459 F76 687 978 DEC XC Issued December 6, 1907. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOREST SERVICE-Circular 121. GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester. (IN COOPERATION WITH THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, S. N. D. NORTH, DIRECTOR.) WOOD USED FOR DISTILLATION WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1907 Previous to 1905, statistics upon the production of lumber and timber products were collected by the Bureau of the Census in connection with the decennial and quinquennial censuses of manufactures. To satisfy the urgent demand for more frequent reports on these important products, the Forest Service collected statistics of the production in 1905. In 1906, the Bureau of the Census and the Forest Service arranged to cooperate in the preparation of annual statistics of forest products. The collection and compilation of the statistics of production in 1906, therefore, have been under the direct supervision of W. M. Steuart, Chief Statistician for Manufactures, and J. E. Whelchel, Expert Chief of Division, on the part of the Bureau of the Census; and R. S. Kellogg, Chief of the Office of Wood Utilization, and H. M. Hale, Forest Assistant, on the part of the Forest Service. [Cir. 121] (2) WOOD USED FOR DISTILLATION IN 1906. Since the distillation of wood is divided into two distinct branches, the distillation of hardwoods and the distillation of softwoods, each branch of the industry is dealt with separately in this circular. HARDWOOD DISTILLATION. The statistics of hardwood distillation are based upon reports received from 86 plants, while those for 1905 were the result of reports from 67 plants. This does not mean that there has been a large increase in the number of plants in operation, since the statistics for 1905 did not cover the field completely. For this reason no comparison of the production of the two years has been attempted. Table 1 shows the quantity and value of the hardwood used for destructive distillation in 1906. The unit of measure is the cord of 128 cubic feet of rough wood. It is impracticable to separate the body wood and limb wood or show the exact quantities of each of the different hardwoods which are used. Beech, maple, and birch combined furnish practically all of the raw material used, although some oak and other hardwoods enter into the total. TABLE 1.-Wood used in hardwood distillation by States in 1906. Forest Service Circular 50, Wood Used for Distillation In 1905. [Cir. 121] The average cost of wood is highest in Pennsylvania and lowest in Michigan. While both of these States are well supplied with raw material for this purpose-beech, birch, and maple-Pennsylvania, being an older and more thickly populated State, offers a readier market for wood, and the consequence is it brings a higher price. Table 2 gives the quantity and value of products obtained from the distillation of hardwood. It will be seen that the value of the charcoal, alcohol, and acetate of lime produced are nearly equal. TABLE 2.-Products of hardwood distillation by States in 1906. Dollars. Pounds. Dollars. Pounds. 300, 916 3, 172, 670 269,086.3, 264, 281 1,366,500 523, 982 Dolls. Galls, Dolls. Bushels.a Dollars. Gallons. Michigan 21, 688, 170, 1, 366, 538 2, 956, 739 New York 3,075, 673 212,072 871,036 Pennsylvania 15, 316, 826 1, 010, 558 3, 467, 167 1, 192, 921 61, 859, 097 All others b.. 5,577,052 376,772 576, 552 181,548 5,592, 000 80,829 Total...45, 657, 721 2, 965, 940 7, 871, 494 2, 676, 191 96, 376, 497 2, 017, 331 6, 960, 933 85, 777 250, 610 19,877 a Bushel equivalent to 20 pounds. b Missouri, Maine, and Wisconsin. 4,877 Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York are the principal States in the destructive distillation of hardwoods. Michigan leads both in quantity of wood used and in charcoal produced, while Pennsylvania ranks first in the production of crude wood alcohol and gray acetate of lime. (Tables 1 and 2.) This fact is the result of conditions under which the wood is carbonized, rather than any quality of the wood itself. Michigan uses most wood, but obtains from it a very low average yield of both acetate of lime and alcohol but a fairly large amount of charcoal. Wood alcohol and acetate are byproducts that can be saved in their entirety only by the use of the most improved processes of distillation-that is, the use of air-tight retorts and the carbonization of the wood by indirect application of heat. Charcoal, on the other hand, can be obtained in large quantity by almost any process of carbonization. At present in Michigan most. of the wood is carbonized in kilns, in which it is placed and fired directly. Under these conditions 4 to 6 gallons of wood alcohol per cord and but a small proportion of acetate can be saved. The production of charcoal per cord, on the other hand, is maintained at nearly its maximum. In Pennsylvania opposite conditions obtain, retort and oven plants being employed almost exclusively, so that the production of wood alcohol shows an average of 8 gallons per cord, and acetate 160 pounds. Charcoal, however, is practically the same as in Michigan. |