UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



jV^^Vi. 



BULLETIN No. 309 ^ 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry ^33 



WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief J&f'^iKfU 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



November 4, 1915 



ZACATON AS A PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. 



By Charles J. Brand, in Charge, and Jason L. Merrill, Assistant Chemist, Paper- 

 Plant Investigations. 1 



This bulletin is printed upon paper derived from the zacaton plant. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Botanical history and systematic position of 



zacaton 3 



Distribution of zacaton 6 



Laboratory tests of pulp production 10 



Micromeasurements of fibers and other cells . 14 



Page. 

 Chemical investigation of the grass and pulp. 15 



Cellulose from zacaton 18 



Semicommercial tests of the pulp 20 



Physical tests of zacaton papers 25 



Conclusion 27 



INTRODUCTION. 



There appears to be a constant and increasing interest in the discovery 

 of plant materials which may be substituted for wood and rags in the 

 making of paper stock of various kinds. The uses to which paper may 

 be put are multiplying rapidly, the consumption for present purposes 

 is increasing greatly, and there is a constant depletion of existing 

 supplies. Many materials from both wild and cultivated plants are 

 at present going to waste, so that a natural desire to save them adds 

 to the general interest in the subject. This interest is world wide 

 and practically spontaneous. In southern China bamboos and rice 

 straw are under experiment; in Manchuria the stalks of the grain 

 sorghums; in Mexico wood waste and various trees not now used for 

 other purposes; and in Egypt the plant formation known as Nile 

 -mid, which constitutes the dense jungle growth of the upper White 

 Nile and contains a largo proportion of papyrus plants. In the 

 Philippines attention is being given to bamboos and various other 

 .mil also lo the fibrous by-products of the Manila-hemp indus- 



i The Paper-Plant Investigations of the Bureau of Plant [ndustry are conducted under the direction 

 of Charle i J. Brand, Chief of the Office of Market i and Rural Organization. 



'I hi : bulletin QOUld D€ □ efu] lo all D61 00 I who are in 1 11 c ,1 <<1 in tin- economic phases of paper 



makliiiv pedally to print, and book paper manufacturers, [t has a botanic and chemical interest us well. 

 BulLSOfl -15 —I + 



