UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 309 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 * WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



J^^i^u 



$hington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



November 4, 1915 



ZACATON AS A PAPER-MAKIN 



Charles J. Brand, in Charge, and Jason L. MerrhLi^ 



Plant Investigations.'^ 



"a 



Assistant Chemist, Paper- 



CONTENTS. 





Page, 



■.troduction 1 



tanical history and systematic position of 



•acaton 3 



^tribution of zaeaton 6 



boratory tests of pulp production 10 



:rromeasurements of fibers and other cells. 14 



Page. 

 Chemical investigation of the grass and pulp. / 15 



Cellulose from zaeaton j ./ 18 



Semicommercial tests of the pulp [/ 20 



Physical tests of zaeaton papers. . ..tTTT^m.ZS^. 25 

 Conclusion .^.*!*. . if!*'.* 27 



INTRODUCTION. 



\j^X3Alfl^ 



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 

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

 !§cipplies. 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 

 ^nd practically spontaneous. In southern China bamboos and rice 

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

 5jrghums; in Mexico wood waste and various trees. not now used for 

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

 suud, which constitutes the dense jungle growth of the upper White 

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

 .Philippines attention is being given to bamboos and various other 



rasses and also to the fibrous by-products of the Manila-hemp indus- 



The Paper-Plant Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry are conducted under the direction 

 '.f Charles J. Brand, Chief of the Office of Markets and Rural Organization. 



Note. — This bulletin should be useful to all persons who are interested ia the economic phases of paper 

 laking, especially to print and book paper manufacturers. It has a botanic and chemical interest as well. 

 6826°— Bull. 309—15 1 



