PAPER PLANTS 



PAPER PLANTS 



505 



States, in 1905, are given in the following table, 

 from the report of the Bureau of the Census : 



Paper and Wood Pulp. 



Materials used, by kind, quantity and cost ; products, by 



kind, quantity and value ; equipment. 



Materials used, total cost .... $111,251,478 



Wood: 



Domestic — 



Cords 2,473,094 



Cost $15,953,805 



Canadian — 



Cords 577,623 



Cost $4,847,066 



Rags, including cotton and flax 

 waste and sweepings : 



Tons 294,552 



Cost $8,864,607 



Old, or waste paper : 



Tons 588,543 



Cost $7,430,335 



Manila stock, including jute, 

 bagging, rope, waste, 

 threads, etc.: 



Tons 107,029 



Cost $2,502,332 



Straw ; 



Tons 304,585 



Cost $1,502,886 



Ground wood pulp, purchased : 



Tons 317,286 



Cost . $5,754,259 



Soda wood fiber, purchased : 



Tons 120,978 



Cost $5,047,105 



Sulfite wood fiber, purchased : 



Tons 433,160 



Cost $16,567,122 



Other chemical fiber, purchased: 



Tons 6,278 



Cost $264,678 



All other stock $1,963,066 



Chemicals and colors $8,365,305 



Sizing : 



Tons 52,171 



Cost $1,838,085 



Clay: 



Tons 201,218 



Cost $2,096,570 



All other materials $28,254,307 



Products, total value $188,715,189 



Newspaper : 



Tons 912,822 



Value $35,906,460 



Book paper : 



Tons 515,547 



Value $37,403,501 



Fine paper : 



Tons 146,832 



Value $22,249,170 



Wrapping paper : 



Tons 644,291 



Value $30,435,592 



Boards : 



Tons 520,651 



Value $16,959,557 



Other paper : , * 



Tons 366,553 



Value $20,692,140 



Ground wood pulp : 



Made for own use, tons . . 695,576 



Made to sell as such, tons . 273,400 



Value , . $4,323,495 



Soda fiber : 



Made for own use, tons . . 66,404 



Made to sell as such, tons . 130,366 



Value $5,159,615 



Sulfite fiber : 



Made for own use, tons . . 379,082 



Made to sell as such, tons . 376,940 



Value $13,661,464 



All other products $1,924,195 



Equipment : 



Paper machines : 



Fourdrinier, number 757 



Cylinder, number 612 



Digesters, number 547 



Grinders, number 1,357 



Paper-making materials of the future. 



Inspection of the above table shows that by far 

 the largest quantity of paper, more than half in 

 fact, is made from wood. This enormous demand 

 for 3,000,000 cords per year, when added to the 

 quantities otherwise used, is rapidly decreasing the 

 visible supply of the better-known paper-making 

 woods, the effect of which is already being felt in 

 some localities. Greater difficulty in securing and 

 increasing cost of spruce and poplar suitable for 

 paper-making may be expected. It is highly prob- 

 able, however, that modern agriculture will be able 

 to meet the demand for suitable substitutes for 

 spruce and poplar ; indeed, there is every reason to 

 think that very many other woods are also suitable 

 for paper-making, and with decreasing supplies of 

 the better-known kinds, these will be used more 

 and more. Such use has already begun, as is shown 

 by the very large consumption of hemlock, pine, 

 balsam and cottonwood, and by the fact that yel- 

 low pine and chestnut are now being developed as 

 paper-making materials in the South. The high 

 yield of paper obtained from wood, together with 

 the ease with which it is prepared for treatment, 

 its freedom from dirt, the large quantity that can 

 be got into the digester for treatment, have con- 

 tributed to make wood the cheapest paper-making 

 material. For all but the most exacting purposes, 

 it makes a suitable paper at a minimum cost. Any 

 successfully competing material, therefore, must 

 compare favorably with wood in the final cost of 

 the finished paper and in the quality of tlie paper, 

 its freedom from dirt, its appearance, strength, 

 durability, and resistance to wear. At present, the 

 price of pulp wood averages about six dollars per 

 cord, and one cord makes approximately 1,300 

 pounds of good, clean, white paper. Six dollars' 

 worth of any substitute, therefore, must make 1,300 

 pounds of an equally good paper. A number of fac- 

 tors help to make the cost of paper from other 

 material greater than from wood. Cereal straws, 

 wild grasses, corn-stalks, bagasse and cotton-stalks 

 must be carefully freed from the dirt which they 

 contain, while the high percentage of silica which 

 the straws and wild grasses contain helps to make 

 their chemical treatment somewhat more costly 

 than that of wood. It is doubtful, therefore, 

 whether these materials can yet be delivered at the 

 mills and treated as cheaply as can wood. 



Again, a property which discourages the use of 

 sugar-cane, bagasse, corn-stalks and materials of 



