204 Miracles Ahead! 



were dependent upon paper made in France, Belgium, and 

 other European countries from linen rags and old hemp sail- 

 cloth. Today hundreds of tons of cigarette paper are made 

 each year from flax straw produced in the United States. 

 Flaxseed also is converted into linseed oil for paints and var- 

 nishes. Flax will give the wheat-producing states another 

 valuable cash crop. 



Hemp is another fiber crop that can be used in making 

 cigarette paper, and it is also converted into rope, twine, and 

 heavy thread. Hempseed is useful for oil. Ramie, chia, and 

 perilla are small plants that may someday be important farm 

 crops. Ramie is useful for fiber, and chia and perilla furnish 

 oily seeds. Tung oil, made from the nuts of a tree and usually 

 imported from China, is being produced in Florida and Louisi- 

 ana. This valuable oil is needed to waterproof insulation on 

 electrical equipment. English walnuts yield an oil for food 

 and for soaps and paints. Ground walnut shells serve as a base 

 for insecticides, plastics, firebrick, and dynamite. New uses 

 for pecans, almonds, and filberts are being found every day. 



Our Own Herbs and Drugs 



Because of the excessive amount of hand labor required, we 

 have preferred to import herbs and drugs from foreign coun- 

 tries. But most of these products can be grown in the United 

 States, and their production has been encouraged to take the 

 place of imports cut by war conditions. 



Cotton By-Products 



Chemurgy also has been busy finding new uses for the 

 older farm crops. First consider King Cotton, who has suf- 

 fered several years from price-depressing surpluses. Machines 

 have been developed to remove down or short fibers from 



