Items of Interest June 17, 1916 Issue

Items of Interest

That satisfactory wood-pulp can be made from a number of heretofore little known woods is evidenced by a Government publication, just issued, which contains seventy samples of paper manufactured by different processes, chiefly from woods heretofore practically unused for this purpose. It is pointed out that the spruce forests of the country are threatened with exhaustion, and that the cost of spruce pulpwood has steadily increased. If the price of news-print paper is to be kept at a reasonable figure, the experts say, more efficient methods of converting spruce into pulp must be developed or cheaper woods substituted for it.

The bulletin goes on to state that the method of manufacturing groundwood pulp has changed little since its introduction into this country in 1867. It was with the idea of developing new methods and improving the old that tests were undertaken at the forest service laboratories at Wausau and Madison, Wis. As a result, the relation to each other of the different steps in the manufacturing process has been definitely established and the merits of each treatment determined. The paper made from new woods was given a practical try-out by two large newspapers with satisfactory results.

The tests showed that eleven new woods give promise of being suitable for the production of news-print paper, while a number of others will produce manila paper and boxboards. Most of these woods are confined to the West, while the groundwood industry now obtains the bulk of its raw material from the East. It is thought that pulp-making plants must eventually move to points where they can obtain a plentiful supply of wood and an abundance of cheap water-power, two prime requisites in the business. The experts say that because the national forests contain immense quantities of the suitable woods and abundant opportunities for power development, they will undoubtedly play an important part in the future of the wood-pulp industry.

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