32 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. Ill 
SECTION E. 
General Conclusions. 
37. It is not necessary for us to enter, at any length, into the question 
of the suitability of bamboo fibre for the manufacture of paper. This 
was fully demonstrated by Routledge 35 years ago, and again, in 1908, by 
Sindall in conjunction with Messrs. Thomas & Green, Ltd. (Soho Paper 
Mills, Wooburn, England). Every one who has handled the material has 
agreed that it is admirably adapted for the purpose and especially so for 
high class printing and illustration work requiring a close even texture 
and surface, and a minimum of stretch and shrinkage under the damping 
operation. The one serious objection hitherto made has been the cost of 
bleaching. With the soda process, no matter whether the bleaching is 
accomplished by a large excess of NaOH and a small excess of B. P. or vice 
versa, the cost is nearly, though not quite, prohibitive. As we have seen, 
the application of sulphate treatment removes this difficulty and brings 
the bleaching expenditure down to a figure which compares favourably 
with that of any of the raw materials now in use. 
38. My conclusions as to the unsuitability of the sulphite process 
agree with those of Richmond. In regard to the soda method, when 
allowance is made for differences in preliminary treatment ( e.g ., crushing 
and starch extraction and inclusion of nodes) mv results are in fair agree¬ 
ment with those of both Sindall and Richmond so far as digestion is con¬ 
cerned. In the final test of bleached colour no comparison is possible in 
the absence of any recognised standard of whiteness. As regards the 
sulphate method of treatment, this has never before been applied to 
bamboo, thus no data are available with wdiich to compare the results 
I have arrived at. 
39. The questions asked at the outset of this enquiry and detailed in 
paragraph 3 may be answered as follows :— 
(a) All five species are suitable for the manufacture of cellulose at a 
marketable cost, assuming that they can be delivered to mill 
sites at a cost not exceeding Rs. 15 per ton of air-dry bamboo. 
(b) Culms of all ages may be mixed indiscriminately in treatment. 
(c) Nodes need not be rejected. 
(i d ) If required, all the species mentioned except Melocanna may 
be mixed in treatment. 
The serious and special difficulties hitherto experienced with bamboo, 
viz., irreducible nodes, irregular yields, irregular digestion of mixed ages 
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