The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1908-01-02
PAPER COST TWENTY-SlX
MILLIONS.
The Publisher Pays Much More for
His Stock Than He Did Last Year.

Today there is general complaint
among publishers that printing paper
is constantly growing dearer. In the
the middle west many local papers
are raising their subscription price so
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 a single edition,
printing has in very large degree de-
pended upon the forest.
In the face of a threatened shortage
of timber, the amount of wood con-
sumed each year for pulp has in
creased since 1899 from two million to
3 1-2 million cords. The year. 1906,
marked an increase Of $4,000 cords il,
the imports of pulpwood, the highest
average value per cord for al kinds,
and consumption greater by 469,053
cords than that of any previous year.
Spruce, the wood from which in
1899 three -fourths of the pulp was
manufactured, is still the leading wood
but it now produces a little less than
20 per cent of the total. How well
spruce is suited to the manufacture of
pulp is shown by the fact that during q
period in which the total quantity of
portion of spruce pulpwoOd has re-
manned nearly 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 lumber 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 out
ranked by hemlock. Pine, balsam. and
cottonwood are used in much smaller
amounts
New York alone consumes each year
over a million and quarter cords of
wood in the manufacture of pulp. or
more than twice as much as Maine.
which ranks next. Wisconsin, New
Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Michi-
gan follow in the order given. Sixty
per cent of the wood used in New York
was imported from elsewhere, and
even so the supply appears to be wan
the state shows small decrease since
1905, whereas the other states named
have all increased their consumption.
Other states important in the produc-
ton of pulp are: Massachusetts,. Min
nesota, Ohio Oregon, Vermont, Vir-
ginia, and West Virginia.
The average cost of pulp delivered
at the mill was 1921. The total value
of the wood consumed in 1906 was $685.
100000. The chief item determining
the price of paper is the cost of pulp.
An example of the increased price of
paper is found in the case of a pub
Usher of daily in the middle west,
who recently paid $1,000 for a carload
of paper. The same quantity and
grade of paper cost a year ago but
$500.
The chemical processes of paper
making. which better preserve the
wood fiber, are gaining over the me-
chanical process In 1899. 65 per cent
of the wood was reduced by the me-
chanical process; in 1906, less than so
per cent.
All importations of wood for pulp are
from Canada, and comprised, in 1906,
$4,000 cords, nearly all of which was
spruce. Four and a half million dol
lars worth of pulp was imported in
1906, slight falling off from 1905.
Circular 120 of the forest service
a discussion of the consump-
ton of pulpwood in 1905, based on sta
tistics gathered by the bureau of the
census and the forest service. The
can be had upon application
for the forester, United States depart
ment of agriculture, Washington. D c.
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