PHILIPPINE FIBERS AND FIBROUS SUBSTANCES. 247 



and method of firing the local coal, have already been published by A. J. Cox." 

 of the Bureau of Science. 



In Bataan Province, wood, as a fuel, appears to be both cheap and abundant, 

 if it is considered in connection with the timber industry, which is already well 

 developed. Waste materials from the timbering operations, such as slabs and 

 the limbs of hard resinous woods, which now for the greater part are allowed 

 to rot, could be used, and, in addition, the standing timber of the bamboo areas 

 and the mangrove along the seacoast are available for fuel. 



CHEMICALS. 



The chief argument against the introduction of a paper-pulp industry 

 in the Orient has been the cost of imported chemicals. It is true that 

 in this respect a local industry would be at a disadvantage in comparison 

 with the leading pulp-producing countries. The United States, Canada, 

 and Europe possess well-developed industries for quarrying -and burning 

 limestone, and it is safe to say that the production of lime, the material 

 so universally employed in the chemical pulp industry, is economically 

 developed in those countries to a maximum degree. Limestone or marine- 

 shell deposits are quarried and burned in the Philippines in sufficient 

 amount to supply the present demands, but the industry is practically 

 undeveloped. 



A 20-ton soda pulp mill will annually consume approximately 2,000 tons of 

 well-burned lime. To produce only this limited quantity would require a plant 

 of comparatively small output, which would be run spasmodically, and although 

 the advantages of cheap fuel and labor would probably partially offset these 

 defects, it can not be expected that lime could be produced here for less than 

 the maximum cost of manufacture in other countries. 



The cost of lime manufacture 10 in the United States varies from 

 one dollar and twenty cents to two dollars and ninety cents per short ton. 

 This corresponds to from 4.2 to 10.15 cents for 35 kilos (per bushel 

 of 70 pounds). 



The cost per ton is divided as follows: 



Cents, U. S. 

 currency. 



Interest on the cost of plant and quarry.— 5-20 



Taxes and minor supplies 10-15 



Cost of quarrying 2 tons of stone - 50-90 



Cost of fuel for burning 2 tons of stone 30-75 



Cost of labor exclusive of quarrymen 20-30 



The minimum estimate of $1.20 United States currency might be 

 attained by a good modern plant running steadily under exceptionally 

 favorable conditions as regards quarrying, fuel, and labor. The maximum 



'This Journal, Sec. A (1908), 3, 301. 

 10 The Mineral Ind. (1906), 15, 552. 



