NATURE 



[March 9, 19 16 



The technical and commercial points repre- 

 sented in these figures are as follows :^ — -(i) the 

 enormously increased production of paper has 

 been mainly conditioned by the utilisation of wood 

 pulps; (2) esparto rapidly displaced rags in the 

 production of printing and writing papers : it 

 established new qualities in papers of this class, 

 producing very fine printing surface with "bulk." 

 (3) The wood pulps (celluloses) were adopted not 

 only on their quality or merits, as celluloses, but 

 being obtained from a massive material, they 

 were produced in a state of exceptional cleanli- 

 ness, and by economical processes. 



Moreover, the paper-maker found himself pro- 

 vided with a half-stuff, clean, cheap, and in pre- 

 sumably unlimited quantities. It will be appre- 

 ciated that a " half-stuff " is half-manufactured 

 stuff, and its introduction displaces the chemical 

 pulping of actual raw material. Hence, a pro- 

 gressive and two-fold dependence of our paper 

 mills upon exotic supplies. This point is very 

 clearly emphasised by the statistics of the census 

 of production. 



In the censal year (1907) the gross output of 

 our paper-mills was in value 13,621,000/. 



In that year we imported : — 



Tons £ 



Wood pulps : chemical and 



mechanical ... ... 672,500 ... 3,312,347 



Esparto 202,253 ... 738,834 



This represented about 80 per cent, of the total 

 of raw materials consumed. We imported of 

 fully manufactured products, i.e., papers and 

 boards, to the value of 5,362,000^, so that our 

 home production was 70 per cent, of our con- 

 sumption. 



The rate of increase of our importation of raw 

 materials will be seen by comparison with the 

 subjoined figures for 191 2. 



£ 



Esparto ... 743,354 



W d 1 /chemical 3,200,000 



P "(mechanical ... ... 1,220,000 



Linen and cotton rags ... ... 312,351 



Miscellaneous ... ... ... 318,700 



Total 



5,794,405 



The wood pulps thus representing 70-80 per 

 cent, of the raw material for this important in- 

 dustry, the question arises. Can we advantageously 

 produce this quantity within the empire? That we 

 have a sufficiency of forest area there can be no 

 doubt. In his estimates of the forest areas of the 

 world, Schlich assigns to Canada 800 millions of 

 acres, whereas Germany, which may be regarded 

 as self-contained in regard to wood-pulp produc- 

 tion, has a forest area of only 35,000,000 acres. 



It may be interesting to state the average re- 

 quired to supply pulp for producing 300 tons per 

 week of newspaper. This is generally estimated 

 at 2500 acres per annum; a forest area of 100,000 

 acres would therefore mean a forty years' supply, 

 and as fortv years is the period for the spruce to 

 reproduce itself fully in well-matured timber, it is 

 clear that a mill of such dimensions in the centre 

 of this area is a "self-contained prop)osition." 



NO. 2419, VOL. 97] 



It is evident that Canada under a system of 

 organised forestry is capable of meeting our full 

 requirements. In further evidence of her pro- 

 ductive capabilities it is to be noticed that she is 

 already responsible for about one-stxth of the 

 world's production, as will be seen from the 

 following figures for 1907-1908 : — 



Annual Production of Wood Pulp for Various- 

 Countries, calculated on the Air Dry Basis 

 (1907- 1 908). 



2,316,000 2,312,000 ... 4,628,00a 



Under present conditions (1914) there is little exportation of Canadian 

 pull) to Kurope, and ihi> small proportion is iiie^hatiical pulp. 



As to our own islands, the question of afforesta- 

 tion was investigated by a Commission, which 

 published its report in 1909. The Commission 

 concluded that the available area was 9,000,000 

 acres, which would absorb for development an 

 annual sum of 2,ooo,oooL ; in forty years the' 

 self-supporting stage is reached. After eighty 

 years the revenue was estimated to reach 

 17,500,000^, representing 3! per cent, on the net 

 cost, calculated at compound interest (3 per cent.). 



The question of esparto, if raised from this 

 political point of view, is either that of finding 

 substitutes of indigenous origin, i.e., within the 

 empire, or of cultural experiments towards its 

 establishment in selected areas afTording similar 

 conditions as obtain in the Mediterranean littoral. 



On the former problem, attention should be 

 directed to the work of the Imperial Institute, and 

 the record of its many investigations of potential 

 supplies of paper-making material. In the 

 Journal of the Institute there are many of these 

 reports on fibrous materials; from India, South 

 and East Africa, the Sudan, British West Indies, 

 British Guiana, and the Malay States. If an 

 " Imperial opportunity " is judged to have pre- 

 sented itself in the matter of a supply of these 

 raw materials within the Empire, advantage may 

 well be taken of the excellent work of the Institute. 



It is characteristic of our political "method" 

 to leave everything industrial, technical, and 

 scientific to individual enterprise, whether of 

 persons or corporations ; and in this region of 

 fibrous raw materials, whether for paper or tex- 

 tiles, we have come through under the old order 

 with some success, and not a few conspicuous 

 successes. In this region, moreover, we owe 

 nothing of moment to "German method," and we 

 are not under any moral pressure to advertise it 

 by reiterated comparisons. But we are conscious 

 of a new order under which we have to co-ordinate 

 our industries. In the small section under con- 

 sideration much work has been done by individuals 

 and corporations — prophetic individuals and some 

 profit-earning corporations — much material has 



