 
specifications for timber, and can be run far more economically than the 
same number of kilns under separate control. All the experimental 
work in the United States is done in the small bunch of kilns at Madison. 
The result of the concentration of the work here has been that highly- 
skilled specialists are turned out to supply the needs of the trade. The 
same arguments apply also to the other numerous problems that are 
‘common to all forest services. 
_ In some eases, of course, purely State problems arise. For example, 
it may be desired to find 4 use for some purely local product, such as a 
gum or fibre, or an essential oil. Even in some such cases there is 
* Read at the Hobart Forestry Co-ference. 
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