MODERN PAPER-MAKING

railway wagons that have contained coal or other dirty or oily material. It
is here that the value of a mill siding is apparent, as railway trucks can be
examined and swept clean, and if the floors are doubtful, a few sheets of coarse
wrapping may be laid down to protect the reels or packages. Mill lorries
should be similarly treated.

[Hall and Kay
FIG. 139.—PAPER-CONDITIONING PLANT, SHOWING THE PAPER PASSING ROUND THE SPARRED DRUMS
PAPER CONDITIONING
Paper Conditioning, or maturing, as it is sometimes called, has come into
considerable prominence during the last few years, and is one of those addi-
tional processes which have been forced on paper-makers by the demands
of the printer, who in his turn has been forced to seek for paper which will
give him trouble-free ranning on his fast-running automatic machines. To
put it very simply, paper conditioning consists solely in getting paper 'into
balance' with what has been termed a 'normal atmosphere', which is generally