SAWDUST.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17410, 24 May 1928, Page 7

SAWDUST.

USES IN INDUSTRY. The timber mills of the Dominion annually produce a very large quantity of .sawdust which, in most' cases, is not turned, to any practical use. In New York, however, according to the New York Times, the sawdust man lllls an important function. The meat and fruit packing markets and packing houses would not be themselves without their carpet of sawdust on the lloor, and Ihe sawdust man is responsible for bringing it there. lie makes his regular round of the city planing mills and wood-working factories and fills his bags from their sawdust piles for delivery to his customers. There are also dealers on a larger scale who use car-load or truck lots, feeding it into machines that screen and bag it; then it is stored away according to size, species, and grade, to be sold for a wide variety of purposes. The disposal of sawdust is a real problem of the wood-working industry. It may not be dumped into streams or tidal waters, according to the laws of most States; and burning it often gets the manufacturer into difficulties, since much of it is likely to blow about and be rated as a nuisance by neighbours. 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 .'10,1)00 tons of sawdust are used yearly, it is estimated, in ttie 1 meat-curing industry. Hickory is most in demand, but oak, mahogany, mapJe, and other hardwoods are used to some extent. More than 22,000 tons are used as a filling medium in plaster board. in magnesite composition floors of residences and industrial buildings and under ship decking as a covering for steel plates more is used. II is also mixed with clay to make porous hollow building tiles—the sawdust being- destroyed in tiring, leaving the desired interstices. In tlie building of houses sawdust, is used as an insulating material for heat

and sound, between the beams in the walls. The California g.apc packing industry consumes more than iooo. 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 Hr. Bottled and canned goods, 100, are sometimes packed in sawdust. Moistened and sprinkled on the floor of the cars in which nursery slock is shipped. or packed around the burlap coverings, it keeps the roots from drying out in transit. Such sawdust as will not slain is useful in the manufacture of certain leathers, the hides being left overnight on damp sawdust piles to be conditioned for kneading and stretching. The leather industry consumes approximately 1100 tons annually.