most intrepid of specialists to try
and complete his Canadian stamps on such ambitious lines, to say nothing
of acquiring the ingenuity necessary to differentiate between them.
Their philatelic importance is, in our humble opinion, not a matter of
very great consequence. At that period, hand-made paper was still being
used to a very large extent and even machine-made paper was not
manufactured with the nicety of standardisation that is possible with
the improved machinery of today. Consequently, the sheets of paper, even
in such a small commercial quantity as a ream, would generally show
considerable variation in texture. Thin and thick sheets were frequently
mixed to obtain the necessary weight per ream specified in any
particular grade of paper. No particular quality of paper was,
apparently, specified for the manufacture of these stamps, and so long
as it looked much about the same it is very obvious the printers made no
particular effort to maintain an exact standard. It is even questionable
that the wove and laid varieties mark distinct consignments or printings
of the stamps. Indeed, so far as the 12d is concerned at any rate, both
varieties must have been included in the same consignment. But, more
serious still, from the point of view of those collectors who consider
the wove and laid papers should be treated as major varieties, Mr. King
admits that "the lines in the laid paper are of a most peculiar
character" and that "it is often difficult to distinguish between the
laid and the wove papers", while Mr. Howes states, "It happens sometimes
that it is quite difficult to distinguish the laid paper, a very careful
scrutiny or even the extreme resort to the benzine cup being necessary
to bring out the watermarked lines, and perhaps then only in a half
suspicious way." Writing in the _Canada Stamp Sheet_ (Vol. IV, page
142), concerning the 12d value, Mr. John N. Luff stated, "It is my
opinion that both the wove and laid papers are quite genuine and I think
it is possible that both varieties might occur though there was only one
lot sent out by the printers. It does not, of course, follow that the
entire batch was printed on the same day or that two varieties of paper
may not have been used. The early printers were not always very
particular about their paper, provided it was somewhat alike in a
general way. Some collectors claim that laid paper is often of such
nature that the lines do not show in some parts of the sh