UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 309 
w 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
November 4, 1915 
ZACATON AS A PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. 
By Charles J. Brand, in Charge, and Jason L. Merrill, Assistant Chemist, Paper- 
Plant Investigations. 1 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Botanical history and systematic position of 
zacaton 3 
Distribution of zacaton 6 
Laboratory tests of pulp production 10 
Micromeasurements of fibers and other cells . 14 
Page. 
Chemical investigation of the grass and pulp. 15 
Cellulose from zacaton 18 
Semicommercial tests of the pulp 20 
Physical tests of zacaton papers 25 
Conclusion 27 
INTRODUCTION. 
There appears to be a constant and increasing interest in the discovery 
of plant materials which may be substituted for wood and rags in the 
making of paper stock of various kinds. The uses to which paper may 
be put are multiplying rapidly, the consumption for present purposes 
is increasing greatly, and there is a constant depletion of existing 
supplies. Many materials from both wild and cultivated plants are 
at present going to waste, so that a natural desire to save them adds 
to the general interest in the subject. This interest is world wide 
and practically spontaneous. In southern China bamboos and rice 
straw are under experiment; in Manchuria the stalks of the grain 
sorghums; in Mexico wood waste and various trees not now used for 
other purposes; and in Egypt the plant formation known as Nile 
suud, which constitutes the dense jungle growth of the upper White 
Nile and contains a large proportion of papyrus plants. In the 
Philippines attention is being given to bamboos and various other 
grasses and also to the fibrous by-products of the Manila-hemp indus- 
1 The Paper- Plant Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry are conducted under the direction 
of Charles J. Brand, Chief of the Office of Markets and Rural Organization. 
Note. — This bulletin should be useful to all persons who are interested in the economic phases of paper 
making, especially to print and book paper manufacturers. It has a botanic and chemical interest as well. 
6826°— Bull. 309—15 1 
