USE FOR WASTE TIMBER.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 October 1921, Page 3

USE FOR WASTE TIMBER.

PAPER-MAKING PROSPECT’S. LONDON, Aug. 24

It, is common knowledge that, in all countries in which forestry and tim-ber-cutting operations are carried on, large quantities of wood arc wasted. A considerable amount is lost during the cutting of the trees, e.g., by leaving too long a stump to rot in the ground, |,v discarding trees broken in falling, by tlio breaking of young trees by falling timber, and by. the rejection of immature a ml defecting trees after cutting. and of largo limbs and tree tops. It is estimated . that the. annual waste ill the United States tbtals almost 1,000,1X10,000 cubic feet of wood. The Lands and Survey Department in Wellington estimates that the approximate normal annual cut of timber in New Zealand is 31>0,000,000 super feet, and the total quantity of waste produced in the sawmills, in the form of sawdust and slabs, is about 15,099,000 cubic feet. Of the latter quantity not more than 2,000.000 cubic feet is used as fuel, the remainder being ontiroly wastedMuch of the wood at present wasted could he utilised for such purposes as the manufacture of paper pulp, and the production of turpentine, ascetic acid, and other products. In order to ascertain the Mutability of certain New Zealand timbers for paper-making in place of imported wood-pulp, ail. investigation has been conducted at the Imperial Institute, the remits of which are recorded in the new numlier of its quarterly “Bulletin.” It is pointed out. in the first place, that an enormous niiwuntl of wood is wasted in the process of converting the felled tree into merchantable timber, and it was found that the timbers examined could all lie used for the manufacture of paper pulp.

The Imperial Institute authorities dealt with the following eight varieties of the New Zealand timber(l) Pages (Nothofagus) Kolaiidri. (2) Pagus t Nothofagns) Menziessi. (4) Weinniannia racomosa, (5) Fagits (Nothofagus) fnsdi. ((i) Roilschmiedia Town, (7) Pious l.aricio, (8) Finns radiata. The results given show Hie chemical examination and pa|ior-maUiiig trials were curried out* on wood freed from bark, and the results refer throughout tr, the air-dried wood. Til the pulping trials each wood was treated with caustic soda under conditions similar lo those employed for tho preparation of paper pulp on a commercial scale. The Imperial Institute experimenters have come to tile (tinclusion that all these timbers would he suitable for tlie manuaet-ure of paper pulp 1 n New Zealand if available ill sufficient quantities; hut before the manufacture of pulp is undertaken on ii commercial scale, a numlier of (actors will need careful consideration. Tlfev include;—

(1) The quantity of tin- waste wood which "ill he regularly available. 11l tliis connexion, it seems probable from the results of the trials described in this report that the woods of the four species of Eagtts (Nothofagus) and those of lleilscbmiedia Tawa and Wcininaiinia racomosa might he used in admixture. The woods of the Pinus Ltvricio and P. radiata, however, require more drastic treatment, and should therefore not be mixed with the others; (2) the 7 prices per ton at which the waste wood could he delicored at the pulping mill; (3) the* selection ml n suitable site tor tin- mill. Ibis should lie situated in a locality provided with good facilities for transport (by rail or water), and with an ample supply of water;. (I) the cost of erecting and equipping tlio mill; (5) the cost ol tin-1 ami chemicals (particularly soda and lime), delivered at the mill; (f>\. tincost of .superintendence and labour; (7) the value of the pulp in New Zealand and Australia as a substitute for tho woodpulp at present imported.

Another article in the same “Hulletin” deals with the problem of the comincrciul utilisation in cotton-grow-ing countries of the vast quantities of cotton) stalks which arc produced each year, and have t<) be removed from the fields after the cotton crop has been gathered. Investigation at the Imperial Institute hits shown that the stalks form a promising material for paper-making, and that they might also he used for obtaining, ascetic acid, tar. and charcoal by a process ol dry distillation.