504 



PAPER PLANTS 



PAPER PLANTS 



tions in methods of handling and treating, most of 

 the woods will make paper. Fig. 728 shows a pulp 

 mill with its accompanying log pond. 



Of the standard paper-making plants, cotton, 

 flax, hemp, straws and woods are the only ones 

 produced commercially in the United States. 

 Sugar-cane, corn-stalks, cotton- and tobacco-stalks 

 are produced in large quantities, and vigorous 

 efforts are being made to produce paper from them 

 on a commercial scale. 



The best paper-making materials — those that 

 make paper of the highest quality and greatest 

 value — are wastes, derived chiefly from the textile 

 industries, which from their form or condition are 

 of little value for any other purpose. Cotton, flax, 

 hemp, jute and ramie fiber come to the paper-maker 

 in the form of rags or as waste, and as old bagging, 

 canvas, rope cordage and oakum. The coarse fiber 

 from the end of jute stalks is cut off, baled and sold 

 to the paper-maker as "jute butts." Waste paper, 

 new and old, is an important material, which is used 

 in making all grades of paper. Wood, esparto and 



Fig. 723. Pulp mill and log pond. 



bamboo are the chief materials now used which are 

 not the wastes of "other industries. 



All plants are made up of certain definite chemi- 

 cal constituents, among which are fats, tannins, 

 lignin, pectose, coloring matters, sugar, starch and 

 cellulose, and, when treated with certain chemicals, 

 according to established methods, a more or less 

 pure cellulose is obtained ; and it is on the amount, 

 fibrous nature, softness and pliability of this cellu- 

 lose that the paper-making value of the plant 

 chiefly depends. 



Classification of materials. 



With regard to the quality and value of the 

 paper produced, the chief materials may be classi- 

 fied in four general groups : (1) Cellulose from 

 cotton, flax, hemp and ramie ; (2) cellulose from 

 jute, manila and chemical wood ; (3) cellulose from 

 esparto and straws ; (4) ground wood. From the 

 consideration of the nature and the percentage of 

 cellulose in the materials they are classified as, (a) 

 simple cellulose : cotton, containing 91 per cent of 

 cellulose ; (b) pecto-cellulose : flax, cellulose 82 per 



cent ; hemp, cellulose 77 per cent ; ramie, cellu- 

 lose 76 per cent ; Sunn hemp, cellulose 80 per cent ; 

 manila, cellulose 64 per cent ; bamboo, cellulose 50 

 per cent ; sugar-cane, cellulose 50 per cent ; straw, 

 cellulose 46 per cent ; esparto, cellulose 48 per 

 cent ; adansonia, cellulose 49 per cent ; (c) ligno- 

 cellulose: New Zealand hemp,. cellulose 86 per cent ; 

 jute, cellulose 64 per cent ; pine, cellulose 57 per 

 cent ; poplar, cellulose 53 per cent. 



ClassifiAsation of papers. 



With regard to the uses to which they are put, 

 papers are divided into several classes : 



(1) Writing paper, embracing what are known 

 as bond, -ledger, record, linen, bank note, ordinary 

 writing and envelope papers. These are thoroughly 

 sized papers, the best of which are made from rags, 

 hemp and ramie fiber, while the poorer grades con- 

 tain also a varying amount of wood pulp. 



(2) Printing paper, embracing book paper and 

 newspaper. The best grades of the former are 

 made from rags, while the poorer grades contain 



esparto, straw and wood 

 pulp. Newspaper is al- 

 most universally made 

 from ground wood pulp 

 which has not been sub- 

 jected to any chemical 

 treatment, with a small 

 percentage of sulfite pulp. 

 Some newspapers also 

 contain straw. 



(3) Wrapping papers, 

 embracing also paper 

 bags and heavy envelopes. 

 The best grades of these 

 are made from jute, sisal 

 and common rags ; the 

 poorer grades may be 

 made in part or entirely 

 from chemical wood pulp, 

 straw, or ground wood. A 

 particularly strong paper, known as " kraf brown," 

 standing between manila and jute papers and wrap- 

 ping paper made from regular chemical wood pulp, 

 is now made by under-cooking wood by the sulfate 

 process and subsequently grinding the fiber in a 

 special mill. 



(4) Blotting and tissue paper. The best grades 

 of the former are loosely mad6 and free from load- 

 ing ; poorer grades contain chemical wood pulp and 

 large quantities of clay. They are not sized. Tis- 

 sue papers are very thin and should be made from 

 strong fiber, such as hemp and cotton. 



(5) Cardboard and pasteboard are usually made 

 of low-grade materials. Strawboard is manufac- 

 tured from unbleached and imperfectly washed 

 straw. Parchment paper is made of long-fibered 

 material by dipping the finished sheet in sulfuric 

 acid, washing with water, then with ammonia, and 

 finally with water. 



Extent of the paper industry. 



The quantity, kind, and value of the raw ma- 

 terials and the paper made therefrom in the United 



