Left: Kelly Keepa and Garry Gear feeding the grinder with 3ft. pinus logs. Grinders crushing the logs into pulp are driven by 1200 H.P. motors. Right: Two cadets. Training at the Mill consist of several years in all departments, during which period evening classes are also available. These boys are in the laboratory for a six months period. NEW ZEALAND DEVELOPS A NEW INDUSTRY BAY OF PLENTY WILL BE TRANSFORMED Some Twenty-five years ago, people began to become aware of the great possibilities of using New Zealand grown forests for paper production. By then, many people were aware of the amazing rapidity of growth of certain timbers in New Zealand soils, especially pinus. It would be cheaper to grow the type of young pine tree used for paper production in New Zealand than in almost any other country, because of the short period of growth of the trees. The Government had some experiments carried out in the United States in 1928. A few years after that an Australian Company, named ‘Timberlands Woodpulp Ltd.’, arranged for some more detailed investigations. It was proved experimentally that the New Zealand woods used in the experiments (pinus insignia, rimu and tawa) were suitable for the manufacture of Kraft wrappings, board, newsprint, writings and high-grade white papers. On the basis of these experiments the Whakatane Paper Mills Ltd. was founded in 1934 with a capital of over £2.5 million. So far, these paper mills have made a significant contribution to the problem of finding work for Maoris in their home districts. As the first of several mills that are planned in the Bay of Plenty area, it has pointed the way, not only to the employment of local people, but also to training them in a highly skilled trade.

The Whakatane Board Mill The mill started operations in July, 1939, a few weeks before the beginning of the war. By this time seedlings planted out in the company's 46,000-acre plantations in 1928 were ready for manufacturing processes. During the war the plant produced an average of over 11,000 tons of cardboard per annum, which was in excess of New Zealand's pre-war consumption. At present production stands somewhere around 15,000 tons per annum. The rather specialized machinery used is Swedish. The exact processes through which the pulp passes on its way to the cardboard stage are rather complicated to describe, but roughly the treatment is as follows. Cardboard consists of three main pulp constituents, namely the pulp ground from the freshly cut trees, imported chemical pulp and waste paper. A common furnish for a good strong cardboard used extensively today is approximately 30% waste paper, 50% ground wood, and 20% imported chemical pulp. In addition the production of card-