USES FOR SAWDUST

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 12 April 1928, Page 8

USES FOR SAWDUST

30,1100 YEaR GOOD FOR PACKING

Tin; sawdust man iills an important function in tlm city, says “Die New York Times.” The meat, and fruit markets and packing houses would not. ho themselves without their carpet, ot

sawdust on the floor, and the sawdust mail is responsible for bringing it there. lie makes his regular round of the citv planing mills and. wood-work-

ing factories and fills his bags from their sawdust piles for delivery to his customers. There are also dealers on a larger scale who use carload or truck Jots, feeding it into machines that screen and hag it ; then it is stored away according to size, species and grade to be sold for a wide variety ot

purposes. Disposal of sawdust is a real problem of the wood-working industry. It may not bo dumped into streams or tidal waters, according to tlio laws of most States; and burning it often gets tlio manufacturer into difficulties since much of it is likely to blow about and bo rated as a nuisance by neigh-

bours. Industry, however, is now consuming more and more of it--not only for fuel, loose or in briquets, but, in industrial processes: for sawdust is not just sawdust, but a- whole family of products varying in use according to the kind of wood from which it comes. Some 30,000 tons of sawdust arc used yearly, it is estimated, in the meat - curing industry. Hickory is most in demand, hut oak, mahogany, maple and other hardwoods are used to some extent. More than 22,000 tons arc used as a filling medium in plaster hoard. In magnesite composition floors of residences and industrial buildings and under ship decking as a covering foisted plates more is used. It is also mixed with clay to make porous hollow building tiles—the sawdust being consumed in firing, leaving the desired interstices. In the building of houses sawdust is used as an insulating material for heat, and sound, between the beams in the walls.

The California grape-packing industry consumes more than 4,000 tons a year, sawdust proving superior to the cork dust formerly used, on account of its cheapness and retention of moisture. Spruce sawdust is preferred for this purpose. Sometimes it is mixed with Douglas fir. Bottled and canned goods, too, are sometimes packed in sawdust. Moistened and sprinkled on the floor of the cars in which nursery stock is shipped, or packed around the burlap coverings it keeps the roots from drying out in transit. Such sawdust, as will not stain is useful in (lie manufacture of certain leathers, the hides being left overnight on damp sawdust piles to he conditioned for kneading and stretching. The leather industry consumes approximately 1,100 tons annually.