From Paper-mill to Pressroom

by William Bond Wheelwright

Rice Straw.—The Chinese and Japanese have for years used rice straw in paper-making, and it is regarded by the Government investigators as one of the most promising crop materials, the annual crop approximating 1,500,000 tons.

Cotton-hull Fiber.—The lint adhering to the cotton hulls, after the long fiber has been removed, may be conserved as a by-product of the cotton-seed oil industry, and this fiber may be reckoned among the possibilities. Cotton stalks also have been the subject of experiment. The yield per acre, however, is not estimated at above 1,000 pounds, so that immense tracts would have to be covered in accumulating any considerable supply, and after the cotton crop has all been picked, negro help is very difficult to obtain.

Bagasse.—Bagasse, or the refuse sugar-cane, is given rather scant consideration in the Government report. Its individual fibers are short, and the percentage of pith is large. Several small plants have had discouraging experiences in attempting to put this material to commercial use. Nevertheless, recent experiments carried on in the interests of the United Fruit Company, under the Simmons patents, point to a promising result. Under this process the cane is not treated in the usual manner of crushing for the extraction of sugar. Instead, it is shredded, dried, and the pith separated from the fiber. The product is then shipped in bales to refineries, where the sugar is extracted.

This method is said to achieve an almost complete extraction of the sugar, whereas the old method of crushing loses about twenty per cent of the sugar and injures the fibers. The Simmons process does no damage to the fibers, which though short, possess excellent felting properties. The pith, being cellulose of a non-fibrous structure, has a value for other industries than paper-making.

Flax Straw.—There is an abundant annual crop of flax straw. The average yield per acre is about one ton, and the total annual production about 3,000,000 tons. In the opinion of the Government investigators, it is a “most promising” material.

There are practical pulp men who deprecate the findings of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Martin L. Griffin, chemist to the Oxford Paper Company, of Rumford, Maine, in an article appearing in Volume XI, No. 2, of Paper for March, 1913, makes the following statement:

“There is a popular view, which has been erroneously fostered by the Government, that there are exhaustless resources of waste fiber in our country, suitable for paper, and a substitute for wood. I once thought so myself. It is very natural to think that the discarded stalks of sugar-cane, corn, cotton, rice, flax, and other plants, which mature annually, would prove an abundant substitute for wood.

“These have all been exploited for twenty-five years to my personal knowledge, with no visible results. A plant has one function to perform—it is to flower, fruit or make stalk. Its other functions are subordinate and produce only by-products. The stalk is the main product of the forest tree. No other fibrous material is so rich in cellulose; no other which lends itself so easily to paper-mill processing. It has no seasons of harvest; does not require curing; does not easily decay; requires no packing, and may be stored best in the rivers. All these waste stalks are pithy, bulky and perishable, and would require much labor to gather, pack and ship. These are but a few reasons why we may expect no practical results from this source. Wood fills a place no other material can. There is no substitute for it.”

In this argument Mr. Griffin ignores the fact that esparto grass is a crop which gives a yield of cellulose practically equal to wood, and of equal, if not superior, quality. Although it is not available for American mills, it is worth citing in contradiction to the flat statement that “there is no substitute for wood.” Furthermore, there is no evidence that the American crops furnish an inferior fiber, though the cellulose yield is less. It is quite possible that the low cellulose yield may be compensated for through the production of by-products along with the paper-making material. Hitherto, however, this low yield and other considerations, as expense of harvesting and packing, have been the factors which have retarded their development, but the increasing scarcity of wood, and its consequent advance in cost, is hastening the day when crop plants will become not only valuable, but necessary adjuncts to the paper industry.