FOREST PRODUCTS 



175 



3. Wood Pulp and Paper Rayon and Fiber Boards. Approxi- 

 mately 7 million cords are annually used for the manufacture of pulp 

 and paper. About 60 years ago the quantity of wood required for 

 paper was insignificant. Now about 85% of all forms of paper are 

 made from wood, although pulp may be produced from any fibrous 

 material. Great advances have been made in the installation of 

 pulp and paper mills in the South and on the Pacific Coast within 

 recent years. Dr. Herty has succeeded in making newsprint from 

 southern pine, but this method has not as yet been widely introduced 

 or used on a commercial scale. 



FIG. 94. Seasoning oak cross ties before creosote treatment at preservation plant 



near Norfolk, Virginia. Note method of piling to provide proper circulation of 



air between ties during seasoning process. 



The principal woods used for pulp are spruce, hemlock, poplar, 

 southern pine, Douglas fir, and some of the hardwoods. Several 

 hundred thousand cords of slabwood and other sawmill waste are 

 converted into wood pulp every year. Sawmill and woods waste con- 

 stitute almost the entire source of supply for the Pacific Coast pulp 

 mills and an important part of the southern pine supply in the South. 



The chief requirements for a good pulpwood are that it shall have 

 long and strong and yet soft and tender fibers, the wood shall be 

 relatively free from intercellular constituents, such as resins, gums, 

 tannin, etc., the wood shall be available in sufficient quantities and 

 therefore reasonably priced. White fibered woods are preferred; the 

 wood should be sound and reasonably free from knots, rot, dote, pitch 



