ZACATON AS A PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. 



15 



The true fiber (fig. 11) has remarkably good felting qualities, but 

 its length is less than that of esparto, which varies from 1.5 to 1.9 

 millimeters. 



CHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE GRASS AND PULP. 



In .cooperation with the Department of Commerce, an investiga- 

 tion of the chemical nature of zacaton grass and pulp in regard to 

 such points as have a 

 bearing on their paper 

 value was conducted 

 at the Bureau of 

 Standards.^ 



The pulps examined 

 were from cooks 7, 8, 

 9; and 10. The report 

 of this chemical inves- 

 tigation, which needs 

 no comment, is given 

 in full, as foUows : 



1. Original straw. — (a) 

 Ash; (6) moisture ; (c) ether- 

 alcohol extract; {d) water 

 extract; (e) cellulose by (1) 

 Cross and Bevan chlorin 

 method, (2) Cross and Be- 

 van dilute nitric method, 

 (3) Renker's chlorin 

 method; and (/) loss on 

 boiling with dilute caustic 

 soda. 



It was found necessary 

 to grind the straw very 

 fine, on account of the 

 lack of homogeneity of the 

 samples . The largest sam- 

 ples practicable with the 

 unground straw gave 

 widely varying results, so 

 recourse was had at once 

 to grinding all the straw 

 in a clean coffee mill be- 

 fore analysis. 



Analyses for comparative Fig. 11.— Pulp of Epicampes macroura, X 352: l, Bast; 2, porous 



value should refer to drv parenchyma; 3, sclereid; 4 and 6, parenchyma; 6, modified epi- 



. , , , . dermal cells; 7, parenchyma of pith; 8, short epidermis cells; 9, 



material; Hence the mois- j^^g epidermis cells; 10, pitted trachea; 11, annular trachea; 12, bast. 



ture was determined first 



to be 4.8 per cent. The ash gave 9.1 per cent in one determination and 8.8 per cent 

 in another. In both cases a very large proportion of the ash was silica, as shown 



1 The chemical work on zacaton was done by Mr. George S. Tilley, at that time cellulose expert at the 

 Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce. 



