PAPER FROM NEW ZEALAND TIMBER.

Otaki Mail, 2 January 1924, Page 3

PAPER FROM NEW ZEALAND TIMBER.

I EXPERIMENTS BY STATE POKE ST SERVICE. ! l'lie ijorfsibilitics of utilising New ! Zealand timbers in tko manufacture of ' Hood puip and paper have been discussed i'ioin time to time, and within the past few months experiments in tin's connection have been carried emit by tiie .'sew Zealand State Purest Service. the investigations being of a pro-

limiiuuy nature. Two tests have been 1 made, l.jie lust ui co-operation with the imperial Institute of Scientific and Indus, rial itescareii, London, to ascertain i the suitability of red, biach, silver, and ! mount am beech, kamuhi, tawn, pinus : la ratio, and piuu.; radiata lor the rnanu- | future of pulp and paper, and the see- : end in co'optuUiuu with ilessrs Boving i and v’o., Ltd., ol London, to determine i tile pulping value of l'imu, white pine, , 'od, biaek and silver beech, and tawa. ■ Although lacking in technical detail, 1 both tests aiiorued much valuable in- ■ iurmaiion. Jt i- hoped that with the ! e>iabli.ihment ol a f orest Products Lai boratory the tin cstigation will be eum- , pie ted, and that '.lie suitability of the native woods lor pulp and paper nuuiu--1 lecture Mill be determined witlim lines | of e-iose accuracy. ! liie material lor the tests was telect- | ed by ollicers of the State Forest Service, and shipped in the log to London. i dlifb the exception of the tawa, which i came from the Kotorua Conservation j itegion, the whole of the material was obtained from the Westland Couservaj tion Begiou. j A Successful Trial. >

The “sulphate’' process was used throughout the investigation. This process consists of boiling the chipped wood in a solution it' caustic soda containing small amount of sulphate and sulphide of soda. The same conditions .of temperature, pressure, and strength or lye were used id all experiments. A trial “cook” was also made of a mixlure of rimu and white pine to see v. hot her they could be treated together, or whether it wquld be necessary to treat, them separately. In this experiment a rather higher pressure and longj or cooking time were used with the ouI jeet of obtaining an easy bleaching I quality of pulp. This trial was successj fut, the pulp obtained being well and I e'wiiy cooked and bleaching with about IJI per cent of bleaching powder. In I reporting on the results of the experiments, Mr. A. 11. Entrician, engineer in torest products to the State forest Service, says that with a slightly increased proportion ol : alkali in the cooking liquor, and a longer time for treatment

than was used in this trial, the pulp obtained from an admixture of rintu and "'kite pine would bleach with considerably less chlorine, From this it follows that nmu ai;d white pine are identical flora a papwr-muking point of view, and that, provided the moisture in the slops irom both species is somewhere about the same, there .would be no difficulty in cooking them together if so desired. The pulp obtained from all the woods experimented with is stated to be easy to handle iu washing, etc, The fibre obtained (from rimu and white pine is long, strong, and of excellent quality tor making ‘ ‘ Kraft 1 ' paper, or tor writting, or fine printing when bleached. The red, black, and silver beech fibre is dark in colour, and a 1 - tho ugh capable of manufacture into paper without admixture, really onlv fit to be used as “fillers" when making papers of inferior quality from longrlibrcd pulps. Tavva fibre is even shorter than the beech fibres, and is dark in colour. Samples of pulp and paper inudu (lout these woods are now iu possession of the Forest Service. They are specimens made on a laboratoryscale, and of use simply to demonstrate the length and quality of fibre which may be obtained from the various woods. Rimu and White Pine The Beet. The results of the investigation indicate, say* Hr. Entriean, that while use may be made of all timbers examined as a source of wood pulp and paper product*, rimu and white pine are the most valuable at present as paper-mak-ing materials, especially for’“Kraft" qualities. The others may be used in admixture with long-fibred pulps for the manufacture of inferior papers such as “wrappers," etc. I 1 he importance of the .successful joint treatment of white pine and rimu lie. •! the fact that large quantities of was,!: from both species are available in virions parls of the Dominion. A . group of 13 sawmills in Westland, for instance, la, ■ a total possible waste of J5-i cords per ■' iv for disposal. Pro- i vided the wood can be obtained at a reasonable cost, and chc-ap transport;*.- . tion assured, there- r no doubt that a Pulp and paper m:!l, built on modern . line? to exploit the - timbers, would be j a profitable scheme. •“’2K«S2!?2«P7?w