WORK WONDERS WITH WOODWASTES

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Surprised by the strangeness of these sights and sounds, I hunted up Mr. Bickel and asked what was happening to all of his wood wastes.

"Waste!" he replied. "You see those mountains of sawdust? Farmers buy that stuff from us now. They use it for cattle bedding."

And I'd thought my stall idea was original! "What about those big piles of bark?" I asked (hoping he'd be willing to unload some of this "useless" material).

"Why, we sell those pieces to nurserymen and locals as mulch for shrubbery and berry patches."

"Oh." I gazed longingly at his massive collection of bark. "But why are some of the piles light in color while others are dark?"

"That's 'cause we compost the bark for five full years before selling it," said Jim. "But what happened to all those free pieces of leftover slabs?" I asked. "You must still have a lot of them that you have to get rid of!"

"Naw. We chip all the slabs now. Manufacturers of pressed wood buy all those little pieces. They make particle board out of 'em."

As you can imagine, I was getting discouraged. Still, I was sure there were some wood by-products my businessman friend didn't utilize. "How about all those branches? You know, the slash wood you leave out in the forests?"

"Don't leave 'em," Jim replied. "We cut the limbs up and sell 'em to folks for firewood."

Clutching at straws, I cried, "What about the stumps? And the roots?! I bet you don't bother with them!"

Mr. Bickel laughed. "I wish I could oblige you, but a lot of lumber outfits use hydraulic machines and lift that taproot right out of the ground. No sir, these days we just use up the whole dang tree."

This little story should convince you that the of "sawmill freebie" is quickly becoming a thing of the past (I've even heard of lumber people who power steam turbines with "wastes" and generate their own electricity!). So believe me, if you can find a mill in your neck of the woods that still has shavings to spare, don't ask any questions. Just drive around back and load up . .. all that you can haul.

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