358 OX MAIZE PAPER. 



the maize plant before they are delivered to the paper machine, jnst as 

 well be worn as the fibres of flax and hemp are first reduced by wear and 

 tear ? In other words, cannot the maize fibre be spun and woven. All 

 that was necessary was a trial. It was made, and succeeded. It was 

 found that the maize fibre could be extracted from the plant in a form 

 like flax, by a process very simple, and at the same time requiring but 

 little apparatus and auxiliary means ; that it could be spun like flax, and 

 woven like flax thread. The process which I have invented and brought 

 into use, is protected by patents in all the great European States, so as 

 to secure for Austria the priority of the invention. 



That the spinning and weaving of the maize fibre is not yet so far 

 advanced as to make paper out of it, is not to be wondered at, for it 

 must be borne in mind that the last-named process has been tried for 

 several years, while the invention of spinning and weaving it has only 

 recently been experimented on, and is consequently yet in its infancy. 

 The textiles of maize flax will look very different in a short time, when 

 practical men have taken it in hand, and the spinning and weaving 

 machinery have been adapted to the maize fibre. No invention has 

 come out of the brain of its author thoroughly complete, all require 

 time to bring them to perfection, so has it been with this. But this 

 much can be stated with confidence, that the adaptability of maize fibre 

 for spinning and weaving is of the greatest consequence in a commercial 

 point of view, for the cultivation of this plant constitutes one of the 

 most profitable branches of agriculture known, especially in America, 

 and parts of Europe. Without taking the corn into consideration, which 

 already pays for its cultivation, the various parts of the plants can be 

 utilised in many ways. 



By the process employed for producing the maize fibre, the com- 

 ponents of the plant are separated into three different parts — fibre, flour- 

 dough, and gluten. The fibres are spun and woven ; the nutritive sub- 

 stance (flour-dougb) which lias the peculiarity of remaining fresh for 

 months in the open air, and, unlike other organic substances, resisting 

 putrefaction, gives a pleasant tasting, nutritive, healthy flour dough. 



All the fibre and gluten wastes of the maize plant which are precipi- 

 tated during the process of extracting the fibres, are used for manufac- 

 turing paper. The catalogues of the Austrian collection at the London 

 International Exhibition in 1862 in German, French and English, were 

 printed either wholly on maize paper, or on paper made partly of mafze 

 fibre and ot linen or cotton rags. 



The entire maize plant can be brought into use. The ear and the 

 maize stuff extract furnish food for man. The fibres are woven into 

 clothing, and the shorter fibre and gluten stuff is converted into beauti- 

 ful paper. After the fibre has served for clothing, it is recovered as rags 

 and manufactured into paper. What plant can boast of such general 

 qualities as maize. 



The most remarkable thing in regard to the process is its simplicity. 



