SOME SUITABLE MATERIALS FOR PAPER-MAKING. 



By James Leighton, F.R.H.S. 



The present is a fitting- time to direct our attention to new 

 sources of supply of suitable material for the manufacture of 

 paper. The great scarcity of all kinds of paper is felt, and 

 prices have advanced from 200 per cent, to 600 per cent., ac- 

 cording to kinds required. 



^lany of our indigenous and exotic plants are capable of 

 producing a good quality of paper, but we need to give our at- 

 tention only to those kinds that are of suitable qualitv and easily 

 obtainable in quantity. 



In the early days of the industry, ]:)aper was made from rags, 

 worn-out garments, cuttings and waste from looms. Later it 

 became necessary to find other sources of supply, of which straw, 

 disentegrated wood and the Esparto (or Alfa Grass) of Spain 

 and North Africa are the chief. England uses very largely the 

 Esparto Grass, which grass is not used at all in America, where 

 about y$ per cent, of the pulp used is obtained from wood. The 

 tinest grades of paper are still made from flax and cotton, but 

 this auKjunts only to about 5 per cent, of the total. Plant fibre 

 when pure is a white semi-opaque suljstance, insoluble in all 

 ordinar}' solvents and chemically known as cellulose, the formula 

 being C,.Hi,jO- : that is. six equivalents of carbon, ten of hydro- 

 gen, and five of oxygen are united together to form the sub- 

 stance known by that name. These proportions are constant, 

 although the physical characteristics may difl:'er widely. Before 

 the cellulose can be made available for 'the manufacture of paper, 

 it must first be freed from its combination with the non-cellulose 

 constituents with which it is united to form the jjlant structure. 

 Cotton as well as the filiform silky bracts of the involucre of 

 Txpha are examples of pure cellulose. We are fortunate in hav- 

 ing large supplies of suitable material in the form of Tambookie 

 Grasses capable of making the larger lines of paper in daily use. 

 These grasses have been thoroughly examined by the Imperial 

 Institute and pronounced to be about ec|ual to the well-known 

 Esparto Grass. 



I am indebted to Dr. A. Schulz, of Durban, for various sam- 

 ples of wrapping paper made from different species of Tam- 

 bookie Grasses obtained from various parts of South Africa, but 

 all species having the same characteristics. Bertrams, Limited, 

 of Edinl)urgh, who have prepared these samples, pronounce them 

 " Excellent," and state that " lliere is no doubt that this ma- 

 terial will ]n-oduce a reasonably strong jiaper without the assist- 

 ance of any stronger materials." 



They state, however, that 'Tt must be kept in mind that pulp 

 made from any grass such as Tambookie cannot produce a strong 

 wrai^ping paper to com})are with ])aper made from hemp or the 

 like." They state that "■ the fibres in Tambookie are verv similar 



