Caustic soda, but little known in 1861, is now extensively manufactured, and Weldon's new process has greatly increased the power of production and diminished the cost of manufacturing bleaching powder; thus "the comparative expense of chemically reducing Raw Fibres" is no longer an obstacle to progress.
The manufacturer of the present day will, in fact, undertake to make paper from any raw fibre, or fibrous substance that may be submitted to him.
He has, however, several questions to consider before he will commit himself to purchase or contract for any new fibrous material, these being: its cost, not merely as a raw material, but in the details of manufacture, and the quality of the paper that can economically be made from such fibre, either alone, or introducing it as a blend with the material he at present employs; then, assuming these points satisfactorily determined, he would desire to know the quantity of such material annually available, with some guarantee for continuous and reliable supply at a price not liable to erratic fluctuations.
The value of "Esparto" as a Paper-making material having been recognized, and its employment almost universally adopted in the Trade, naturally led to various attempts to introduce other "new material," which hitherto, however, have met with only partial success: the "Dwarf Palm," Chamœrops humilis, and "Diss," as well as some other materials from North Africa, have been tried and abandoned as unsuitable: "Jute" also has latterly attracted considerable attention; "Butts" or "Cuttings," as they are termed, the refuse from the preparation of the long clean fibre now so largely used as a Textile, have entered extensively into consumption, being imported from India specially for paper-makers' use, packed in hydraulic-pressed bales; but this fibre is difficult and costly to bleach perfectly, and is only employed for the lower class of "News" and "Common printing," or unbleached, for "Brown" and "Wrapping" papers; but as it has long been familiar to the trade in the form of Waste, Gunny-bagging, and Rope, it can hardly be termed a "New Material."
Two or three other excellent fibrous materials may be mentioned, small parcels of which are occasionally to be met with, that are, or more correctly speaking would be, much prized by Paper-manufacturers if obtainable at reasonable rates, such as "Adansonia Bark," "New Zealand Flax," "Manilla Hemp," "Sunn," and other Indian, Hemp-like Fibres, all of which will bleach well and make paper of superior quality; but unfortunately the quantity available is so small, and the supply so irregular and uncertain, that they can hardly be relied upon as "Raw Material."
"Wood," both chemically and mechanically prepared, has been, and indeed is now, used to a very considerable extent; but the latter, produced by grinding down "billets" from the tree as cut down, on a grindstone to a pulp, with water, or without water, to the condition of flour, contains but little fibre, and that fibre with very little "felting" property (an essential for a good sheet of paper); thus it can only be used as a "filler-up" for "cheap News" and common papers, like "clay" (facetiously called in the trade Devonshire linen), or any other adulterant which the necessities of the Paper-maker, to meet the market, (or in other words deficient supply of good and cheap suitable material) compel him to use.
"Wood," chemically prepared, is costly in production, as it is only possible to reduce it into Pulp, by boiling under very high pressure, with strong caustic alkali; several mills established both in England and Scotland, to carry out this manufacture, have abandoned it, and such Pulp as is now used in the Trade is derived exclusively from the countries where the wood is grown. The Pulp thus produced, although somewhat hard and harsh, if the wood is carefully selected, and properly prepared, will, blended with other material, produce a fair quality of paper.
The use of "Straw," from the "Cereals," Wheat, Oats, and Rye, has of late years greatly extended, both in this country and throughout the continent of Europe, as well as in the United States of America, either alone or as an admixture with rags and other material, for all classes of paper, as these countries equally with England suffer from a deficient supply of Raw Material; but in England, owing to the increased consumption for agricultural and feeding purposes, and influenced also by the scarcity and high prices lately ruling for "Esparto" in many districts, "Straw" has become very difficult to obtain, and considerable quantities have in consequence been imported from Holland and Belgium, both raw, and as bleached Pulp.
I may here mention two other fibrous substances, which have from time to time attracted considerable attention, viz. "Maize Leaves" and "Rice Straw," both of them raw materials, from which a fair quality of paper is produced in the countries where these plants are cultivated; but, as in their natural condition after being harvested they are far too bulky to permit of transport to this country, they would have to be reduced to a portable form where they grow, and even then, owing to the small yield of "true fibre," their economical conversion is somewhat doubtful, unless under favourable conditions.
The daily increasing demand for Paper being recognized, and the impending if not immediate scarcity of Raw Material available for its manufacture, up to the present time, having been shown, to what quarter must the Trade look for an extended supply?