268 PAPER IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



women, the annual output being about 1,900 tons of paper and pulp. 

 Nearly all of this paper is sent to England. 



The paper used in Norway is mostly imported from Sweden, 

 Holland, and Germany, and in the year 1897, according to official 

 statistics, amounted to $788, 590. 



In the manufacture of paper, Sweden takes the lead in northern 

 Europe. 



VICTOR E. NELSON, 



BERGEN, January 25, 1899. Consul. 



SWITZERLAND. 



BERNE. 



Thisconsular district, comprisingthe Cantons of Berne, Freiburg, 

 and Neuchatel, contained, according to the last census (1888), 763,- 

 987 inhabitants; but the approximate number to-day is 794,645. 

 The proportion of illiterates is from i to 2 per cent. The Swiss of 

 this district, if employed in the manufacture of paper, would be 

 chary of accepting modern ideas and would doggedly stick to old 

 traditions and methods. 



CONSUMPTION. 



Paper is used for newspapers, printed books, copy and mercan- 

 tile books. Industries peculiar to the country requiring paper are 

 book printing, lithography, school and business book factories, and 

 newspaper publishing. The classes of paper used at present are 

 pulp paper for newspapers which do not exceed sheets of 24 by 

 30 inches, letter and post paper, colored paper for posters, tissue 

 papers, blotting paper, wall papers, cellulose and parchment papers. 

 The last are required in rolls and the former in sheets. 



The market price for news paper is $8.69 per quintal (220.46 

 pounds); for copy paper, $12. 55 per quintal; middle fine paper, 

 $19.30 per quintal; and for rag or linen, $26. 06 to $30. 88 per quintal. 

 The terms are generally three months, with a discount of 2 or 3 per 

 cent. 



The question of consumption of paper and the value for the whole 

 country is hard to answer. In the year 1897, the import of paper 

 amounted to approximately 95,733 quintals, valued at $1,459,387; 

 and the export was approximately 76,789 quintals, valued at $515,926. 

 This does not include the import of dry pulp, which increased 36 per 

 cent, or 7, 68;: quintals, during 1897, while the whole import of rags 

 decreased to 65,000 quintals, against 71,000 quintals in 1896. 



The export of liquid pulp, which is made from pine chips the 

 only wood available to be bleached afterward, has increased, espe- 



