46 OUR VANISHING FORESTS 



paper for wrapping and packing, while large shops 

 are often obliged to keep a special warehouse con- 

 tinually stocked with many tons of coarse brown 

 stuff to cover the insides of boxes and crates. There 

 are other uses of this product. < Only a short time 

 ago the manager of one of the largest Hawaiian 

 pineapple companies reported that his concern was 

 using many tons of heavy paper, not merely in 

 wrapping and packing, but in planting. A roll of 

 heavy paper is laid out on the ground and the pine- 

 apples planted through holes, thus tending to pre- 

 vent all weed growth adjacent to the plants. This 

 process obviates the necessity of hoeing, protects 

 the roots and leaves, and prevents the ground from 

 being baked too hard or washed away. 



Think of the builder's paper for lining roofs and 

 walls, for covering floors, etc. ! Think of the vari- 

 ous substitutes for wall plaster — great thin sheets 

 of heavy cardboard-like material made largely from 

 compressed wood pulp, with perhaps a mixture of 

 asbestos as a better fire preventive ! During the 

 recent war, it was this material that made possible 

 the construction of the countless huge temporary 

 office buildings in Washington. In 1917 the War 

 Industries Board reported that the sale of this 

 product amounted to a hundred and fifty-six million 

 dollars per annum. 



