The suggestion—now, we are glad to see, withdrawn—that the Swedish
Government should prohibit the export of wood pulp has called forth some very interesting information in regard to the resources of the British Empire in the provision of the raw material of paper. Not only are Canada and Newfoundland full of woods which make good pulp, but many other parts of the British Empire are capable of producing paper-making materials of the best sort. A great variety of these materials has, we are informed, already been investigated at the Imperial Institute, " and hardly a month passes without fresh British sources for the raw material of paper-making being brought to light." For example, in Central and Northern India there are enormous forest areas covered with waste grasses which would yield pulp of first-class quality. Again, there are large tracts in the Indian Empire where the bamboos would be available for similar purposes. British Africa also supplies wonderful paper- making material in the elephant grass of Uganda. The supply of this grass, we are told, is practically inexhaustible, and it thrives throughout the greater part of tropical Africa. Finally, promising paper-making material is to be found in the Sudan and the West Indies, and sugar-cane residues make good pulp. Clearly there is no fear for the newspaper of the future.
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