BALSAM FIR FOR PULP 



ALSA}.! fir, a tree which a few 



years a^^o was considered of 



little value, is now in demand 



for pulp wood. This demand 



has hcen brought about, says the 



Department of Agriculture, by the 



B 



cylinder faces upon which the pulp is 

 rolled out. Balsam fir does not have 

 a resinous wood, and the material which 

 gums up the cylinder probably comes 

 from grinding balsam under conditions 

 adapted to sj^ruce wood. Yet from ten 



Cone Lo.\der B.alsa.m Fir. 



note the nltviber of cones on this tree. it 

 is .\t s.\nt.\ clar.\, kr.\nklin county. new 



YORK. 



enormous expansion of tlic pulp indus- 

 try during the past two decades, with 

 its present' consumption of three and a 

 quarter million cords of coniferous 

 wood and the consequent rise in the 

 price of spruce, the wood most in de- 

 mand for paper making. In addition, 

 the department goes on to say, balsam 

 has begun to take the place of spruce 

 for rough lumber, laths, and the like, as 

 the price of the latter wood has risen. 

 The chief objection to the use of 

 large amounts of balsam fir in the 

 ground-pulp process of paper making 

 is said to be due to the so-called pitch 

 in the wood, which injures the felts and 



Photo, by the American Museum of Natural 

 History and Mr. Ernest Keller. 



A B.\LS.\M Fir. 



THIS is a fine sample OK THE BALSAM FIR. THE 

 TREE IS IN THE OPEN NEAR (iOLDEN BEACH, 

 ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS, N. Y. 



to twenty-five per cent, and possibly 

 more, of balsam can be used in ground 



509 



