fr. 



ct. 







75 



1 











50 



1 



85 







35 







50 



4 



50 







30 



TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER. 63 



2. Drying on the field, and carriage from the field 



to the road 



3. Carriage from the road to the port . 



4. Compression and packing in hooped bales, at 



4,000 kilog. per day and per press, employ- 

 ing four men and two boys 



5. Hoops of sheet iron, 3 kilog., and rivets . 



6. Carriage of the bales to the ship . 



7. Wages, rent, maintenance of material, fire 



insurance . . . • . 



8. Freight to Havre 



9. Marine insurance 



10. Merchant's profit and interest on capital at 10 



per cent on the above sums . , . 1 SO 



Cost of 100 kilog. of alfa, delivered at Havre . 14 38 



Technical Operations ; Conversion of Alfa into Paper. — 

 Chemically examined for paper making purposes, alfa consists of cellu- 

 lose, mixed with gum, resinous matter, silica, lime, and iron. The 

 incrustated materials are intercombined in such a manner that there is 

 no hope of isolating the textile fibres by prolonged ebullition in mere 

 water. The silicates and the resin which form the epidermis of the 

 leaves, even resist the dissolving action of alcohol and ether. Recourse 

 must be had to caustic agents — lime, soda, potash, ammonia — combined 

 with boiling water, or the pressure of steam, to disintegrate the plant. 



The internode which binds the leaf to the stem, similar to the joints of 

 straw, resists much longer than the stalk the action of boiling and the 

 ley. Hence the necessity of dividing the plant into one portion contain- 

 ing the knots or joints, which will undergo a special boiling, and another 

 portion containing the stalks, which w T ill require less boiling. Operating 

 on these divided portions saves time, and gives, moreover, weight to the 

 paper. Those who have operated on the entire plant have reduced a 

 large quantity of tender fibres into useless particles by the action of the 

 ley, in their endeavour to expose the tough fibres to a prolonged 

 boiling. 



The alfa, suitably boiled and lixiviated, preserves sufficient tenacity 

 to be drawn off into long fibres, supple and easy to disintegrate. By 

 washing, it yields a yellow colouring matter, soluble in alkaline agents. 

 This yellow matter is not that which offers the chief obstacle to the 

 bleaching. There remains in the fibre another colouring matter, which, 

 under the combined action of chlorine and caustic ley, will also become 

 soluble, and be eliminated by washing in water, which assumes the 

 colour of blood. 



Every attention must be given to the indications of this interesting 

 reaction, for so long as the alfa has not given off this red tinge, it will not 



