TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER. bl 



the bleaching, the conversion into fibre can only be obtained to the 

 detriment of the quantity and quality of the pulp. The leaf, still green, 

 although its full growth is attained, is easier to boil, its fibres separate 

 under the influence of less energetic agents ; silica and iron, which hold 

 the yellow and red colouring matters in the fibre, are eliminated, so to 

 speak, at the same time as the gum-resin which binds the fibres ; the 

 knots, analogous to those of straw, are still sufficiently tender so as not 

 to require that the boiling, to be effective in reducing them, shall have 

 been too prolonged and compromising in regard to the leaves. 



It may hence be concluded that the leaf ought to be gathered when 

 green, but also as near maturity as possible. I say as near maturity as 

 possible, because a leaf too green gives translucid fibres, and consequently 

 a paper analogous to vegetable paper ; on the other hand, the waste is so 

 much the greater as the leaf is less matured. There is also, in. respect 

 to alfa, the same proceeding to be followed, as with hemp and flax which 

 are gathered with reference to the fibre, leaving out of account the seed. 

 Flax and hemp, cultivated for seed, will have lost their properties for 

 yielding fibre precisely because they have attained complete maturity. 



The gathering of alfa should be done by hand : cutting ought to be 

 strictly forbidden, as it obstructs the reproduction of the plant. The 

 labourer holds in his left hand a stick 2 or 3 centimetres thick and 

 about 40 centimetres long ; he seizes a bunch of alfa leaves with the 

 right hand and twists it round the stick ; at the same moment he pulls 

 at the stick with the left hand and at the bunch of leaves which the 

 right hand still grasps ; the whole of the leaves separate from the stem 

 at the articulation. The right hand places the bunch under the left 

 arm ; the hands remain free ; the labourer gathers three or four 

 bunches, according to his capability, and these, collected under the arm, 

 make a manada, which is then tied together by the labourer or by 

 children engaged for that purpose. The bundles are ranged on the spot 

 to dry, which is effected in a week. It is said an expert labourer 

 can gather 200 kilogrammes of green alfa in a day. I have never 

 met with such. 



"The operations which, conjointly with M. Cruzel, we carried out in 

 Algeria, were undertaken with full authority over our labourers, and 

 with full compensation for their work ; on the one hand, we have had 

 Spaniards and Moors, who are considered the most expert at this busi- 

 ness ; on the other, the General commanding the province had granted us 

 thirty Zouaves, under the control of sub-officers, with orders to make an 

 official return of how much each man, determined to exert himself, could 

 gather, both on first coming to the work and in the following weeks. 

 We had, therefore, good will, emulation, and inspection with us ; the daily 

 gathering of green alfa per man was, in summer, an average of 100 kilog. 

 In drying alfa loses 40 per cent. The labour of a man is consequently 

 equal to 60 kilog. of dry alfa per day. Such is the basis upon which 

 commercial estimates must be founded. 



