390 



AREiORICULTURE 



FROM TREE TO NEWSPAPER. 



It is one thing to make a newspaper, 

 with the appliances of type-setting ma- 

 chines, presses and paper, and purveyors 

 of "copy" all at hand, and quite another 

 to make one without any of these advan- 

 tages. Yet, even under such circum- 

 stances, a journal can be turned out, and 

 in a remarkably short time, too. 



A very curious experiment was made by 

 certain German manufacturers of paper 

 and wood pulp. The object of the exper- 

 iment was to determine the shortest time 

 in which it was possible "to convert the 

 wood of a standing tree into paper, and 

 the latter into a journal ready for deliv- 

 ery." 



The experiment began with the felling 

 of three trees in a forest near the manu- 

 facturers' establishment. This was done 

 in the presence of two of the manufactur- 

 ers and a notary, whom they had called 

 in to testify to the honesty of the experi- 

 ment, at 7 :35 a. m. Further steps in the 

 conversion of the living wood into paper 

 are thus described : 



These trees were carried to the manu- 

 factory, where they were cut into pieces 

 twelve inches in length, which were then 

 peeled of their bark and split. The wood 

 thus prepared was afterward raised by an 

 elevator to the fine defibrators of the 

 works. The wood pulp produced by the 

 machines was then put into a vat, where 

 it was mixed with the necessary materials. 

 This process finished, the liquid pulp was 

 sent to the paper machine. At 9 :34 a. 

 m. the first sheet of paper was finished. 

 The entire manufacture had thus con- 

 svimed but one hour and fifty-nine min-. 

 utes." 



At this stage of the experiment the 

 owners of the establishment, accompanied 

 by the notary, carried some of the newly 

 made sheets of paper to a printing office 

 located at a distance of two and a half 

 miles from the manufactory. At ten 

 o'clock, exactly, a copy of the printed pa- 

 per was placed in the hands of the experi- 

 menters. It had taken, therefore, just 

 two hours and twenty-five minutes to 



cHknge the wood of a living tree into a 

 printed journal. The trial was a most in- 

 teresting one, and well illustrates the per- 

 fection to which modern machinery and 

 processes have been carried. 



TO RAILWAY OFFICIALS. 



The January number of Arboriculture 

 is a valuable reference book, containing 

 much valuable information in regard to 

 catalpa. We still have a few copies which 

 may be obtained by writing the editor at 

 Connersville, Ind. The subscription to 

 Arboriculture is one dollar per year, 

 and this number, the monogram on the 

 catalpa tree, will be sent to all new sub- 

 scribers who ask for it. 



A Croup of Catalpa Trees in Open Cround, 

 Southern Illinois. 



