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of paper. The Chief Forestry Office of the Protectorate stated 

 that the grass was a source of anno3'ance and expense to agricul- 

 turists, as it grew rapidly after the aerial shoots had been burnt or 

 cut down; but that, if it could be used profitably for the manu- 

 facture of paper, a new and large industry could be built up. 

 Since this grass is available in immense cjuantities, and at present 

 has to be burnt each season in order to keep it down, it is im- 

 portant to find a commercial use for it. 



The consigniuent, which weighed 177 lbs. when received at the 

 Imperial Institute, and 145 lbs. on being air-dried, yielded, after 

 treatment in the laboratories, a pulp of good color, composed of 

 ultimate fibers rather longer than those of esparto grass and about 

 the same length as those of bamboo pulp. It furnished a fairly 

 good paper. Owing to the light and bulky nature of "elephant 

 grass," however, it is unlikely that the stems could be shii)pcd 

 ])rofitabIy to Europe for paper-making; Init if the stems were 

 converted into pulp at or near the sources of supply, by treatment 

 with caustic soda, it is possible (in the opinion of experts) that a 

 remunerative industry could be opened up, since the pulp prob- 

 ably would be approximately the same value for paper-making as 

 w^ood-pulp prepared by the soda process — namely, £7 10s. to £8 

 12s. 6d. per ton in London (February, 1913). Since there are 

 immense deposits of soda in East Africa which could be utilized 

 for the manufacture of pulp, there would appear to be some 

 pros])ect of a new industry's growing up in this Protectorate. — 

 The Mail. 



