Much More than Lumber

As more and more persons live in cities, often surrounded by brick and cement, it would seem that man has less contact with wood. Thus we might be surprised to learn the role of wood in many of the products we use. Viewing wood as a chemical raw material, one may be amazed to note that ingredients for varnishes, soaps, drugs, turpentine, glues, plastics, rayon, ink, cellophane and other items are drawn from wood. So when we read that “wood cannot be produced synthetically in the laboratory” we come to appreciate some of the problems raised by man’s depleting the earth of trees. For if this should happen to a great extent, more than shade and beauty would disappear​—so would many products drawn from the forest.