8G8 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



waterpower is indispensable. At least G5 horsepower per twenty- 

 four hours is required to produce a ton of mechanical pulp. 



In 1900 New York ranked first not only in the number of 

 establishments and in the amount of capital invested, but also 

 in the number of wage-earners and the wages paid, as well as in 

 the cost of materials and in the value of the product. Massachu- 

 setts was second and Maine third, although as we have seen if we 

 make the comparison on unit areas, Massachusetts was first. As 

 to the different classes of products, New York was first in 

 wood pulp, newspaper, wrapping paper and other products not 

 specially designated, while Massachusetts was first in the pro- 

 duction of bookpaper and fine writing paper. 



The principal wood from which paper is made is spruce. It 

 forms 76 per cent of all the wood used in the United States for 

 both mechanical pulp and chemical fiber. Gray pine, white pine, 

 white fir, balsam, hemlock and larch are also used for the pro- 

 duction of mechanical pulp and occasionally for chemical pulp. 

 The wood chiefly used for the soda process is poplar, although 

 a spin, cottonwood and sweet-gum are sometimes used. Cypress 

 and several of the preceding timbers are also used for sulphite 

 pulp. Beech, silver maple, basswood, white birch and paper birch 

 are sometimes used. 



The chief processes of reduction to pulp are three in number — 

 the mechanical, the soda process and the sulphite process. The 

 mechanical process consists in grinding the wood on a grind- 

 stone after removing the bark. All the sound wood of the tree 

 is used, provided it is free from knots. A cord of spruce wood 

 will produce about one ton of pulp. 



The soda process is based on the solvent action of alkali at 

 high temperature. Poplar is the wood chiefly used in the soda 

 process, although considerable quantities of pine, spruce and 

 hemlock are consumed, while maple, cottonwood, white birch 

 and basswood frequently replace poplar. About two cords of 

 wood are required to produce one ton of soda pulp. 



The sulphite process consists in treating vegetable substances 

 with a solution of sulphurous acid, heated in a closed vessel, 

 under a sufficient pressure to retain the acid gas until the inter- 

 cellular matter is dissolved. Any coniferous wood, which is not 



