HEMP HURDS AS PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. 21 
of the company, and pumped to the stock chest. Stock from cooks 
Nos. 319 and 320 was treated in exactly the same manner except 
that the stock was bleached with 12.1 per cent of bleach and pumped 
to the stock chest to mix with the former furnish. The stock acted 
very well on the machine, which was speeded to 75 feet per minute, 
with the Jordan refiner set at a medium brush. The sheet is as good, 
if not better, than that of run No. 143, and it is also a good illustra- 
tion of the extent to which proper tinting will enhance the general 
appearance of a paper. The poor appearance of the samples of 
previous runs is due largely to lack of proper tinting. Various 
degrees of whiteness, however, are demanded by the trade. 
COMPARISON OF THE TESTS AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICE. 
In work of this nature and on this scale it is practically impossible 
to arrive at a cost figure which would be susceptible of commercial 
interpretation, and in this preliminary publication nothing will be 
attempted beyond a comparison of the process used with the hurds 
with that process commercially applied to poplar wood. The process 
last used with the hurds should not be regarded as final, satisfactory, 
or most suitable, as it has been shown that progress was being made 
up to the conclusion of the work. 
In comparing the method of using hurds with the method of han- 
dling poplar wood, a difference is apparent on the delivery of raw 
material at the mill. Ordinarily, poplar is received at the mill in 
the form of logs about 4 feet in length, which may be stored in piles 
in the open. Hurds very likely would be received baled, and it would 
seem advisable to store them under cover for the following reasons: 
(a) Baled hurds would probably absorb and retain more water 
during wet weather than logs of wood, thereby causing excessive 
dilution of the caustic liquor; (jb) prolonged excessive dampness 
might create heating and deterioration unless the hemp were properly 
retted; (c) wet hurds could not be sieved free from sand and chaff. 
Should further work show that the first two reasons need not be 
taken into consideration, the third objection might be overcome by 
sieving the hurds before baling. Even then, it is probable that 
baled hurds stored in the open would accumulate and retain con- 
siderable dirt from factory chimneys, locomotives, and wind. 
Checked pulp wood exposed in the open invariably suffers from 
these causes. 
In the preparation of the raw material for the digesters there is 
likewise considerable difference between hurds and poplar wood. 
The former apparently requires only a moderate sieving to remove 
sand and chaff, which operation doubtless would require only a 
small amount of labor and the installation of some simple machinery 
of low power consumption. In preparing poplar for digestion, the 
