49 



has been considered, but largely on account of the great difficulty 

 in obtaining water, a plentiful supply of which is needed in pulp 

 making, the factory has not materialized. The bulk of esparto 

 exported from this city is sent to Great Britain. 



[Consul Rufus Fleming, Edinburgh, Scotland.] 



SCOTCH PAPER MAKERS USE ESPARTO EXTENSIVELY. 



Paper mills in this district, producing about 1500 tons per 

 week, 1000 tons being writing and printing paper, use large 

 quantities of esparto, both Spanish and African. Almost three 

 times as much esparto (in weight) is imported into the district 

 as of rags and wood pulp combined. It is imported in hydraul- 

 ically compressed bales, of uniform weight and size, approxi- 

 mately seven bales to the ton (2240 pounds). From Spanish 

 esparto the yield of paper is 55 per cent. ; from African, about 

 50 per cent. ; and from rags, 90 per cent. News print is largely 

 made from mechanical wood pulp, with the addition of a small 

 proportion of common rags. 



Most of the mills in east Scotland have contracted for their 

 supplies of first-quality Algerian esparto over 1913 on the basis 

 of £3 9s. ($16.79) per ton, free on rail at Edinburgh. Prices 

 advanced somewhat last fall, and sales w^ere made to English 

 ports for shipment in 1913 at £3 12s. 6d. ($17.64) free on rail. 

 Tunisian esparto is scarce. As a rule, shippers of this variety 

 sell Tripoli or (and) Tunisian esparto, and the cessation of sup- 

 plies from Tripoli caused a run on Tunisian, and has indeed af- 

 fected the price of all African esparto. Tunisian and Tripoli 

 usually sell about 5s. ($1.21) to 3s. 6d. (85 cents) per ton below 

 Algerian, but there has lately been practically no difference. For 

 best Spanish esparto the average contract price for 1913 has been 

 about £4 15s. ($23.11) free on rail at Edinburgh. This article 

 appears to be short, and if further quantities were required it is 

 probable that a considerably higher price would have to be paid. 



Wholesale prices of esparto papers in this market range from 

 4^ cents to 63^ cents per pound, according to quality. 



