WOOD USE TRENDS IN EUROPE
By CARLI LE P. WI NS LOW Director, Forest Products Laboratory Madison , Wisconsin
MANY articles have appeared in the American press concerning Em·opean silviculture practices but little re garding their use of wood. It was therefore particu larly gratifying to have the opportunity during the sum mer of 1937 to observe at first hand current wood use N'atlonal Committee on Wood Ullltza The radio tower at Stuttgart , Germa ny, trends and activities in England and France and, as a constructed with m od e rn connectors "fellow" of the Oberlaender Trust, in Germany, Czecho slovakia, Austria, and Switzerland. In all of these countries one is impressed with a rec ognition of the importance of efficient wood utilization to the general economic welfare, and with constructive Obviously, this leads to an intensity of forest utiliza measures being developed to encourage good practice tion practices and developments practically and eco and enlarge wood use. Broadly speaking, Europe's pop nomically impossible under present conditions in the ulation is dense and increasing, while forest areas ar c United States. Even Germany's great community for limited and smaller than in the United States. Even with ests, about which we have heard much in America, better forest practices their annual cut usually equals th.rive primarily because of a shortage of wood and the or exceeds annual growth. Generally, due to relative nearness of forest supply to points of use. Yet under scarcity, wood costs 31·e high and per capita wood use such favorable circumstances, all the people in a forest is low. Finally, other basic natural resources are much community do not get their sole livelihood from the less plentiful within the European countries than here. management and cropping of forests. At one private To illustrate, in Germany, where the economic situa estate, embracing some 50,000 acres of well-managed t ion is acute, the central form of government is distinc forested land, a sawmill, pulp mill, and lignite mine are tive from the other countries visited. Visualize a coun operated within a five-mile radius of a population of try of about one hundred million acres, or twenty per 20,000, but only one-fourth of the p opulation is directly cent larger than California. The population of sixty or indirectly supported by the forest operations. five to seventy millions is about one-half and the forest While the German situation is distinctive in detail area of thirty million acres about one-twentieth of that from the other count ries, the broad economic situation in the United States. In other words, here is a country of population density and limited per capita forest pro with a population density about ten times greater and a duction has its impact upon all European wood us1! per capita forest scarcely one-tenth of that in our coun practices. For example, Germany, striving to become try. In addition, the supply of many other essential self-sustained but still an importer of wood, is re natural resources, with the exception of coal, is less than ported to be cutting from thirty to fifty per cent more we are accustomed to in the United States. There is no than its annual forest growth. Recognizing wood as gold, oil, gas, or cotton. The agricultural lands of Ger its second greatest natural resource, wood utilization is many are reported to produce only eighty per cent of established as a major di \·ision of its Four-Year Plan. the necessary food supplies and there is a shortage of An acti\·e propaganda office disseminates information other resources such as iron and wool. Superimposed and encourages good practice, gi\·es support to neces upon this situation, the government controls forest prac sary research through its universities, technical institu tices, quantity and quality of timber cut, allocation of tions, and industrial concerns, and makes loans or sub wood to different uses, prices of new material and fin sidies for the industrialization of new products and ished products, exports, imports, and wages and hours processes. of employees. In Czechoslovakia, a timber-exporting country, the
OC TOB E R, 193 8 439 government aids associations of timber owners and tim primarily to grow yeast which may be used as cattle ber producers. It acth·ely encourages wider wood use food when mixed with nitrogen compounds. and researcl.. for the develo.pment of new products. During the World War millions of gallons of ethyl Austria was similarly encouraging wood utilization, alcohol were made from wood in the United States. At even to the extent of providing a partial subsidy to its that time grain and sugar were scarce and prices high, rural people to help them install efficient wood-burning but today our farm crops can supply all needs for food, stoves for greater economy in the use of wood. and our oil wells can supply gas-engine fuel more cheap s,1;tzerland, also a wood exporter, has its wood propa ly than we can make it from wood. However, in Eu ganda organization known as "Lignum," whose timber rope, impro,·ements of techniques to increase yields and land owner members include the Swiss government. Not lower costs are impressive. In Germany, the Bergius only does "Lignum" disseminate information and prop and Scholler processes are receiYing most attention. But aganda but certificates for good products and practices even with improved technique, their relatively high are furnished producers whose wood products meet spe wood costs make the cost of alcohol much higher than cified standards of quality and performance. The costs it can be produced from sugars and grains, and far be of necessary tests and inspections in promoting this yond present gasoline costs in the United States. program are paid by the manufacturer. A shortage of wool and the fact that Germany has France is also something of an importer. Yet through no domestic cotton directs special emphasis to the pro commercial organizations and with government contribu duction of wood-wool and wood-cotton. This is mixed tions, the use of with real wool wood is encour and cotton in aged and a spe m an y textile cial ta..x on the materials an d wood industries fabrics. By 1939 is devoted to ed th e production ucation and re o f wood - wool search. With may equal one these funds a fourth of the to Forest Products tal consumption Laboratory i s o f textiles i n now being built. Germany. Sim England i m · ilar production ports ninety-five anrl use is being per cent of its encouraged i n wood supplies. other countries. The work of its About one and well-known For one-fourth tons est Products Re of wood pulp search Labora are required to tory is supple make one ton of mented by woo
440 A MER ICA N FO RESTS the heaYy equipmen t essential to remove tars limited its use to permanent rather than mo bile installations. About t"°ent~· years ago the need of beaYy auxiliary equipment was avoid ed by directing the combustion gases through the fire zone 11-bere beat is sufficient to crack or consume the tars. This discovery opened the possibil ity of using gas from solids in all internal combustion engines, a field of vital importance not only in Europe's domestic econ omy but in national defense as well. Italy, France, Switzer land, Czechoslovakia, and to a lesser degree Sweden and Great Britain, are fostering this de velopment. In Germany, how ever, where gas-engine fuel by hydrogenation of coal is plan ned, and wood is needed for other purposes, it is not being so actively pushed. Research work is bringing steady improvement in devel oping this combination of wood gas generator and engine, so t_hat it is being applied to busses, trucks, airplanes, plea sure cars, and stationary en gines, but the wood must be of proper size and moisture con tent. Small blocks or frag ments whose moisture content is under twenty per cent are commonly used, and some ad vantage is obtained by IDL\'.mg ( Contim1ing on page 477)
Glued laminated arches used in an agricultural building at St. Gallen, Switzerland
Great exhibition hall at Berlin, Germany - con structed with modem connectors and showing the use of knotty spruce for covering structural timbers. (Courtesy Ar beitsgemeinschaft Holt.) October, 1938 AM E RICAN FORESTS 477
WOOD USE TRENDS IN EUROPE FOR FOREST AND PARK WORK (Con tinned from page 441) GasoJlne and Controlled l&nltfon OU Track-Type Tractors . . . Tandem and Slnale Drl\'e Speed Patrols . .. Drawn Blade Graders ... Stationary Power Units ... two. rour and six-wheel 1crapers, softwoods with hardwoods. Allowing for glued laminated construction to regain bulldozers. trallbuilders, loaders. wlnches end other the additional expense of equipment, a its pre-war popularity in Germany. allied equipment. saving of sixty to seventy-five per cent Swiss architects and engineers have a ALLIS-CHALMERS in operating expenses is reported, as high regard for timber construction. They Tractor Division - Milwaukee, U. S, A. compared with gasoline costing forty-five use connectors for outdoor and industrial to sixty-five cents a gallon. structures, and glued laminated construc .-ATTRA CT WILD An tion for auditoriums, gymnasiums, and appraisal of this European devel ~ DUCKS & FISH opment as applied to the United States the like, where laminated arches afford ~ with w!ld rice. w!ld celery, duck must recognize that our present gasoline a more pleasing appearance than do potato and 30 others described in free lllu1t rat- ed book. Write for plantlnr ad•tce andv., book. supplies and prices make it uneconomi structures framed with connectors. The WISCONS IN AQ UATIC NURSERIES, cal except under very exceptional loca glued laminated construction bas been r Box 331-K. Oshkosh, Wis. tion where wood is plentiful and gasoline continuously popular since its introduction inaccessible.' Further, the resulting dis in 1909, and members have proved high W ild Rice placement of the petroleum industry ly resistant to chemical deterioration. would have tremendous ramifications in Consequently, it is widely used in struc SERVE WILD RICE WITH GAME DINNERS. Hulled, Toasted-Tasty. Pound serves 15. 5 our domestic economy. With gasoline tures where steel or the metal in con Pounds $4.50 Delivered. Also complete line Duck, taxes in 1936 approximating $800,000,- nector-built wooden structures would be Fish, Game foods that attract them in swarms. Describe place. Booklet - Suggestions Free. 000, any considerable decrease in gaso subject to corrosion. Examples are Plantings Made. 42 Years Success. TERRELL'S, line consumption would necessitate ad chemical factories, barns, riding acad 330. Oshkosh, Wisconsin. justments in governmental expenditures emies, locomotive shops, and storage Peonies or shifts of the tax burden. More than buildings. that, the loss to private capital invested Under normal European conditions, TREE PEONI ES, finest named blooming varieties. Herbaceous Peonies, best varieties. Oberlin Peony in the oil industry would have to be con timber is ten to fifteen per cent cheaper Gardens, Sinking Spring, Pa. sidered. Obviously, this involves more than steel. Native coniferous species are than is included in the relative efficien preferred for construction because of INVENTION cies of the two types of fuels. lesser cost. The Munich radio tower pre FOR INVENTORS RECORD FREE In Central Europe wood is used less viously mentioned, however, is built of \Vrtte today for valuable 72-oaee book let " Bow to Get Your P atent.. and " Record or I nventlon" form-both free. for exterior wall construction of resi American longleaf, called locally "pitch L. F. RAN DO LPH. 586 Victor Bldg., Washington. D. C. dences and other small buildings than in pine," treated with a wood preservative. America; on the other hand, it is more Each base section corner post consists of widely u~ed for framing in industrial four pieces whose cross section is nine WOODMAN'S PAL buildings, public auditoriums, radio tow by nine inches, while the posts in the next AMlllCA'l MOST USUUl TOOl rOI c.urus.nOIT1M.Uf. fOIUTW· Ftll wuovt. GAlDDIH.S ers, railway stations, and other large higher section are seventeen inches on a AlfD WOOOlOf OWllUS structur es. side. VICTOR TOOL co.. 304 mm T£1RAC£, READING, Pl Glued laminated arches, trusses, and Apparently, about ninety per cent of beams for larger structures were used in the plywood gluing in Europe is by the Germany until war-time food necessities hot-press method and ten per cent by SPORTSMEN AND left no milk available for casein glue. cold pressing, presumably with casein FAM ILY BEST EVERYDAY FISHING-CHANNEL This stimulated the development of me glue. About half of the hot pressing is BASS TO 10 / 15 done 'vi.th phenolic-resin glues, and about chanical fastenings which we term mod All Salt Water Varieties, Sharks. Etc. ern connectors. The improved efficiency half with urea-resin glues. One company Never a F lshleu Day, weather faYot"a ble. which resulted bas stimulated use of tim claims to have a glue that will give September, October to November 15th - Booklets ber in structures that formerly were only high water resistance in either bot or Home Comforh - Sportsmen and f amilies cold press gluing. Best Va. Cook ing, Sea Foods, Fresh Vegetables, Etc. possible or economical when built of 36 Rooms (dct.1ble 1nd slngle beds). Connecting Baths other materials. Radio towers near Mu Use of wood in aircraft is finding con Deep Wlter Pler--eonnects to yard. nich, 525 feet in height, and near Stutt siderable interest among European in HOTEL WACHAPREAGUE, Wach apreague, E. S . Va. gart, 620 feet in height, are examples. vestigators. It has been r eported that A. H. G. Mears, Ownership Management Stuttgart bas a civic auditorium, largely when airplanes require an engine of of wood, which is 165 feet wide, 330 3,000 horsepower, which is now deemed feet long with a central height of some highly probable, the propeller, if made· eighty feet, and a seating capacity of of metal and of present design, will Fred C. Knapp, Portland, Or. 10,000 people. weigh more than the engine. Thought --BUYS AND SELLS- The lesser cost of connector-built struc is, therefore, again being directed toward tures, and the inability to afford the lux wooden propellers. German and English ury of a possible superior appearance is propellers are being constructed with the Western Timber Lands probably responsible for the failure of outer portion of the blade of a light-
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Please Mention A M E R I CA N F 0 R EST S When Writing Advertisers A M ER ICAN FORE S TS October, 193S
weight wood, and the ir.ner, or hub Bec Desiring to _be self-sufficient in naval tion. of laminated wood impregnated s~ores production, Germany's. investiga with phenolic resin. In some propellers ~10ns _ha,:e led he1: to ad~pt mnovations hardwoods and softwoods are combined. m cbippmg practices which differ from Each lamination is sawed about one either French or American methods. At eighth inch thick but is p1·essed so hard Eberswalde and Bernau, operations arc in the lamination process that its thick planned on eight year workings. The ness is reduced by one-half. The result chipping starts from above and proceeds ing propeller is very dense with an ex downward each year. Also, the gum is ceedingly great shea1· strength, which is directed along the smooth surface of the important because the blades are detach cut to a central groove leading into a able and are screwed "into special strength clay cup. steel hubs. Two American manufactur Yiewed broadly, and recognizing the ers are experimenting with the produc changes from one decade to another it tion of wooden propellers of this type. seems that Europe is trending toward a Over-production and reduced exports timber cut in excess of timber growth. of naval stores from the Landes region This, combined with an increasing popu with resulting low prices has caused the lation and the difficulty of improving French GoYernment to reduce production the growth from forests already com some thirty to forty per cent. Even so, paratively well managed, indicates why prices continued too high to allow improved utilization is recognized as so French naYal stores to compete for ex important. There seems little possibility port. Aycordingly, a trade agreement that our domestic market will ever be A D igest of Curren t Articles on the Con- was arranged with England permitting threatened with a continuous flood of 1ervatio n of N atura l Resources mine props from turpentined trees to be cheap European wood. On the contrary, Published Bimo nthly by exchanged for coal. France faces the world needs for wood, and especially for problem - of protecting the turpentine softwoods, outside of the United States, The American Forestry woods against forest fires much as we do are tending to increase and the world's Association in the United States, for during the sum softwood resources are tending to dimin mer of 1937 some 30,000 acres were de ish. This gives reason to believe that the stroyed by fire. French turpentine suf United States can increasingly use its fers from substitutes in paint production, forest resources to supply world de BRIEF - as in the ynited States, but some advan mands. To do so, however, we must tages are held to exist in the use of var take comprehensive and constructive TIMELY nishes containing turpentine as compared measures to turn our present and future AUTHORITATIVE with cellulosic varnishes. wastes _into economic products. THOMOMYS THE ENGINEER ECOGNIZING that a great many people (Continued from page 454) R are interested in the conservation of nollnal resources, but ba»e not time to keep stockmen dependent on this summer feed dumps is connected with the main tun obreast of the numerous important articles for their very existence are willing to nel by a short lateral, invariably plugged in cur rent periodicals, The American For for at least part of its length by solidly estry Association publishes CONSERVA contribute toward reducing the number of TION, a reader's digest of current articles these animals. packed earth. on conser"ation. Squirrels, prairie dogs, and pocket Along this feedi ng runway are occa gophers are the animals most frequently sional small rooms used as food store Selected articles from current magazines, concerned in those drives against destruc houses. They are filled with any storable newspapers and books are reprinted in tive pests on the grazing lands. Squir material that is edible. In the moun CONSERVATfO"N in condensed form. They rels and prairie dogs are comparatively tains the bulbs of camas are so freely arc brief, timely nnd authoritative. easy, but Tbomomys, the pocket gopher, used that in some localities pocket go phers are known as "camas rats." The The size, 5 ¥.. x 7 % inches, makes for is a different matter. He lives entirely con,•enlent handling. underground and baits must be placed bulbs of the brodeaias, the 1\faripose tu in his tunnels to be effective. This is a lips, the dog-toothed violets, and otl!ers T<> subscr ibe, just fill in and return the slow job for a man armed wi.th a stout are also stored by these animals agawst Corm below. Sample copy mailed on request. probe and a container of bait, who must the time when the ground may be frozen tramp over the ar ea seeking the active and digging impossible. workings of individual gophers. Even in some of the mild valleys of the Price $1.00 a Year This Thomomys is an industrious ras Pacific Coast coun"try wher e the ground cal and he builds a complicated and in never freezes deep enough to i n ~erfe:e teresting underground home, consisting with his digging, Thomomys persists . m ------of a nest cavity lined with soft grasses these storage operations-a fac~ '~h1ch Send me CONSERVATION. I enclose and rootlets in which be spends his sleep indicates bow deep rooted such mstmcts may be. . . ing and resting hours, and one or more 5 $ .. -·-··--····-···-·--·-······-·············· ( $1.00 • year). feeding tunnels which may extend for In the farming districts, Thomo!11Ys 1 many feet from the nest. They are often more catholic in his tastes. Tunotby arr anged more or less roughly as the bulblets and roots of alfalfa. or red Name ···············-···-··-·-·············-··-···············--··- spokes of a wheel, with the nest as hub. clover cut into convenient lengths, rootJ In digging out many of these tunnel sys of apple, filbert, prune and cherry tre11;te Street ··-·······-···-···-··--···-······-· -······················-·- tems an amazing amount of work has in the same fashion, carrots, parsnips. otatoes sweet potatoes-in fact, anY- been uncovered. The total length of P ' · 1· anc1 City and State ...... ············-··-··-··-···········-··· many runs is from 500 to 600 feet, while thing in the root crop !me, tu ips • one was well over 900 feet. These feed other flowers-all these are eagerly ac Ret14rn This O rder lo ing runway:; are marked on the surface cepted by him and carted to his store- by an irregular line of flattened fan THE AMERICAN FORESTRY house. . . . . _ 1·k and ASSOCIATION shaped mounds which indicate the dumps He i:; so rndustnous m lus \\ 0 _ so persistent in his efforts to fill the~~ 9 19 - 1 7th St., N. W. Washing·ton, D. C. where Thomomys disposed of the surplus dirt when excavating. Each of these storehouses that many trees are roo
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