18 CEOP PLANTS FOR PAPEE MAKING. 



unused dry land. The grass is one of the important sources of paper 

 in Europe. The present supply is obtained from the dry regions of 

 Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, and Spain, where it gTows wild and is har- 

 vested b}^ hand. It seems likely, furthermore, that the application of 

 methods of selective breeding might produce strains of esparto of 

 superior value. 



Okra, and jute have received some attention as paper crops, but no 

 conclusive results have been obtained with them. Samples of paper 

 from okra that have been examined are rather deficient in strength. 

 This, however, might readily be due to overtreatment with chemicals. 



CONCLUSION 



There are numerous crop materials now going to waste that deserve 

 utilization for the making of paper. Hitherto the price of wood has 

 been so low that they could not enter into competition with it. This 

 condition appears to be changing, and a point may soon be reached 

 where crop by-products can be made into pulj) and paper at a profit 

 to both the farmer and the manufacturer. There does not seem to 

 be any reasonable hope at the present time of producing paper stock 

 from crop wastes that will be cheap enough to use for printing news- 

 papers. This is due chiefly to two causes — the low cost at which such 

 paper can be produced from ground wood and the striking adapta- 

 bility of ground-wood pulp to the newspaper-printing industry. 



Not only is the grinding process the cheapest method of obtaining 

 print paper of any character, but this process also produces the 

 highest proportion of pulp to" raw material. Wliile the two chemical 

 processes wdiich have been discussed produce on an average only 

 about 1.000 pounds of pulp per cord of wood, the yield of ground- 

 ysood pulp per cord is considerably over 2,000 pounds. Although 

 lacking in durability, ground-Avood fiber, with the addition of a small 

 proportion of stronger and better chemical fibers, answers its intended 

 purpose admirably. It is light, reducing freight cost on the un- 

 printed paper and postage on the printed. It is opaque, printing 

 readily on both sides of moderately thin sheets, and, finally, it has 

 excellent ink-absorbing qualities, fitting it unusually well for use on 

 the high-speed presses of the present day. 



Wood will probably be used for making news paper long after other 

 materials have acquired importance in many branches of the chemical 

 pulp industry. It should be added that chemical pulp papers, such as 

 books and magazines are printed upon, consume over 1,000,000 cords 

 more of wood each year than the ground-w^ood industry. 



There is some skepticism as to the failure of the pulp-wood supplies, 

 but this is certainly poorly grounded. During 1909 the quantity of 



S^Thr iKiprr upon trhich tlil'^ page is printed was made from hroom-eorn 

 fitalks, long fiber. See page 3. 

 [Cir. 82] 



