The lacebark pine
Small-scale papermaking
Sails on the horizon
Chinese forestry academy's compendium of tree species
China, as one of the cradles of mankind's ancient civilizations, has a long history of silviculture. Old historical records tell us that when Chin Shih wang-meaning "the first universal emperor"-unified China in 221 B.C. he ordered that all the books he found undesirable be burned. He specifically excepted books about tree planting, agriculture and medicine. However, experiences and technical papers on tree planting until recently remained unsystematic and incomplete.
Because of the demand for expanding the tree-planting campaign, part of the "four modernizations of China" programme, the Chinese Academy of Forestry began not long ago to compile the Chinese people's experiences in this field. This was an immense undertaking indeed, considering the rich heritage of forestry and the new knowledge accumulated in the past three decades. The Academy, accordingly, organized a group, 500 strong, of scientific researchers, teachers, engineers, veteran workers and leading comrades from 200 institutions and individual establishments in 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, to do the work. They were sent out to the forestry production units to live with the foresters, make a deep study of their practices and techniques and sum up their knowledge. Peasants with centuries-old traditions in cultivating trees made their contributions along with forestry workers.
As a result, a 1 300-page book entitled The silviculture of Chinese trees has been completed and published by the Chinese Agriculture Publishing House. It describes 210 main tree species, most of which are important Chinese indigenous species, including fast-growing timber trees, oil-bearing trees, high-starch content nut-trees producing food substitutes, sand-stabilizing trees, windbreak trees, farm protection-belt trees and trees of special economic significance. The distribution, morphological characteristics, biological behaviour, seed collection and selection, nursery practice, planting, management, insect and disease control, wood properties, utilization and economic value of each species are described in detail. It is not only a valuable scholarly work of historical significance in Chinese forestry science, but also a most useful handbook for those people engaged in forestry. No wonder workers and peasants have greeted its publication with enthusiasm. We suppose that if non-Chinese foresters could read this book about China's tree species they too would appreciate it.
ZHANG SHI CAN
Beijing
One of the most striking native tree species of China is the lacebark pine, Pinus bungeana. It is the only kind in East Asia with three needles in a fascicle. Of the Pinus genus consisting of some 80 species around the globe, the lacebark pine is the only one that sheds its bark in pieces when it is old.
The lacebark pine is an exceedingly charming evergreen tree. With its tall chalk-coloured, speckled trunk and branches and a canopy of luxuriant green, it has been favoured by the Chinese people for many centuries. Zhang Zhu, an ancient Ming Dynasty poet (1368-1644), praised it this way:
"Its pine needles as fine
As silver hairpins,
Its male flowers fly about
With dry fragrant pollen grains;
By the temple, in misty rain,
It appears as a tall white dragon."
The use of lacebark pines for decorative purposes began as long as 800 years ago. As a rule they are planted on one side of a particularly attractive scene, a building or a rock garden, against red walls, blue tiles, pavilions and a lake or a pool, to form a striking feature of the landscape.
A sturdy tree that takes root even in the crevices of cliffs or in barren soil, it flourishes wild in the mountains of China's mid-south, southwest, northwest, and especially the north. There still are pure natural lacebark pine forests in Shengxi province today.
Recently it has been found that the lacebark pine is resistant to air pollution, especially to sulphur dioxide, and can absorb some poisonous gases. Being an evergreen conifer, it is considered particularly suitable for landscape gardening in north China's industrial cities.
With all its merits, this graceful poetic pine that has beautified gardens and temples in the past centuries now takes a new lease on life. It is being widely planted around guest-houses, along streets, in gardens, squares, parks, hillsides and other scenic places. More and more people seek its seeds and try to plant its saplings in big cities and small towns. Thus the lacebark pines are increasingly made part of the "four modernizations" programme. But the germination power of lacebark pine seed is very poor. To help solve this problem the Chinese Academy of Forestry compiled all the experience available on cultivation of this tree and found an easy way to overcome the trouble. It suffices to follow these simple instructions: mix the seeds with moist sand, turn them often, keep moisture and temperature around all seeds as even as possible; also, sowing at a time when 40 percent of the seeds begin to crack during stratification treatment is the easiest way to achieve best germination.
The lacebark pine can adapt to different kinds of soils, growing prosperously when soil reaction is alkaline or moderately acidic. It successfully survives a low temperature of - 30°C. However, it has an Achilles' heel: water-logging kills the lacebark pine instantly. The "Guidebook of Tree Planting," published by the Chinese Academy of Forestry, provides relevant measures to avoid the fatal blow.
The tree requires little care but gives much. It supplies even-grained wood with a shiny, smooth finish and fragrant edible oil is extracted from its nut-like seeds.
CHEN JUN-YÜ and ZHANG SHI CAN
CHINESE ACADEMY OF FORESTRY
Beijing
Frequent requests for information on small-scale technology for producing paper and paper products are received by the Intermediate Technology Industrial Services (ITIS). Most of the inquiries come from developing countries and it is an important fact that agricultural practices in these countries often produce vast quantities of waste products, such as rice and wheat straw and bagasse, that can be used in papermaking.
ITIS commissioned Dr. Aggarwala of Hangal Paper Consultants, New Delhi, to prepare a report on the development of the small-scale paper mild in India. ITIS also provided the funding for Mr. Arthur Western, who has had a life-time of experience in the paper industry, to visit India in order to review the current status of the small-scale paper industry in India and to identify the potential for innovation and technology transfer.
As a result of the report and Mr. Western's trip, ITIS are producing a book entitled Small-scale papermaking -the India experience, which will be published shortly. This is a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of the industry, covering such topics as:
· The range of products and processes involved.
· Detailed economics of installation and operation.
· Government incentives.
· The historical development of Indian mills.
Perhaps the most interesting and relevant information, however, is included in the final two chapters which deal with the applicability of the India experience to other developing contries, and the scope for further improving the technology. Case studies of five scales of operation are outlined in Volume 1 which details plant, processes, operation, viability, financing and management.
Recognizing the scope for further refinement and dissemination of this technology, ITIS has undertaken a member of significant developments. The one of most immediate interest is a project with an Indian paper manufacturer to introduce and evaluate consistency regulators into an existing pulp operation. ITIS will finance the services of an expert to supervise manufacture, in India, of the improved regulator. ITIS also hopes to prepare a number of techno-economic feasibility studies for the introduction of small-scale papermaking technology into interested developing countries, to assist in financing the investment package, and to provide an inspection service to facilitate the transfer of hardware. ITIS has also established links with a major paper producer, who has an extensive research and development programme to improve pulping processes in which agricultural waste products are used.
Per caput paper consumption averages in India 1.8 kg per annum at present, which represents a market of about one million tons of paper annually. This is expected to grow as both population and average consumption rise. Faced with this growing demand for paper and having little readily-accessible timber, India has chosen to develop its own indigenous papermaking technology, with the aid of the government incentive of an import substitution policy. Small-scale, home-produced paper mills serving relatively localized demand have been the order of the day, using local fibre sources and largely financed by private investment. The result is equipment available at only one third the cost of Western equipment per tonne of output. Complete pulp and paper mills with all the necessary supporting facilities can be commissioned from Indian suppliers at a scale to suit small, concentrated demand in a time of rapidly increasing transport costs.
More significant, however, than the number of small-scale mills is their apparent appropriateness to Indian socioeconomic conditions, and particularly their ability to use agricultural waste products as the basic raw material input, unlike larger-scale mills in Europe and America which were founded on the assumption of ready availability of timber resources in vast quantities.
Bamboo is at present the chief source of raw material for papermaking for large mills and sound technique; for its utilization have been developed. existing supplies are fully committed to present needs and bamboo is unlikely to contribute significantly to future paper needs. The principal fibres in use in the small mills are agricultural residues such as bagasse and straw in the rural areas, and waste paper in the urban areas. Pulp for papermaking is made from any material containing cellulose, and the essential feature of the pulp preparation stage is the removal of non-cellulose from the vegetable matter.
So far the main technical disadvantages of using agricultural residues are the pollution risks and, where the effluent volume is reduced by chemical recovery, the high silica content of these fibres.
Development work promises to overcome the latter problem efficiently and economically.
With the price of rising ever higher, the return to sailing ships as ocean freighters may be both more efficient and cheaper than oil-fuelled vessels. Such is the thinking of some ship designers. The perennial problem with sailing ships is the uncertainty of wind conditions. But participants at a recent symposium in London of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects saw a way around this difficulty. Now being designed is a new class of square-rigged bulk carriers with enough clear deck space to hold Large cargoes and computers to select optimal routes from satellite weather reports. Such ships would also have hydraulic machinery to control the rigging, stabilizer, and auxiliary diesel engines. One vessel, now in the works, could sail from Europe to Australia in just a week longer than a motorship, and would cost 20 percent less to operate. One of the primary uses envisioned for these new sailing ships is Third World commerce.
