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effect of machine stripping on the future supply of abaca fiber and waste, 
but it was the only opportunity which has thus far presented itself for 
obtaining even approximate information in regard to this question. This 
machine waste contains a large amount of fiber of value to the paper 
maker and the quantity of waste demonstrates the fact that, whereas 
the outer surface of the leaf petioles undoubtedly contains the strongest 
fibers which are so valuable to the cordage maker, the cellular portion of 
the petioles also contains much fiber which is entirely lost by the hand- 
stripping process. 
Semi-fibrous waste-——No determination of the percentage of the semi- 
fibrous waste, above referred to, was made at the time the stripping 
experiments were conducted. Later, an approximate determination of 
the amount produced by a given stalk was arrived at in the following 
manner: A complete stalk of abacd, weighing 15.876 kilos, was chopped 
into small pieces and subjected to hydraulic pressure. The dried residue 
weighed 1.592 kilos, so that the original stalks contained 10 per cent of 
vegetable matter and 90 per cent of water, calculated on the gross weight. 
In the case of the hand-stripped stalks only 24 per cent of these solids 
is accounted for. This loss of nearly 80 per cent, or four-fifths of the 
total solids of the stalk, caused us to collect and dry some of this waste 
material for a determination of its cellulose content. These and all 
subsequent digestion experiments were conducted on 1-kilo lots of dry 
material. 
Haperiment No. 1.—Strength of the caustic soda liquors, 2 per cent; 15 per 
cent of caustic soda calculated on dry weight of material treated; pressure, 6-8 
atmospheres; time, 8 hours; yield, 33 per cent; digestion, incomplete; residue, 
brown and coarse and only fit for cheap, colored wrappings. 
Haeperiment No. 2.—Strength of liquor, 3$ per cent; 25 per cent caustic soda 
calculated on dry weight of material; pressure, 6-8 atmospheres; time, 8 hours; 
yield, 20.5 per cent; apparently well digested; light-gray residue. 
Eeperiment No. 3.—Strength of liquor, 5 per cent; 45.5 per cent caustic soda 
calculated on dry weight of material; other conditions same as above; yield, 20 
per cent. 
From the above results we see that this waste is semi-fibrous. The time 
required, the pressure, and the strength of the caustic soda necessary to 
remove the cellulose portions of this waste will undoubtedly prohibit its 
use. No further experimentation with this material was made. For 
the manufacture of wrapping paper, where color is not so important as 
is strength and cheapness, the waste could be lime-boiled under pressure, 
and but partially bleached, as is done with jute. 
Fibrous waste-—The waste material, which results from the present 
method of extraction of the fiber for cordage and textile purposes, con- 
sists essentially of broken, tangled, but clean, fibers mixed with strips or 
bands of fiber aggregates, from which the cellular and incrusting matter 
has not entirely been removed. Its cellulose content varies, being of 
course dependent upon the amount of these soluble constituents which 
