Paper from Cotton Stalks 



425 



fishes of the lakes and streams are now 

 neglected. The salmon and bass fami- 

 lies have the largest number of species 

 among those handled, but twelve other 

 families also are represented. 



About 1,750,000,000 fertilized eggs, 

 fry, fingerlings, yearlings, and adults 

 are distributed each year, each state 

 and territory sharing in the distribu- 

 tion. Pike perch rank first, with 400,- 

 000,000; then come white fish, 330,000,- 

 000; flatfish, 203,000,000; cod, 170,000,- 

 000; yellow perch, 145,000,000; lake 

 herring, 122,000,000; salmon (Chinook, 

 silver, and blue back), 135,000,000; 

 lobster, 116,000,000; lake trout, 41,000,- 

 000; brook trout, 10,000,000; shad, 

 33,000,000; white perch, 25,000,000; 

 pollock, 8,500,000 ; bass of various 

 kinds, 4,500,000. 



In distributing the product of the 

 hatcheries six special cars are em- 

 ployed. These cars are provided with 

 small permanent crews, are equipped 

 with all necessary apparatus for the 

 safe carriage of young and adult fishes, 

 and are attached to passenger trains. 

 Many of the railroads, appreciating the 

 benefits arising from the stocking of 

 waters along their lines, render this 

 service gratis. 



PAPER FROM COTTON STALKS 



A RECENT number of the Manu- 

 facturers' Record makes the fol- 

 lowing interesting statement : 



It has been demonstrated that all 

 grades of paper, from the best form 

 of linen grade to the lowest, can be 

 manufactured from cotton stalks. In 

 addition to this, a variety of by-pro- 

 ducts, such as alcohol, nitrogen, ma- 

 terial for guncotton and smokeless 

 powder, can also be secured in paying 

 quantities. 



The time is not now far distant when 

 paper plants equipped with all modern 

 machinery and devices for making pa- 

 per and the utilization of the other by- 

 products referred to will be built and 

 placed in operation throughout the cot- 

 ton-growing states of the South. The 



establishment of these mills for the 

 manufacture of paper from cotton 

 stalks will develop a new industry of 

 enormous proportions and institute the 

 utilization of a waste product which at 

 the present time has comparatively lit- 

 tle or no value. It will prove the enter- 

 ing wedge of checking the present in- 

 creasing cost of paper. 



It is estimated that on an area of 

 land producing a bale of cotton at least 

 one ton of stalks can be gathered. Upon 

 this basis of calculation this new in- 

 dustry can annually depend upon from 

 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 tons of raw ma- 

 terial. This will not only furnish neces- 

 sary supplies to meet all home de- 

 mands, but also permit of the export of 

 pulp or finished products to foreign 

 countries. At the present time there is 

 approximately $287,000,000 invested in 

 paper mills in the United States, with 

 but few plants located in the South. 

 The bulk of the material going into the 

 manufacture of paper at the present 

 time is spruce pine, which is annually 

 becoming more expensive on account 

 of the depletion of the forests and the 

 high prices which such timber com- 

 mands in the markets for other uses. 

 The utilization of a waste product such 

 as the cotton stalk, manufactured into 

 commercial paper, will be a boon of 

 inestimable value to the whole country. 



The practical effect of this new in- 

 vention will be to increase the present 

 value of the South's cotton crop nearly 

 $100,000,000 annually. With the re- 

 moval of the cotton stalks from the 

 fields in the early fall, the death knell 

 of the boll weevil will be sounded. 



THE SKELETON IN LURAY CAVE 



Editor National Geographic Magazine: 



In your June number a description is given 

 of a recent visit to the Luray caverns by 450 

 members of the society, in which you kindly 

 refer to my own early account of the same. 

 This is peculiarly gratifying. In the course of 

 it, however, you throw doubt on the finding of 

 a human skeleton in one of the lower chambers. 

 In the interest of science, permit me to state 

 the facts. 



In October, 1878, Major A. J. Brand wrote 



