UTILIZATION OF AMEKICAN FLAX STKAW. 5 



fiber "which would be of value could, it be separated economically 

 from the straw. Different requirements are made of a raw material, 

 however, depending on the grade of product desired. It might, for 

 example, meet the requirements of the board manufacturer in regard 

 to product and cost and not be capable of interesting the writing- 

 paper or wrapping-paper manufacturer, for reasons of product or 

 cost, or both. It may be found also that the straw can be used in only 

 one or two grades of product, as is the case with poplar wood and 

 esparto grass. 



Much work has been done by different experimenters in testing this 

 straw for its paper value, and samples of writing and sack papers 

 have been produced which, so far as quality is concerned, seem to be 

 satisfactory. A small flax-tow mill is in operation in North Dakota, 

 which is equipped with a pulping boiler, beater, and other apparatus, 

 and it has produced bleached flax pulp of an apparently satisfactory 

 quality, from which good grades of writing paper have been manu- 

 factured. But the work, although promising, is yet in the experi- 

 mental stage. 



In 1908 the Bureau of Plant Industry, cooperating with the United 

 States Forest Service, conducted a number of pulp-making tests with 

 the straw and found that a very severe chemical action was required 

 and that it was impossible to bleach the pulp economically with 

 ordinary bleaching-powder solutions. 



In spite of all the activity in this direction, however, no industry 

 has been established whereby paper manufacturers have been enabled 

 to utilize this immense and valuable crop waste. 



UTILIZATION OF FLAX STRAW IN THE FIBER-BOARD INDUSTRY. 



In the manufacture of certain grades of fiber board known as 

 counter board, one of the main constituents is flax waste from the tex- 

 tile industries of Europe. The total quantity so used in this country 

 is approximately 7,000 tons per annum. This waste is divided into 

 four distinct classes, namely, flax card waste, flax card strippings, 

 flax rove waste, and flax washed waste, depending on the particular 

 operation from which each is derived. These wastes, with the excep- 

 t ion of the washed waste, have a certain amount of flax wood shives 

 associated with them, the card waste containing the most and the rove 

 waste the Least. The washed waste contains no shives and is the 

 highest priced; likewise, the least used in board manufacture. 



A - to (he possibility of subsi it uting domestic flax straw for the im- 

 ported flax waste, a comparison from a chemical and physical stand- 

 point brings out the following facts: 



M ) flax waste LS derived from retted flax straw and consequently 

 contains very little of the mucilaginous pectin compounds, such as 



