﻿82 RICHMOND. 



jack pines and even the hardwoods such as beach and maple, are now 

 being employed, while slabs, sawdust and veneer cores are also being 

 considered. 



Fourth. An increase of approximately 75 per cent is also shown in 

 the amount of pulp wood imported. This importation consists of 

 645,428 cords of Canadian spruce and poplar. 



Fifth. The estimated length of time during which the supply will be 

 available is given as twenty-one years. 



The United States Forest Service has established a laboratory at 

 Boston, Massachusetts, for a further investigation of the woods men- 

 tioned above as well as of other varieties and also of the waste materials, 

 and the following quotation serves to explain the reason for its existence. 



To supply the enormous demand for the sulphite product more than 1,500,000 

 cords of wood are used annually. Nearly four-fifths of this amount is spruce. 

 A rapid diminution in the supply of standing spruce and a consequent marked 

 increase in its cost are the results of this great and growing demand. Therefore, 

 the principal object of the laboratory is to experiment on the pulp-making possibil- 

 ities of other woods. 2 



The experiments to be conducted in the Boston laboratory are intended 

 to include the investigation of a large number of American woods and 

 waste products; their applicability to the sulphite process of treatment; 

 a microscopic study of the fibers and the distribution of samples of pulp 

 and handmade sheets of paper made therefrom. 



Generally speaking, the species of woods best suited for paper pulp 

 should possess the following characteristics : 



First. They should be soft, but of a resistant nature, and they should 

 possess long, fine, parallel fibers. 



Second. They should be light in weight and colorless or nearly so. 

 The species which have the distinct heart- and sap-wood may be employed, 

 if the distinction is not too pronounced. 



Third. They should be but moderately resinous with a comparatively 

 thin bark, and they should be relatively free from knots and unsound 

 portions. 



The above requirements seem to be met by a sufficient number of 

 Philippine forest trees to warrant a study of their pulpmaking possibil- 

 ities. Authentically identified specimens of the different woods, together 

 with data as to their distribution, description and physical properties, 

 were furnished by Dr. H. N. Whitford of the Philippine Bureau of 

 Forestry and by Dr. Foxworthy of the botanical section of the Biological 

 Laboratory, and the botanical identifications were made by Elmer D. 

 Merrill, botanist of the Bureau of Science. 



2 Forestry and Irrigation, Wash. (1906), 12, 8. 



