THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF ALASKA 93 



belt of woven wire cloth of small mesh. The 

 water runs off and leaves a sheet of wet pulp 

 which then is run between a large number of 

 heated and polished steel cylinders which press 

 and dry the pulp into sheets of paper. Finally, 

 it is wound into large rolls ready for commer- 

 cial use. 



If a pulp and paper industry is built up in 

 Alaska, it will be of great benefit to that northern 

 country. It will increase the population by 

 creating a demand for more labor. It will aid 

 the farming operations by making a home market 

 for their products. It will improve transporta- 

 tion and develop all kinds of business. 



Altogether 420,000,000 feet of lumber have 

 been cut and sold from the national forests of 

 Alaska in the past ten years. This material has 

 been made into such products as piling, saw logs 

 and shingle bolts. All this lumber has been used 

 in Alaska and none of it has been exported. Much 

 of the timber was cut so that it would fall almost 

 into tide-water. Then the logs were fastened to- 

 gether in rafts and towed to the sawmills. One 

 typical raft of logs contained more than 1,500,000 

 feet of lumber. It is not unusual for spruce trees 



