692 TECHNICAL CHEMISTRY 



of tons of flax-straw which contains a large percentage of cellulose 

 in a most valuable form. Considerable work has already been done 

 on the utilization of this straw in the production of fiber, and some 

 success has met the efforts of the By-Products Paper Company, now 

 located at Niagara Falls. There is, however, still much room for 

 improvements. In the straw of our wheat and oat crops, which is 

 to-day largely destroj^ed on the fields, we have another source of 

 cellulose of which we avail ourselves but little. In Europe the pro- 

 duction of straw fiber is carried on to some extent, but is capable 

 of great extension should sufficient economy in the process for treat- 

 ing it be introduced. The high content of silica has ever been a 

 source of loss, owing to the fact that the formation of sodium sili- 

 cate prevents the recovery of the soda now used in the digestion 

 of the straw. 



By far the greatest loss of valuable cellulose, however, is found 

 in waste cornstalks and in bagasse or the sugar-cane after the solu- 

 ble portions have been removed. There is a close analogy between 

 these two products, in that there is associated with the woody por- 

 tion carrying the cellulose a large amount of non-usable pith. Rapid 

 progress has been made in the utilization of both of these raw mate- 

 rials within the last few years, and the indications are that before 

 long they will prove a source of value rather than a nuisance, as 

 is frequently the case at present. The market price of bleached cellu- 

 lose fiber is to-day from 2J to 3 cents per pound. Starch may be 

 bought for from 2J to 4 cents, according to its source. It is seen, 

 therefore, that there is little manufacturing margin in the conver- 

 sion of cellulose to starch or sugar until the cost of the former has 

 been considerably reduced. This can come about only through 

 new processes designed to operate more economically than those at 

 present in use, and to use as raw products the cellulose at present 

 wasted on the fields. 



It would seem that a more economical step toward the production 

 of food from wood might be through its ligneous or non-cellulose 

 constituents. For every ton of cellulose produced there must be 

 used two tons of wood; that is, an equal weight is wasted. In the 

 soda process, as now conducted, these non-cellulose materials are 

 burned to recover the soda which is held in combination with them. 

 In the sulphite process this enormous amount of material, aggregating 

 for America alone in a single year almost one million tons, finds its 

 way into the water-courses and ultimately to the ocean. This organic 

 matter is most complex in its composition, but consists largely of one 

 class of substances closely allied to the sugars, and another class 

 having the general characteristics of tannins. That these sugar-like 

 substances could be made to yield a food material is, from their nature, 

 quite possible; so far as we know, however, but little has been accom- 



