Douglas Island news., 1908-01-08
Costs Twenty-six Millions

 is constantly growing dearer. In the Middle West many local papers are raising their subscription price 50 per
 cent in order to pay for the paper. From the time when Gutenberg first
 used movable type, made of wood, to
 the present day of metropolitan papers, some of which consume the product of
 acres of spruce in single edition,
 printing has in very large degree de-
 pended upon the forest.
 In the face of threatened shortage
 of tim mber, the amount of wood con-
 sumed each year for pulp has increased
 since 1899 from million to 313 million
 cords. The year 1906 marked an in-
 crease of 93,000 cords in the imports of
 pulpwood, the highest average value
 per cord for all kinds, ard cousump-
 tion greater by 469O53 cords than that of any previous year.
 Spruce, the wood from which in 1899
 three fourths of the pulp was manufac-
 tured, is still the leading wood, but it
 now produces little less than TO per cent of the total. How well spruce is suited to the manufacture of pulp is shown by the fact that during period
 in which the total quantity of wood
 used has doubled and many new woods
 have been introduced, the proportion of spruce pulpwood has remained near ] ly constant in spite of the drains upon
 the spruce forests for other purposes. During this time three different woods, from widely separated regions, have in turn held the rank of leader in the lum Der supply.
 } Since 1899 poplar, which for years was used in connection with spruce to , the exclusion of all other paper woods, has increased in total quantity less than 100000 cords, and is now outrank- ed by hemlock Pine, balsam, and cottonwood are used in much smaller } amounts.
 \ New York alone consumes each year over million and quarter cords of ! wood in the manufacture of pulp, or
 more than twice as much as Maine, which ranks next. Wisconsin, New s Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Michi- z gan follow in the order given. Sixty % per cent of the wood used in New York ; was imported from elsewhere, and even 90 the supply seems to be waning, since the total consumption for the State shows a small decrease since 1905, whereas the other states named have all increased their consumption. Other 5 states important in the production of pulp are: Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and S West Virginia.
 The average cost of pulp delivered at the mill was S72l. The total value of the wood consumed in 1906 was 3 $26, 100000 The chief item determin- } ing the price of paper is the cost of pulp. An example of the increased } price of paper is found in the case of a $ publisher of daily in the Middle West, who recently paid Sl,2O0 for carload of paper. The same quantity and grade of paper cost year ago but s $500.
 The chemical processes of paper making, which better preserve the wood fiber, are gaining over the
 mechanical process. In 1899, 65 per
 cent of the wood was reduced by the
 mechanical process; in 1906, less than
 50 per cent.
 All importations of wood for pulp
 are from Canada, and comprised, in
 1906, 739,OOO cords, nearly all of which
 was spruce. Four and half million
 dollars worth of pulp was imported in
 1906, slight falling off from 1905.
 Circular 12O of the Forest Service
 contains discussion of the consump-
 tion of pulpwood in 1906, based on
 statistics gathered by the Bureau of
 the Census and the Forest Service.
 The pamphlet can be had upon appli-
 cation to the Forester, United States
 Department of Agriculture, Washing
 ton, D. C.
 An important change in the regula-