The American forest is valuable for many reasons.  Not
only is it beautiful to observe and explore, but it also is
our major provider of construction material.  Few are aware
that plywood has greater structural strength than steel.  A
further application of wood is its conversion into pulp for
making paper.  Newsprint is made only from wood pulp.  Wood
pulp fibers come from cellulose, a remarkable material that
forms the cell walls of wood.  Cellulose gives wood tensile
strength.  The remainder of the wood content is lignin, the
glue that holds the fibers together, making the wood solid.
     Another product of wood pulp is rayon.  Rayon not only
is used in making textiles, but it is important for cord in
the manufacture of tires.  Of the many majestic trees which
adorn the American forest, no tree is more elegant than the
redwood.  Redwood trees grow along our west coast attaining
average heights of nearly one hundred yards.  Just think of
a tree being as tall as a football field is long.  Redwoods
may live as long as two thousand years.  A mistaken idea is
that the redwood is a slow growing tree.  Yet, in truth the
redwood has one of the most rapid growth rates of any tree.