Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1911-02-25
Forest Service.

Washington, February 18.-Officials
of the United States Department OF
Agriculture have received with salts
faction announcement from the expe-
rimental ground wood pulp mill which
the Department has been equipping at
Wausau, Wisconsin, In cooperation
with the American Pulp and Paper
Association, that the mill has begun
to grind. The carrying On of the
tests now announces as under way wa1
provided for by special appropria-
ton, placed at the disposal of the Ser
cretary of Agriculture by Congress
last winter, to conduct tests Of the
suitability for paper making of plants
and woods which seem likely to be-
come value source of supply of new
material.
Secretary Wilson considered that
the best use which could be made OF
this money would be to conduct expe-
riments on a commercial scale, with
various kinds of wood Some of these
have already been studied In the lab
oratory, and found to be itrinsically
suitable for pulp manufacture In
deed, 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 profitably be utilized, under pres
EFT conditions, 1T is necessary to test
them under methods of manufacture
comparable to those employed In act
ual business operations. In particular
1T is desired to find out ito what ex-
tent new woods can be used for grou-
nd pulp, the cost of which lis usually
less than that of chemical pulp.
The Wausau mill has been built es-
pecially for the use of the Government
for as hong as the experiments may
require. Its inside dimensions are 4O
by 100 feet, and it is equipped with
electrical machinery and all necessary
apparatus of the most up-to-date type
Part of the equipment is contributed
~ the American Ftulp and Paper AS
ISOLATION, and part is furnished by the
Government. The Association will
also furnish the wood for the tests.
The wood now on hand includes car
load lots of jack pine, spruce, hem
look. and tamarack The jack pine
is to be the first wood tested.
While the experiments are intend
ed to cover woods from all parts OF
the country which from the standpoint
of physical properties and available
supplies, promise TO furnish new ma
terial for the paper-making industry,
q special point will be made OF tests
of western woods whichare abundant
In the National Forests. There are
enormous supplies OF various soft
woods in these Forests for which there
now exists little demand, and this
fact constitutes one of the serious
problems of management OF the Nat
ional Forests. In order to have for
estsA produce timber steadily they
must be cut; but II there is mark
ct only fortimber from the most val
liable kinds of trees the result OF cut
ting is hkelyto. be thedisappearande
of these trees and their replacement
in the forest growth by species which
arenotin demand. Since the pulp mills
take material too small for the lumber
mills, species suitable for paper ma
king can be turned In favor OF the
reproduction of the more valuable
kinds. Of trees.
In addition to the benefit whichthe
public will derive from the advance
ment of forest conservation in conse-
queuce of the wood pulp experim ents
of the Government, there is further
benefit of cheaper paper which it is
believed these xprim ents should make
possible. The price Of paper OF the
cheaper grades, inclurding news pa,
DER. has been advancing rapidly of re.
cent years as the supply OF spruce
has dwindled, and American mills are
now drawing a large part OF their sup
ply from Canada. If ground pulp Of
the requisite quality can be made
!. from new and, abundant woods as
cheaplV as 1t is made from spruce
one Of the most serious problems Of
the newspaper publisher NOWADAYS
will or should be considerably sim
pk0ied.