Vol. XVIII. No. 438. 



THE AGRICULTUIIAL NIEWS, 



SEA ISLAND OOTTON PRODUCTION 



IN THE WEST INDIES. 



The following figures show the quantity and estimated 

 value of. Sea Island cotton produced in the West Indies for 

 the season, October 1, 1918 to September 30, 1S18. 



duced Marie Galante cotton, respectively, as follows: 

 241,524 ft. of an estimated value of £23,811, and 38,285 ft. 

 valued approximately at £5,105; 2,335 ft. of Native cotton 

 ■was also produced in the British Virgin Islands. 



*The piotluo^ioii of Barbados ;ind Trinidad is t-ikoii fi-nm 

 the return of cxii'irts for the season 1917-18. 



SOUTH AFRICAN GRASSES FOR 

 PAPER-MAKING, 



Before the war the British Empire depended to a large 

 extent on foreign countries for supplies of paper, and the 

 wood-pulp from which paper is largely made, the chief source 

 of supply ' f the latter being Scandinavia, though some was 

 obtained from Newfoundland and Canada. It has long been 

 realized that the tropical countries of the Empire possess in 

 their coarse grasses abundant raw material for the manufac- 

 ture of paper, and special attention has been given in India to 

 the problem of utilizing these grasses in this way. Interest in 

 this subject has extended to other countries of the Empire 

 since the war began, .but the scarcity of tonnage put serious 

 difficulties in the way of importing either paper or pulp. 



In South Africa a great deal of attention appears to have 

 been given to the subject recently, and as a result a number 

 of grasses have been sent to the Imperial Institute from 

 South Africa for trial as paper materials. Sum.-naries pre- 

 pared from a selection of the reports on these grasses have 

 since been published in the BuUeti;' of the Imperial, Inslitute, 

 Vol. XVI, No. 2, from which the following information is 

 here abstracted. 



JOHNSON GKASS. 



A sample of .Johnson grass ( Sorghum luxicpcnse) was 

 received in May 1917 It consisted of seed-like stems of 

 pale green to straw tint, measuring trom 7 to 8 feet in length: 

 the stems were about ginch in diameter at the base, taper- 

 ing to about J inch at the top, and bearing a flowering bead. 

 The stems were hollow, but had solid nodes at intervals of 

 about 1 foot, each node bearing . sheathing leaf of pale 

 green or straw colour often blotched with purple; the inter- 

 nodes were filled with soft white pith. 



The grass gives a good yield of pulp, but is never- 

 theless not very promising as a paper-making material. The 

 pulp contains a large amount of parenchyma derived from 

 the pith, and this causes the paper to shrink greatly in 

 drying, and renders it p;irchment-like. The pulp, moreover, 

 does not bleach well. 



It might be possible to utilize the grass for the manu- 

 facture of paper in South Africa, but if used by itself the 

 pulp would probably be troublesome to work on account of 

 the great shrinkage on drying, and as it does not bleach 

 easily, its principal use would probably be for the manufacture 

 of wrapping-papers. The nature of the pulp might, however, 

 render it valuable for the production of special kinds of 

 parchment-like papers, either by itself or in admixture with 

 other fibrous materials. 



THATCHING GKASS (dEK liRAs). 



A sample of 'thatching grass', or 'Dek Gras', which was 

 identified at Kew as Andropogon Buckananii, Stapf,, was 

 received in June 1917. 



It consisted of tapering stems, varying from 4 feet to 

 o^feet 6 inches in length, each bearing a dowering head. The 

 stems were ^V inch to ('^ inch in diameter at the base, with 

 nodes at intervals of 10 to 15 inches throughout their length, 

 a sheathing leaf springing from each node. The internodes 

 are filled with soft pith. 



The grass appears to be a promising material for the 

 manufacture of paper in South Africa, as it gives- a satisfac- 

 tory yield of long-fibred pulp of good quality, suitable in the 

 unbleached state for the manufacture of strong brown paper, 

 or, after bleaching, for the manufacture of fairly good eream- 

 colourfed or white paper. 



rAMliOOKJE GRASSES. 



According to Dr. C. F. Juritz, (South African Tournal 

 of Industries. 1918, I, 516) the term -tambookie' includes a 

 large number of grasses belonging to the related genera 

 Cymbopogon and Andropogon. In 1914 a sample of 'tam- 

 bookie' grass, stated to be Cymbopogon Nardus, var. validus, 

 was forwarded to the Imperial Institute in order to ascertain 

 its value for paper-making. In -June 1917 two further 

 simples of distinct grasses were received, both described as 

 tambookie grass. These samples were numbered 3 and 4. 

 It was stated that No. 3 grows plentifully in dry open 

 situations round Pretoria, and that No. 4 is abundant in 

 damp situations. , . , 



Specimens of the two grasses were submitted to Kew 

 for identification, with the result that No. 3 was pronounced 

 to be Andropogon Dr>'geamus,'Sees, and No. 4 Andropogon 



ductus, Stapf. 



The two grasses were very similar in general appearance, 

 consisting of long, tapering golden-yellow stems, measuring 

 up to ^v >'^'=^ '° diameter at the base, with nodes at 

 intervals of about 10 inches, the intervals being filled with 

 soft (pilih. Each node bore a sheathing leaf, and each stem 

 was terminated by a long flowering head, which in sample 

 No. 3 was mostly reddish in colour, and in No. 4 greenish. 

 The length of the grass in sample No. 3 was 4 to 6 feet, 

 and 5 to 7 feet in sample No. 4. . • , , , 



The present samples of tambookie grass both yielded 

 pulp of good quality, aud good brown papers could be made 

 from them by treatment with small amounts of caustic soda 

 (10 per cent, or probably less on a large scale). The pulp 

 obtained with larger proportions of caustic sodi could be 

 readily bleached, and u^ed /or the manufa'rture of white 

 paper of good quality- 



