HOW TO USE FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY

F. J. CHAMPION.

A tremendous amount of information on matters pertaining to wood is available at the Forest Products Laboratory. About 6,000 persons and firms each month send in questions about simple matters of burning wood for fuel, the complex problems that arise in the paper and plastics industries, the precautions one should take against decay in building a house, the weight of common lumber, the wood to use in making shipping containers, and many more.

Farmers ask about simple methods for making fence posts last longer. Furniture manufacturers want to know how to avoid warping of glued-up wood panels. Lumber manufacturers ask for the latest kiln-drying schedules. Paper chemists want information on the newest discoveries on the physical properties of the wood fiber. All the inquiries are answered promptly by the staff.

For other people who do not know about the services and help that are available at the Laboratory, some suggestions are offered here.

Because the range of information available is so wide, a specific inquiry is most apt to bring the information wanted with one letter. A request like, "Send me directions for treating aspen fence posts," is easier to handle than one like, "Send me information on wood preservation."

Many inquiries can be answered satisfactorily and most cheaply with a pamphlet or bulletin. Some replies, however, require a detailed letter, based on past research or on accumulated experience and observations.

If the Laboratory does not have the information, the inquirer is so informed, and, if possible, a suggestion is given him as to where the desired information can be obtained.

It is not necessary to know anybody at the Forest Products Laboratory to place your letter in the hands of the man best qualified to answer it. Automatically all inquiries are routed to the man or men specializing in the subject matter of the letter. Letters or postal cards (which often do just as well) should be addressed: Forest Products Laboratory, Madison 5, Wis.

The Laboratory has available separate lists of publications for each major field of research, so that a person can get only the lists that are closest to his needs. One should ask for a list of publications covering wood seasoning, residential construction, forest-products manufacture, or whatever his interest may be. The list he gets includes the titles of all the other available lists, and he can go on from there should his interests broaden.

The titles of the available Forest Products Laboratory publication lists, together with a general description of the subject matter covered and some of the more popular publications mentioned in those lists, are given in the last section of this Yearbook.

Single copies of any of the available Laboratory publications are free on request.

On some subjects associated with wood, the Laboratory can offer little help. For instance, it is not the direct source of information on problems of forest management, forest protection, or general conservation subjects that are in the province of the Forest Service headquarters in Washington and the various headquarters of the 10 Forest Service regions. The Laboratory has no body of research results on forest insects; that is taken care of by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine in Washington, D. C., and its field staff.

On the other hand, inquiries regarding decay, stain, and mold organisms are handled at the Laboratory by the Division of Forest Pathology, maintained by the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering.

Because research on wood finishing at the Laboratory has dealt mainly with exterior finishes, little information is available on such matters as furniture finishing and refinishing.

The information to be had is principally in the field of wood properties and processing as they may affect wood utilization. Trade practices, such as carpentry and cabinet-work instructions, and details of plant woodworking machinery and its lay-out, maintenance, and operation are not covered.

The Laboratory maintains a mailing list for those who wish to keep as nearly up to date as possible with the results of its research. Every 6 months, those on the mailing list receive a brief compilation of abstracts of the reports, technical notes, and trade-journal articles published during the previous 6 months. Any publications that are of specific interest can then be requested. The mailing list is made up only of the names of people who have asked to be placed on the list.

Those who read the trade journals of a particular wood-using industry will find that a considerable amount of information from the Forest Products Laboratory appears from time to time in a number of journals in the form of signed articles by staff members.

Another important means by which the results of research at the Laboratory are acquired by users of forest products is by visiting the institution. In an ordinary year some 3,000 individuals from every part of the United States, generally representing industrial plants (such as paper mills or furniture factories) visit Madison and spend from an hour to a week ironing out production problems concerning wood, acquiring standard information on wood, or discussing new products.

A few individuals return periodically to find out at first hand about new developments in wood products and to discuss those developments with the men working on them. A visit to the Laboratory involves, for the visitor, the expenditure of travel money and, on the part of the Laboratory staff, considerable consulting time. Nevertheless, where large quantities of valuable forest products can be conserved, it is most productive of results. Although the time of the technical staff is fully engaged by the research program, visitors will find staff members easy to approach and ready to give them careful and friendly attention. There is no charge for consulting service.

The Forest Products Laboratory does no routine testing work. It is not possible, for instance, to bring stock-manufactured items of wood to the Laboratory for testing. That is a logical activity of commercial laboratories.

How wood as a raw material "flows" into the paper and paperboard industry is shown above.