Edible Products. 



298 



[October, 1911. 



of these tests is the evidence they afford 

 of success of the combined hydrate and 

 sulphide treatment in dealing with the 

 colour difficulty. 



This enquiry has not as yet proceeded 

 far enough to enable anything like close 

 estimates of the cost of such pulps to be 

 framed. In particular, information as 

 to transport of raw material from forest 

 to factory, and cost of fuel at factory is 

 lacking and cannot be supplied until 

 suitable manufacturing sites are sug- 

 gested, and their advantages in respect 

 of water or rail transport, for both raw 

 materials and product, examined ; so 

 that it would seem preferable at the 

 present stage to estimate the margin 

 available for the unknown expenditures 

 rather than attempt close estimates of 

 the total nett cost, 



The value of such pulps at the points 

 of consumption— the paper mills— may 

 be taken at Rs.120 per ton. If we re- 

 serve Rs.10 of this for profit— which, on 

 an output of 150 tons per week and a 

 capital of Rs.6,00,000, would be equi- 

 valent to 12£ per cent, per annum — there 

 remains Rs.110 to cover all manufac- 

 turing charges, and transport of raw 

 material and product. 



Taking the Government royalty on 

 standing timber at one anna per cubic 

 foot of square timber measurement, 

 which is about 78 per cent, of the whole 

 tree, the cost to the pulp maker, who 

 uses the whole and does not waste the 

 slabs, amounts to 9 36 pie9 per cubic foot. 

 On Salix tetrasperma, therefore, this 

 item would cost Rs. 8-12-0 per ton of 

 pulp. Assuming that the cost of coal 

 does not exceed R9.IO per ton, and that 

 the manufacture is carried out on the 

 sulphate system with the aid of a re- 

 covery plant, the manufacturing costs 

 and charges, including repairs and de- 

 preciation of plant, wages and superin- 

 tendence, and the royalty on wood, 

 should not exceed Rs.75 per ton of pro- 

 duct. We thus obtain a margin of Rs. 

 35 per ton of pulp to cover transport of 



one ton of pulp to market and the ex- 

 traction of 2| tons of raw material from 

 forest to factory. If we assume that 

 Rs.15 of this will be absorbed by freight 

 of pulp to market, there remains Rs.20 

 for charges on 2£ tons of wood. It does 

 not appear to be very liberal allowance, 

 but the aggregate per annum, Rs. 

 1,50,000, is large enough to warrant the 

 consideration of light forest tramways 

 in situations where water transport is 

 not available. In the absence of full 

 data the figures are not put forward as 

 being anything more than approximate, 

 and they are estimated on the most 

 costly, as to chemical treatment, of the 

 three species dealt with. It is probable 

 that the margins in the cases of the 

 other two will be larger. For the pre- 

 sent, the margin arrived at may serve as 

 a guide to the selection of manufactur- 

 ing sites. 



The pulps made from the Himalayan 

 Coniferce proved to be in all cases equal 

 in quality and yield to those now so 

 largely manufactured from their Euro- 

 pean and American congeners, and in 

 twc cases, at least, were distinctly 

 superior in strength and bleaching quali- 

 ties. Such pulp would be worth to the 

 paper-mills Rs,7-8 to Rs.10 more per ton 

 than those dealt with above, and the 

 margins available for transport would 

 be correspondingly larger. The spruce, 

 on account of its good natural colour 

 and great length of fibre, is admirably 

 adapted to the manufacture of the non- 

 chemical form of pulp known as 

 " ground" or " mechanical " wood-pulp, 

 an indigenous source of which is badly 

 wanted to enable our paper-mills to com- 

 pete with the cheaper classes of im- 

 ported papers. Where water power is 

 available, in conjunction with spruce 

 areas, this branch of the industry is well 

 worth extending and close enquiry. 



In the next and concluding article, 

 grasses and grass-pulps will be dealt 

 with, and the tabulated results of the 

 whole enquiry given. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



COMMERCE IN PHILIPPINE 

 TOBACCO : 

 And Its Manufacture During the 

 Calendar Year 1910. 



(From the Manila Bulletin, 

 August 13, 1911.) 

 The Summary of Commerce for the 

 Philippines for 1910 has been issued by 

 the War Department. In regard to 

 tobacco the report says as follows :— 



" Under tobacco and its manufactures 

 a value of $198,978 is shown as imported 

 from the United States. This was to 

 a large extent plug and smoking tobacco, 

 which the collector of internal revenue 

 states is almost wholly for the con- 

 sumption of the army and navy, but 

 another item to the value of $49,040 

 was credited to leaf tobacco. The 

 inadequacy of Philippine wrapper to 

 meet the needs of the cigar industry 

 has been frequently referred to, and 



