% el oe) ee el i = Poe. Pe Sa a vee ef ee ee 
1 : (+ E " 
1084 
EXPERIMENT PART. 
COCONUT FIBER. 
Experiment I.—The fibrous tow, prepared by shredding dry husks by hand, 
was digested for three hours at 4 to 6 atmospheres pressure with an excess of 
2 per cent caustic soda solution. <A yield of 47.76 per cent was obtained. 
Experiment II.—Uncleaned husks, cut up into fine pieces and treated as out- 
lined in Experiment I, gave a yield of 26 per cent. 
Experiment III.—Fibrous tow prepared as in Experiment I, digested during 
seven hours at 6 atmospheres pressure with lime and soda ash in quantities 
sufficient to form 20 per cent caustic soda, calculated on the weight of the ma- 
terial treated, produced a 49 per cent yield of well-pulped fiber containing some 
undissolved foreign matter. 
BURI PALM ROPE. 
Baperiment I—Old worn rope was cut up into small pieces and digested for 
six hours at 4 to 5 atmospheres pressure with a 2 per cent caustic soda solution. 
A yield of 30.1 per cent was obtained. 
Experiment II.—New 1-inch rope of this fiber, purchased in the open market 
and subjected to the same conditions as in Experiment I, gave a yield of 37.3 
per cent. 
Palm fibers, as I have stated above, do not bleach readily, hence no 
quantitative bleach experiments were conducted with these pulps. Hand- 
made sheets of unbleached paper made from palm fibers were found to 
be strong and fairly free from shive. 
The local profusion of this family of plants and the vast quantities of | 
available waste material resulting from the well-established copra, sugar 
sack, and nipa thatch industries makes it worthy of attention. The 
dimensions of palm and bamboo paper fibers are given in the tables 
of fiber measurements on page 461. Microphotographs of palm and 
bamboo fibers, seen longitudinally, are appended. 
In a concluding number of this paper will be discussed the applica- 
bility of Philippine soft woods for paper pulp, both by the alkali and 
acid processes. The preparation of sulphite cellulose from the various 
raw materials previously described ; a further discussion of the availability 
of those materials and the extent of the local deposits of sulphur, clays, 
and limestones; their chemical analyses with respect to their special 
fitness for paper manufacture and the suitability of waters from different 
sources for manufacturing and boiler purposes will also be included. 
