RAW MATERIALS PAPER 233 



place, and fine papers are got by blending straw and 

 wood pulp where we blend esparto and wood. 



The world's pre-war consumption of paper was 

 roughly 8,000,000 tons, half manufactured in America, 

 half in Europe. Of this total four-fifths (i.e. 6,500,000 

 tons) was derived from wood. The British require- 

 ments were about one-sixth of the world's production 

 (i.e. 1,350,000 tons), and the greater part of it was 

 fabricated in this country from imported pulp. The 

 proportion of wood pulp used in English paper manu- 

 facture approximates to the world's proportion, i.e. 

 four-fifths. 



It follows from these facts that wood pulp dominates 

 the position ; this it does in virtue of its derivation 

 from a raw material which grows thickly on the 

 ground in pure formations (virgin forests). Owing 

 to its cheapness of production, few raw materials can 

 compete with wood pulp, especially for general pur- 

 poses. Even India, with vast areas of potential pulp 

 in its bamboo jungles, is unable to exploit these rich 

 natural resources. India's paper trade is based on 

 waste products, such as rags, old rope, jute bags, 

 and waste paper, together with a certain amount of 

 the native Bhabur grass (Ischcemum angustifolium). 

 More than half the Indian requirement is stated to be 

 imported as manufactured paper derived from conifer- 

 ous wood pulp. It is to be expected, however, that, 

 with the exhaustion of the world's virgin coniferous 

 forests, bamboo will become an important, if not the 

 principal, source of pulp. 



So considerable is the importation of wood pulp in 

 Britain that it forms an appreciable part of the whole 

 timber problem. The figures involved are given in 

 the following table: 1 - 



i It is assumed that one net register ton of shipping corresponds to two loads 

 or tons of timber of 50 cubic feet. 



