National Conference on Forest Products 67 
PREVENTING DECAY LOSSES IN PULP AND PAPER MANUFACTURE? 
By D. C. EVEREST 
Secretary and General Manager, Marathon Paper Mills Co. 
The subject assigned me relative to ground with cinders or other mate- 
preventing decay losses in pulp wood rials to keep down the vegetable 
and wood pulp is one which is being growth and the removal of old bark 
studied with great care by those en- and débris from previous piling has 
gaged in the manufacture of all classes been so small that immediate finan- 
of chemical and mechanical wood pulp. cial benefits were received ; and, natu- 
Decay losses occur in every stage of rally, where such a condition exists 
timber life, including the standing you are bound to get prompt coopera- 
timber in the forest, the pulp wood tion. 
stored along tracks or rivers or in the The introduction and use of bark- 
mill yard and, in the case of stored ing drums as against the use of knife 
mechanical pulp particularly, in the barkers is another simple innovation 
finished product itself. The Bureau which has reduced the wood losses 
of Plant Industry has estimated that due to barking tremendously, and it 
10 per cent of the annual cut of pulp seems to me as though a conservative 
wood is needed each year to replace estimate of the saving affected would 
the decay loss occurring during that be from 8 to 10 per cent of the wood 
year. When we figure the amount of used, and of the best wood in the tree. 
timber this represents, we realize the This proposition, like the sanitation 
necessity of expending every effort of the wood yard, was a saving which 
to overcome this situation as far as could be readily appreciated by the 
possible. mill owner and was promptly adopted. 
The financial loss is not the only In the production of wood pulp 
loss to be considered. If we were against the work of destructive fungi, 
dealing with an inexhaustible raw ma- the savings made have not been so 
terial supply we would not be so con- apparent, and research work along 
cerned, but we are exhausting a re- that line still continues. It is a fact, 
source which is not being replaced, however, that the discussion of this 
and some time we shall arrive at a problem has brought about much bet- 
point where manufacture from timber ter storage conditions for pulp in the 
can not continue. It therefore be- various plants throughout the coun- 
hooves us to do those things which (ry, With the supply of pulp wood in 
will delay that time as long as poS- this country constantly diminishing, 
sible. Perhaps we may awaken in jt is a shame that anyone should to- 
time to do the things which will day permit pulp wood to deteriorate 
bridge the gap of mo timber produc- in value while stored in the yard, due 
tion, but if so we must make our to fungi or other causes, and it is 
start promptly and with a determina- even more serious to permit wood 
tion to continue the work consistently. pulp to decay after all the expendi- 
The subject of preventing decay was ture necessary to convert it from pulp 
brought prominently to the attention wood to wood pulp. The Forest Prod- 
of manufacturers through the work of yetg Laboratory is entitled to the 
the Forest Products Laboratory about credit of having brought to the atten- 
SIX or seven years ago, and there has ton of the manufacturer this great 
been constant improvement in the economic waste and of having out- 
handling and storing of both pulp lined plans whereby much of it might 
Wood and wood pulp since that time. pe overcome. It is reasonable to sup- 
The savings possible through proper pose that the annual financial saving 
Yard sanitation were so apparent that will run to many million dollars, as 
the improvement in yard storage con- ‘well as the conservation of timber 
ditions was taken up quickly and has which can not readily be replaced. 
resulted in enormous savings to pulp- There is also another forest patho- 
Wood owners. The cost of properly |ogical problem which is in urgent 
arranging a wood yard for piling pulp need of investigation, and, if possible, 
Wood and logs so as to permit of a solution. That is the problem of for- 
Circulation of air between the piles, est diseases. The losses from insect 
elevating the piles above the ground pests, tree diseases, and timber rot is 
bY means of skids, and covering the enormous. With the establishment of 
fRead by O. M. Porter, assistant secre: To xp men in i 3 
tare y Ua or, I~ on he country, we wi ave e 
fay American Paper and Pulp Associa means of studvine these pathological