5S 



The material used in the Italian paper and 



strawboard mills was either " reorganised " old 



paper or else wood pulp, molt of which came 



from Germany, where it was made from poplars 



and pines. The technical experts visited were 



generally interested in the possibility of a new 



source of fibre for this purpose, but the absence 



of samples from the Australian plants prevented 



them from giving an expression of opinion as to 



their value. Owing to their absence from Rome 



at the time of the Commission's visit, Dr. G. 



Borghesani and A. Bruttini, of the International 



Institute of Agriculture, both of whom have 



written on certain phases of wood-pulp making, 



could not be consulted. 



Professor Dunstan's Report (June, 1913), 

 previously referred to, also deals with this mat- 

 ter, and runs as follows : — 



" With reference to the utilisation of the 

 prickly-pear for paper-making, experiments at 

 the Imperial Institute have shown that a pulp 

 can be prepared by the process of heating the 

 fibre of the plant with caustic alkali under pres- 

 sure, but that the product so obtained consists of 

 very short fibres (about sV'aV inch long), and 

 would therefore be of comparatively low value. 



" Samples of the fibre of a South American 

 species {Opuntia dillemi), which occurs in India, 

 were shown at the Colonial and Indian Exhibi- 

 tion which was held in London in 1886. Paper- 

 makers who examined these samples, however, 

 regayied them as worthless in comparison with 

 other cheap and plentiful materials. It is prob- 

 able that the collection of the raw materials would 

 be a costly operation. Moreover, a little consid- 

 eration will show that an immense quantity of 

 the plant would have to be dealt with in order 

 to produce a comparatively small amount of 

 paper pulp. Analyses of various parts of the 

 prickly-pear at different ages in the United States 

 of America (Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 

 No. 102, Part I., United States Department of 

 Agriculture, 1907) have shown that, on the 

 average, the fresh plant contains 84-3 per cent, 

 of water and 24 per cent, of ' crude fibre. ' Ex- 

 periments at the Imperial Institute have proved 

 that 100 parts of dry prickly-pear fibre yield 

 about 42 parts of dry paper pulp. Hence from 

 .2-4 parts of the crude fibre about 1 part of pulp 

 could be obtained. It is true that the ' crude 

 fibre' of the analysis was extracted by a different 

 process from that used in the preparation of the 

 fibre employed in the Imperial Institute experi- 

 ments, but this would not greatly affect the re- 

 sults arrived at. It is evident, therefore, that, 

 for the manufacture of one ton of paper pulp it 

 would be necessary to cut about 100 tons of the 

 fresh plant. When to the cost of collecting and 

 handling this mass of material is added that of 

 the chemicals and labour required for the extrac- 

 tion of the fibre and its conversion into paper 

 pulp, it seems evident that the project could not 



possibly be remunerative, especially as the pro- 

 duct is of low quality and would not in any case 

 be worth more than a few pounds per ton. 



" In conclusion, it appears that the only 

 purpose for which the prickly-pear could be used 

 successfully is as a cattle food. Opinions with 

 regard to the value of the material for this pur- 

 pose are, however, very conflictiag, and, at best, 

 it would constitute a product of low nutritive 

 value, and could only be used in conjunction with 

 richer feeding stuffs, such as wheat, bran, or 

 cotton-seed meal." 



In regard to the account published above it 

 should be noted that some of the species exam- 

 ined are not named. This renders it more diffi- 

 cult to form a correct estimate of the value of 

 the common Australian species, as different Opun- 

 tias (and even different parts of the same plant) 

 vary in composition. It may be remarked, how- 

 ever, that the 0. dillenii, whose paper-yielding 

 qualities were not favourably regarded, is related 

 to the pest pear of the Rockhampton, Gayndah, 

 and Brisbane districts, as well as to the common 

 pest pear of Queensland and New South Wales. 



A report (May, 1909) on Queensland samples 

 made by Mr. J. S. Remington, a technical chemist 

 in Liverpool (England), was not of a very en- 

 couraging nature. Fresh material was sent, its 

 composition being determined as — ^Water, 87-16; 

 dry matter, 12-84 ; fibre, 2-98 ; and ash, 2-01. It 

 was stated that " the large amount of water and 

 the small amount of fibre would preclude its use 

 as a paper-making material, as no material would 

 be economically suitable unless it contained at 

 least 30 per cent, of fibre and even in that case 

 would be considered a very poor, third-rate 

 article. On finding the material was unsuitable 

 for paper-making purposes, we hydrolysed some 

 with 2 per cent, sulphuric acid and the substance 

 yielded under this treatment 3 per cent, of reduc- 

 ing sugar, which only partly fermented. On boil- 

 ing the original substance with water for two 

 hours and straining, a liquid was obtained which 

 partly gelatinised on cooliag, showing the pres- 

 ence of substances of the nature of pectin. 



" These facts are quite sufficient to show 

 that the prickly-pear is unsuitable for either the 

 manufacture of paper or the production of alco- 

 hol on a commercial scale. It might be to the 

 advantage of sonieone living in the colony to in- 

 vestigate this material, as regards its gelatinis- 

 ing or pectin properties, as possibly some indus- 

 trial use might be found from this point of view. 

 As a paper-making material it is, however, abso- 

 lutely useless." 



This report expresses an opinion as to the 

 value of the whole prickly-pear plant rather than 

 of its constituent fibre as a paper producer, or its 

 fruit as an alcohol producer. It must not be 

 overlooked that any treatment for the destruc- 

 tion of Opuntia which will rob the plant of its 

 high water-content must increase the percentage 



