CROP PLANTS FOR PAPER MAKING. 



17 



Fig. 3. — Individual liemp fibers. 

 Tliese are of special value 

 because of their length and 

 strength. Note that the illus- 

 tration has been cut in two. 

 (Enlarged 71 diameters.) 



it for the manu- 

 facture of numer- 

 ous special papers 

 that will com- 

 mand better 

 prices than the 

 ordinary grades. 

 Should retted 

 hemp come into 

 use as a paper- 

 making material 

 it will effect a 

 considerable sav- 

 injr in certain 

 years to the hemp- 

 liber industry, as 

 it frequently hap- 

 pens that hun- 

 dreds of tons of 

 hemp stalks are 

 over-retted, mak- 

 ing them unfit 

 for textile use. 

 These could be 

 worked into pa- 

 per to advantage. 

 Another plant from which excellent paper 

 has been produced is the well-known Japa- 

 nese grass Enlalia japonica, which is much 

 used in this country for ornamental pur- 

 poses. This plant thrives luxuriantly in 

 the latitude of Washington on some of the 

 poorest soils. It yields a fiber similar to 

 that of esparto in its behavior. A large 

 paper-manufacturing company has grown 

 this grass as far north as Maine and has 

 produced some excellent varieties of paper 

 from it. Preliminary observations on a 

 plat of the grass gi'owing near Washington, 

 D. C, on very poor soil indicate that an 

 average yield of at least 2 tons to the acre 

 may be secured. 



Esparto, which is one of the most highly 

 prized sources of paper in the Old World, 

 may be useful in some parts of the South- 

 west where there are extensive areas of 



[Cir. 82] 



