THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER 



of the good grades of writing-papers are now made 

 from it. And it is probably only a question of time 

 until some process will be discovered whereby the pulp 

 of wood will be made to take the place of rag pulp, 

 revolutionizing the prices of the finer grades of paper. 



Even at the present time there are several methods 

 of preparing the wood pulp in use besides that of grind- 

 ing. The grinding process is the cheapest and most 

 popular, but also the product is of the poorest quality, 

 and the paper made from it is relatively weak. The 

 several chemical processes in use produce a longer and 

 better quality of fiber, and it is from some of these, 

 rather than from the mechanical grinding process, that 

 fine grades of paper may finally be made. Of these 

 processes probably the "sulphite fiber process" is the 

 most important at present. 



"In this process the wood after being barked is cut 

 into small chips, which are dissolved by boiling or cook- 

 ing with sulphurous acid in large boiling-tanks or di- 

 gesters. The product, after being washed and other- 

 wise prepared for use, has a much longer fiber than a 

 mechanically prepared pulp, and is used to give strength 

 to papers in which that quality is required. News-, 

 common wrapping papers, and some other grades 

 consist chiefly of ground wood with twenty to twenty- 

 five per cent, of this chemically prepared sulphite added 

 to hold them together. Other grades, such as strong 

 wrapping papers, are made entirely from sulphite 

 fiber. 



"This process is of American invention and was first 

 used in 1867. Its early development was slow, owing 



