AGRICULTURE ROOM
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FOREST PRODUCT S
LABORATORY RESEARCH TO SOUTH'IEI? N
PULP AND PAPER DEVELOPMENT S
SCHOOL OF FORESTR Y
OREGON STATE COLLEG E
CORVALLIS, OREGO N
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AdRtCULTUR E
LFOREST SERVIC E
FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY
~-~
Madison, Wisconsi n
;)
In Cooperation with the University of Wisconsi n
March 1939
•v lr byiC
.i iir
'FORESTRY
COLD
COPYN ! ' OREGON
CONTRIBT.TTIONS OF FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY RESEARC :I!
tam'
TO SOUTRERN PULP AND PAPER I VELOPM NTS l
By CARLI LE P . WINSLOW, Director '
Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin
The development of markets for forest products is of tremendou s
importance to the South because :
Almost two-thirds of the land in the southern states is mor e
suited to the growth of forests than to any other crop .
In recent years the declining market for cotton has resulted i n
the abandonment of some 16,000,000 acres of cotton land -- equivalen t
to the loss of 135,000,000 man-days of work or 500,000 year-long jobs .
The South must look to increased industrial use and increase d
markets for forest products to absorb its surplus labor and to assur e
the prosperity of its rural communities .
The South has a tremendous advantage in producing forest material s
because of rapid tree growth . It now has vast areas of forest lands which ,
given the proper fire protection, may be increased from 2 to 4 times its
present growth. If the market for this potential growth can be develope d
the industrial conversion of forest products from the southern states wil l
provide great expansion of jobs .
One of the most promising outlooks for realizing these needs o f
the South is the pulp and paper industry . As a matter of fact, thi s
industry is already one of major importance in the South .
There is a somewhat general popular impression that the souther n
pulp and paper industry is a new development . Compared relatively wit h
the industry in certain other parts of the country that impression i s
correct, but in other respects it is quite erroneous . Appreciable quantities of southern pine were being used for pulp in 1909 and by 192 9
this consumption had reached over a million cords annually . In 1932, a
depression year when consumption of other pulpwoods declined, souther n
pine was utilized for pulp to the extent of a million and a quarte r
cords . The tremendous growth since 1932 and particularly in the pas t
three years is so well known as to require no comment .
-Presented at the Fifth Annual Conference of the National Farm Chemurgi c
Council, Jackson, Miss ., March 29-April 1, 1939 . Published in Monthl y
Review of the American Paper & Pulp Association, New York City, May
and June 1939, Vol . 6, Nos . 5 and 6 .
SCHOOL OF FOttESIIO
OREGON STATE COLLEG E
81206
CORVALLIS, OREGO N
Forest Pro •' Laboratory was established nearly thirt y
and research on the pulping of southern species was one o f
set up ; in fact, it was under way in Fores t
aboratories prior to 1910 ; it has been actively in the Laborathat t' me arm s. mooing strong today . The recor d
continuously contributed factual an d
subject over this period and its contri development of the southern pulp an d
ificant and consistently well in advanc e
e constant aim has been soundly conserva posed to promotional) technical informatio n
in most effectively developing a strong souther n
j l, ,
n
I
stones of p
ss may
ed out . It was abou t
-ONE first co 1,IercialL .%
ed at the Orange, Texas ,
Pine Paper Come
'
first
acts T
wYtvas
vnched at the Forest
of
_• •
d to do with the pr .' :. rr _'
ed
a•
! 4 we issued a bulleti
out o ," . ,0
uitable fo r
by the pulp
nvd tigatio n
at thes e
much in advanc e
_
_
_
ps were .,=de from pra a ` ssemblton.d. published i n
1 or
ons as the C h
Fiber Comp:
,§ kge West Vnia Pu 7
43 other :
tbpie
eri m
fl$
=_ _
•
In the as
i+e'd. our LaboratorOPinvestigated
iple-stag e
. bleaching and produced on a laboratory iscale satisfactory bleached boo k
mom a,- combination of sulphate pjlps produced from southern yello w
black gum . At about the same tiMe the Mead Fiber Corporatio n
~ii~ IPI AgglP4t $i1gspoit, Tennes
; where Ileached pine s o
vrelpmOt7ft
From 1921 to 1927 our research on the pulping of southern woo d
was accelerated . Improved methods for cooking bleachable sulphate pulp s
from the yellow pines were developed, and chlorination bleachin g
procedures tried which resulted in strong white pulps from these species .
During this period also we made newsprint papers from various combina tions of pine sulphite both with pine groundwood and black gum ground wood, and with black gum by means of a new process developed at th e
Laboratory which we called t'semichemical . « This process was found t o
be also well adapted for certain grades of pulp from southern hardwoods ,
the production of corrugating board from extracted chestnut chips, an d
for use with southern gum for butcher s , wrap and lighter colored grades .
Since 1927 a great deal of effort has been directed toward th e
improvement of the quality of pulps and papers using the various standar d
pulping methods with southern pines and hardwoods, and laborator y
products ranging through 9-point board from black jack oak, newsprint ,
and hist-quality bond papers have been successfully produced .
One interesting and very significant outgrowth of this work wa s
the development at the Forest Products Laboratory of a southern pin e
newsprint in which semibleached sulphate pulp is used in place of un bleached sulphite ---- the commonly employed chemical part of newsprin t
paper . We knew that the sulphite process is very difficult to appl y
to pines containing heartwood, and we know also that in the ordinar y
run of wood coming into the mill there will be included a considerabl e
proportion of heart-containing material . Since the production of a
light-colored groundwood precludes the use of a very high percentag e
of dark-colored heartwood, there must be a selection of material suit able for the groundwood pulp . If the sulphite process was also to b e
employed a similar wood selection would be necessary . This limitation
does not apply, however, if the sulphate process is employed, as woo d
of all sorts can be utilized by this method and the selection proble m
greatly minimized. It is significant that the new mill now being erecte d
at Lufkin, Texas, will use this method rather than the sulphite-groundwood furnish which was originally advocated by some people for souther n
newsprint .
'
•
Since 1930 the Laboratory has devoted a great deal of attentio n
to improvement of processes and to a study of growth conditions which .
affect the quality of wood for pulping purposes . In the first category
we have intensively studied the use of soda-base sulphite cookin g
liquors and find promising possibilities in this connection . Fo r
example, if neutral sodium sulphite solutions are employed, properl y
buffered so that acid conditions are not developed, very strong light colored and easy-bleaching pulps can be made from both pines and hard woods . We have, furthermore, developed methods for the recovery o f
the soda from the waste liquors incident to these procedures which, w e
believe, bring them well into the range of practical operation :.
Another significant field of work in the past few years has bee n
the determination of the important influence of forest growth condition s
upon the suitability of southern pines for varied grades of pulp an d
R1206
-3-
portiorpringwoo d
p,aret":
tors determine the
Ond sumWrood
.the tree, the amoun of hear ood and sapwood, • .
•'on wood, .cf
ch or resin . As a tter of fact ,
b f abno>
Q
se r.3sults *C-$% th cir
s often pla a much more significan t
*the jigf*w`.-MOM&
s than th , ecies themselves .
ice.
;l
I
*O
11 a numerous . vate .
Ligi,,!%lbject
any
its status .
an d
cal research a
STs of
FY
therei •b
n ng
one .
two reaso
nes and
r .~e industry an
1s, have been
have been worki
size the lag whi c
loitation . While a
ward to try our
s a period in which t
fics . e
Our ear l
- . II
vowlkp
Wee
imp _
7 IN '
H
g the pa s
ou hern woo d
nificant prop o
een the publication o
.ation in a _
on this development
.ially.
The ideas of Dr . Herty and ourselves on newsprint are now in thi s
lag period . Contrary to a widespread belief, no newsprint paper is ye t
being produced in the South . A mill is being built, as you know, fo r
'this purpose, and there is little reason to doubt but that many thousand s
b newsprint w`i~ ev i aaty '6e made from southern pine . Just how
ides the
1P16t this development will come depends upon many factors
technical ones .
;
The work which we are now doing on the relation of for', st growth
!condJtions t
d suitability is very likely consider Y trTMI". i
nisi
and
-_ ical at the present time . However, there are mfr
being quietly utilized by various indivi .,pdual mills'
have
47 .t that in years to come, as the paper *Ise broade s
South
re manufactured, that wood sew*ion based'
1ecome A 40AIM
Mr
cy
I
woo
I
11
u
r
•r
ate,
;
ri
1-
44rery reson to begrowt
elopment of pulp an d
reat forest resources o
However ,
t the South has no mo ,c .•ly on forest resources .
the Northwest, and t
are reforestation
'dI*stern part of the
es of woo d
m hound t o
i.ous foreste d
-producing
erials, freigh t
sour, will need to be adjuste d
ust,
nepsity' result .
s the
time some
mount o f
ossibilitie s
lly sugmited outle t
$et to find
compet e
factors ente r
compact an d
ble, Thus
t
hope co true+
Welke
t is the relat'
- gic moveme n
many useful c
as the sourc $
and paper r
Th-g tmphas i
ctivities in thi s
OP1 uraged Dr, He r t
trod
eady indicate d
.is
en ]gin er
_
f
It
1
products aswindustria l
drogenated lignin comp) s to ose for rayon textiles, e llulo •
&Lit. fib* 'ffletter of fact,
.jlgt wood in many nstan c
has a better chance of success in mid'
lds than any of the
other crop plants . For after all wood is a crop! It is a crop tha t
farmers all over the country, with the possible exception of the grea t
k& ■ jilop witch is produced with les s
sted a t
' 1$ W
- nee ,
being'
a crop
quir* :estment Ica
la .~
most any o her
.a~1 .0 lmpo'4h the 1
eliminate
Mislkw
lilladenap. ut Ran& ■Pjlimnt
Wo6
- -
.~~
1
~ -
:_
. .II . .
s
~
F
.. i
r~
I
JI_
a more► ctive considera
bre v'iri a in
"eat in f
as one of the most promisi