I 



88 NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 



paper is a fact of great antiquity, though but recently discovered and 

 utilized by man. 



It is but a comparatively short time since all paper was made by the 

 laborious hand process yet to be seen in full operation in Japan where the 

 low price of labor and the comparatively small demand for such produce has, 

 until recently, made this method sufficient for all requirements. Under 

 rapidly changing conditions, however, the hand method has become inade- 

 quate, and the recent introduction of machinery has wrought a revolution- 

 affording a modern example of rapid development in an industry which, in 

 our own history, has been brought about only through the lapse of long 

 periods of time and through great experience. With us hand made papers 

 have beconie largely a matter of history, though they are yet produced in 

 special cases where fine quality is demanded. The growth of the modern* 

 newspaper, the extensive and increasing demand for good literature which' 

 shall be within the reach of those of limited means, and the numerous 

 directions in which paper may be profitably employed in the manufacture of 

 articles of great utility but low cost, have combined to force the costly hand 

 made paper into a minor position, and to create a demand for an article 

 which may be easily, quickly and cheaply produced. In the first instance, 

 the introduction of machinery was the earliest attempt to meet these 

 requirements ; but the constantly increasing demand soon led to attention- 

 being directed to our forests as the possible source of a material which would 

 be at once cheap and permit the production of a paper of ample quality to 

 meet all the requirements of temporary use. At the same time it would be 

 possible in this way, to turn to account in a profitable manner,, 

 vast quantities of timber which would be of little or no value for other pur- 

 poses. There has thus arisen one of the greatest industries of the world. In 

 1897 the total value of wood pulp exported from European countries 

 amounted to $16,468,089, while in 1900 it had risen to $18,000,000 or an, 

 increase of 8.7 / o . 



In the United States the manufacture of wood pulp was first introduced 

 in 1854, but the process upon which the present industry is based was not in- 

 troduced until 1867. It was not until 1870, however, that the manufacture 

 first appeared in the Census returns, at which time only eight factories were 

 enumerated. In 1880 there were fifty mills in operation with a capitalization 

 of $2,256,946. By 1890 there were 82 mills in operation, representing a 

 capital value of $4,627.796, while the census of 1900 has shown 763 miHs 

 with a total value of $167,507,713. The total value of the products of these 



