GERMANY. 485 



they are all prospering. I am unable, however, to furnish any sta- 

 tistics, as the Kingdom of Bavaria does not issue separate returns. 

 They are included in those of the German Empire. 



GUSTAV C. E. WEBER, 

 NUREMBERG, November I, 1898. Consul. 



SONNEBERG. 



In response to circular of September 28, 1898, asking for in- 

 formation as to the various uses to which wood pulp is applied 

 in the manufactures of Europe, I have to report the following 

 results of investigations; results not as satisfactory as I could 

 desire, but the best possible, considering that I do not happen to be 

 located near any of the wood-pulp centers, where I could give the 

 subject personal examination, but had to depend upon securing ma- 

 terial from correspondence a very unsatisfactory method, owing to 

 the natural hesitation of manufacturers to impart anything regard- 

 ing their business to one unknown to them. 



I have succeeded, however, in opening up communication with 

 some of the leading German manufacturers, and find that there are 

 extensive interests engaged in the manufacture of wood pulp in the 

 country, as well as in Austria, Scandinavia, Finland, and Russia. 

 The pulp is being used with considerable success in the manufacture 

 of divers styles of articles furniture, imitation leather goods, water 

 vessels, paneling and interior house decorations, picture frames, 

 lint for bandages, gunpowder, etc. 



Wood pulp can be made by two processes one known as the 

 "mechanical," by which the raw spruce wood is reduced to a mass 

 by machinery; by the other, the "chemical," the wood is boiled 

 under pressure with acids and alkalies. The fibers are thus freed 

 from surrounding matters, and the mass or pulp is naturally of finer 

 quality. The latter produces cellulose, which can be regarded as a 

 complete substitute for the best linen and cotton rags in the manu- 

 facture of the finer grades of paper. 



One advantage some of the European manufacturers of cellulose 

 claim over the Americans is that they are not dependent upon uncul- 

 tivated coniferous plants, the cellular structure of which, they claim, 

 varies to an extraordinary extent, making it impossible to get the 

 best results when the cellulose is manufactured into the finer grades 

 of paper, such as that used for legal and copper-plate printing. 

 Many of them, they say, control forests of regularly grown spruce 

 (the only wood that can be employed with the best results), culti- 

 vated for several decades on scientific principles. Whether this is 



