10 CROP PLANTS FOR PAPER MAKING. 



one of the factors in determining whether or not the wastes of crop 

 plants can be put to practical use in paper making. If cornstalk 

 extract proves valuable and the water-soluble solids can be returned 

 to the farm, mixed with roughage, and fed, an important step in 

 conservation will have been gained, as the removal of the raw mate- 

 rial from the farm need not then represent a serious atta'ck upon the 

 soil resources. The extraction of the soluble solids from the stalks 

 is beneficial, because it leaves the stalks in an improved and advanced 

 condition for chemical treatment and lessens the cost by reducing 

 the quantity of chemicals required. 



Cost estimates are incomplete, but it appears that the farmer could 

 not afford to handle the raw material for less than $5 a ton, air dry. 

 If the extract has any value it is probable that the manufacturer 

 could afford to pay this, though these are matters upon which more 

 accurate data must be secured and which must necessarily be finally 

 decided in actual practice. 



BROOM CORN. 



Both the corn and broom-corn stalks used in the Department's 

 experiments were grown at specially selected places, and a careful 

 record has been kept of the yield, the cost of production, the space 

 required for storage, and the keeping quality of the materials. On 

 the wdiole, the collaborators ^ who gi-ew broom corn had better success 

 in the production of stalks than those who grew corn. As a conse- 

 quence, broom-corn stalks have been investigated more thoroughly 

 than other materials. As a large number of digestions or " cooks " 

 of Indian corn were made first, much experience was gained which 

 was of decided advantage in the tests of broom corn. 



Broom corn throughout its cultural history has been selected for 

 the production of a greater quantity and better quality of fiber in 

 its " brush." It would be only natural if the production of fiber 

 in one portion of the plant should be correlated to the higher fiber 

 value of the plant as a whole. This appears actually to be the case. 

 At any rate, broom-corn stalks contain a higher percentage of long 

 fiber than do cornstalks. As a result of the experiments that have 

 been made with broom-corn stalks it may be conservatively stated 

 that this crop by-product is suitable, so far as the quality and yield 

 of its pulp are concerned, for immediate use in paper making. Like 

 cornstalks, it reduces readily to pulp with a comparatively low con- 

 sumption of chemicals and steam. The time required for pulping 



iThe following farmers have assisted the Department by producing corn and broom- 

 corn stalks for the experimental work : Ovid Fields, Lyons, Ind. ; Eugene D. Funk, 

 Shirley, 111. ; L. W. Edmundson, Balbec. Ind. ; I. C. Murphy, Sterling. Kans. ; H. Z. 

 O'Hair, Bushton, 111. ; J. E. Matheny, Miami, Mo. ; J. T. Hancock, Corydon, Ky. ; and 

 W. A. Hook, Packwood, Iowa. 

 [Cir. 82] 



