Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1911-02-17
AN EXPERlM ENTAIL
WOOD PULP MILL.

Washington, Feb. IT, Officials of
the u. S. Department of Agriculture
have received with satisfaction an
nouncement from the experimental
ground wood pulp mill which the De-
partment has been equipping at Wau-
sau, Wisconsin, in cooperation with the
American Pulp and Paper Association,
that the mill has begun to grind The
carrying on of the tests now announced
as under way was provided for by a
special appropriation, placed at the dis
posal of the Secretary Of Agriculture
by Congress last winter, to conduct
tests of the suitability for paper max
ing of plants and woods which seem
likely to become valuable sources of
supply of new material.
Secretary Wilson considered that the
best use which could be made of this
money would be to conduct experiments
on commercial scale, with various
kinds of wood. Some of these have
already been studied in the laboratory,
and found to be intrinsicaliy suitable
for pulp manufacture. Indeed, the
Forest Service has actually made paper
by one of the chemical processes from
several of them. But in order to know
whether they can proftably be utilized,
under present conditions, tits necessary
to test them under methods of manu-
facture comparable to those employed
in actual business operations. In par
ticular, it is desired to find out to what
extent new woods can be used for
ground pulp, the cost of which is usu-
ally less than that of chemical pulp.
The Wausau mill has been built espe-
cially for the use of the, Government
for as long as the experiments may re-
quire. Its inside dimensions are 40 by
100 feet, and it is equipped with cleo
trical machinery and all necessary APP
paratus of the most up-to-date type.
Part of the equipment is contributed by
the American Pulp and Paper Associa-
ton, and part is furnished by the Gov
eminent. The Association will also
furnish the wood for the tests. The
wood now on hand includes carload lots
of jack pine, spruce, hsmlock, and
tamarack. The jack pine is to be the
first wood tested.
While the experiments are intenedd
to cover woods from all parts of the
country which, from the standpoint of
physical properties and available sup
plies, promise to furnish new material
for The paper-making industry, a spe-
cial point will be made of tests of
Western woods which are abundant in
the National Forests. There are enor-
nous supplies of various softwoods in
these Forests for which there now ex
lists little demand, and this fact con-
stitutes one of the serious problems of
management of the National Forests.
In order to have forests produce timber
steadily they must be cut; but if there
is market only for timber from the
most valuable kinds Of trees the result
of cutting is likely to be the disappear
ance of these trees and their replace
ment in the forest growth by species
which are not in demand. Since the
pulp mills take material too small for
the lumber mills, species suitable for
paper making can be cut to a low tim
Der diameter, and thus the balance
may be turned i'll favor of the repro
duction of the more valuable kinds of
trees.
In addition to the benefit which the
public will derive from the advance