May, 1909.] 



423 



Fibres, 



Much disappointment has been caused 

 in the past by a too literal acceptation 

 of the statement that paper can be made 

 from any vegetable fibre. So it can, but 

 money can'C. To make both, several 

 important facts must be ever before 

 the fibre prospector. Paper is cheap, 

 must be cheap bo fulfil its purpose. Any 

 set ions increase in cost can only check 

 its utility and curtail its production. 

 To secure the necessary cheapness, it 

 can only be made from waste -from that 

 which has no value for any other pur- 

 pose whatsoever. Waste may be either 

 artificial, as with rags, or natural. My 

 definition of natural waste suitable for 

 paper-making is as follows : The fibre or 

 plant from which it is to be extracted, 

 must be a free gift of nature, growiue 

 and reproducing itself naturally and 

 without cultivation, must not be of any 

 value to the spinner, ropemaker or even 

 (to any competitive extent at least) to 

 the feeder of cattle ; and its removal 

 from place of growth must not imply an 

 attack upon any form of permanent 

 capital wealth- In the early days of 

 woodpulp, the wood from Avhich it was 

 made no doubt fulfilled some of these 

 requirements. It is because it did not 

 answer to them all that it has failed to 

 prove a permanent source of supply. 



I have spent some years in investiga- 

 tion and experiment on this subject, and 

 have no hesitation in declaring that 

 South-Eastern Asia, including India and 

 Ceylon, is in a better position to deal 

 with this question than any other part 

 of the world, inasmuch as in these 

 regions is to be found a great store of 

 the wild fibrous grasses which best rill 

 the above requirements, together with 

 the cheap labour required to collect 

 them. Bamboo alone is capable of 

 supplying tens of millions of tons 

 annually without injury to its perma- 

 nence or reproduction. By what is 

 known as the acid process it yields an 

 excellent pulp for news or cheap book 

 paper, and at a cost considerably below 

 that of wood. Almost at our doors, in 

 Japan, there is a market for 20,000 tons 

 of it annually which is now supplied 

 from Europe at a great co-it for freight. 

 My own investigations indicate that in 

 average bamboo jungle, a well regulated 

 system of cropping will yield 5 tons per 

 acre annually, or 2£ tons of pulp worth 

 £7 to £8 per ton f.o.b. ; and au area of 

 eight square miles would suffice to keep 

 a mill making 10,000 tons per annum 

 supplied in perpetuum. 



Besides bamboo, there are several 

 species of annual grasses suitable, of 

 which the bharbar or sabai (Ischcemum 

 august if oliuin) of Central India may be 

 taken as a representative. These are 



capable of being treated by the alkaline 

 method, which involves considerably 

 less capital outlay than the acid process, 

 and may be worked profitably on a much 

 smaller scale. The pulp produced is 

 equal to that of Esp irbo and suitable for 

 high-class printing and writing papers, 

 and is worth about £9 to £10 per ton f.o.b. 



Of course there are other factors 

 necessary to success, such as manufac- 

 turing facilities, percentage yield of 

 fibre, and other technical anJ scientific 

 details which need not be dealt with in 

 an article intended to indicate the broad 

 lines, only, of a possible new industry. I 

 shall be glad to enter into these points 

 with any correspondents desirous of 

 fuller information. Euoughhas perhaps 

 been said to call the attention of State 

 authorities and land-owners to the 

 opportunity now offering itself to make 

 profitable use of t he fibrous plants now 

 l otting away or being burnt in annual 

 fires on their waste lands and forests. 



W. RAITT. 

 [The author of this paper, who is a 

 chemical engineer and paper fibre expert 

 resident at Bangalore, S, India, writes 

 to us as follows : — 



"I shall be glad if you will forward me 

 any inquiries which may reach you, for 



special information 



"Geographically, Ceylon is better 

 placed than almost any where for going 

 into a paper pulp industry. The advent 

 of Japan and China into the paper- 

 making field has opened up a splendid 

 market." 



The subject is one, the importance of 

 which can hardly be exaggerated.. Mr. 

 Raitt informs us that he will be glad to 

 enter into direct correspondence with 

 anyone interested in the matter.— Ed.] 



NOTES ON THE PRESENT POSI- 

 TION OP COTTON CULTIVATION 

 IN THE UNITED STATES. 



A short account of the cultivation of 

 cotton in the United States, based on a 

 report made by the Inspector of Agri- 

 culture lor British West Africa, was 

 given in a previous number of this 

 Bulletin (1905, 3. 334). The following 

 notes have been written by Mr. J. S. J. 

 McCall, fomerly of the Agricultural Col- 

 lege at Cairo, who has recently visited 

 the cotton-growing States of America. 



The cottons cultivated in the United 

 States include Sea Island, Upland, and 

 Egyptian varieties. These three classes 

 of cotton present distinct peculiarities 

 and special requirements, and are there- 

 fore dealt with in separate sections. 

 A.— Sea Island Cotton. 



This crop forms less than one per cent, 

 of the total American cotton crop, but 



