UTILIZATION OF AMERICAN FLAX STRAW. 21 



board was pronounced by the fiber-board employees and the man- 

 agement officials to be equal to those boards of this class in which 

 imported flax waste is used, and it was sold on the market by the 

 cooperating mill as a second-grade counter board at the regular 

 price of such boards, namely, 5 to 5^ cents per pound (fig. 8). 



The thin boards of this run were somewhat soft and the thick 

 boards were somewhat brittle, which naturally would be the case, 

 since each thickness of board requires that the stock be beaten ac- 

 cordingly. 



Additional tests. — Three other complete tests were made like the 

 two above recorded, and although the results were not as satisfactory 

 as those of Xo. 235, the board was sold as second-grade counter board 

 and no complaint has been received from it. 



Pig. 8. — A package of counter boards, in the manufacture of which domestic flax 

 upholstering tow was employed in place of imported flax waste. Size of boards, 

 33 by 44 inches. 



Unfortunately, no methods of testing boards have been devised 

 which give the results as a numerical expression, the usual method 

 being to bend and fold the board with the fingers in different man- 

 ners, according' to the use to which the board is to be employed, and 

 noting the degree with which it breaks or cracks. 



YIELD OF PRODUCT AND COMPARATIVE COSTS. 



It is Impossible in the mill tests to determine the yield of washed 

 or available fiber derived from the straw and tow, even as compared 

 with imported flax waste. The general opinion of the management 

 and employees who followed the tests was that there was no ap- 

 preciable difference in yield so far as could be determined by observa- 

 tion during the tests. 



Laboratory determinations of die yield of washed fiber on ('.-pound 



Bamples of flax straw, medium flax tow, and the best grade of im- 

 ported (lax waste gave the results shown in Table VIII. 



