The Empire County argus., 1854-11-18

| PAPER.-1he present high price Of paper and the
proposed establishment of a mill for the manufac-
ture of this article in this State gives rise to much
speculation about what substance will and will not
furnish cheap raw materalaor its manufacture.
1t is Of course well known that the products of
flax, hemp and cotton, afford the best material now
employed, Uumanufactured,or or bale cotton is not a
cheap article nor good for the production of paper
il purely white article is desired. Paper may be
made from almost any fbrous material on earth,
but to be supplied cheap the material must
be abundant, and not liable to a loss of more than
one-third the original weight, and readily yielding
to the 'bleachng process" Paper may, and has
been made from straw, hay pea-vincs, cornstalks,
&c. Straw next to linen and cotton rags is the
best atcrial the stalk being hollow there is less
pithy and useless matter in proportion to the f.
brous Ingredient than in the other articles speci-
fed. In hay there is no fibre only upon the stalk
itself, the leaves furnish none but are source of
annoyance to the manufacturer, and always ac-
company the stalk, Of straw for paper, rye straw
is the best afforiing the most fibre and being blea
ched more easily than other straw. Wheat straw
is the next best, and barley nearly equal to wheat
cat straw being the poorest.
The Tule of this State is supposed to resemble
the Papyrus from which it is said paper was origi
nauy made. and that therefore, our two million
acres of tule lands will furnish an excellent stock
Of raw material for paper. There may be resem-
blance, and indeed the tule may be as good and
must be twenty per cent. better than the papyrus
itself, in order to furnish profitable material for
the manufacture of white paper. No papyrus ever
grew equal to linen or cotton rag for the produc
ton of paper such as is now required in MARKET
If the reading world would be satisfied with news
papers and books printed on paper ola ycllowish
or grayish color instead Of pure white, paper could
be produced at much cheaper rates than at pres.
cnt. The difficulty is not in making paper out Of
straw or tule, but in bringing the paper to the
required standard Of fwhteness. The cost of bleach
ing these articles is fearful in the eyes of manu-
facturer, when compared with the cost of whtcn-
ing domestic rags or cordage by any process now
generally understood by paper makers
We have in cur time tried many experiments in
making paper from straw and other material, and
never yet found anything equal to linen rag. We
have examined the tulc and believe that an article
of paper can be made from it equal if not superior
to straw paper, and combined with linen and cot
ton, the tule may form a valuable ingredient; but
when the tule paper appears in market the San
Francisco Herald must be content with an article
much inferior in whtencss to the sheet they now
furnish their readers although the quality in other
respects may be as good. The manufacturer of
paper encounters many difficulties in producing
good quality of paper from the stock now generally
used, and these difficulties are greatly increased
when resorts made to other vegetable fibre. When
the art Of making paper from saw-dust is learned
we may expect paper to be very cheap but never
cheaper than from 81 to A. when half the paper
manufactures Of the United States were ruined by
competition with each other and the credit system
then employed Of the manufacture of paper in
this State have to say that if suitable location
near San Francisco could be found the business
might be made profitable Perfectly clear water
is absolutely necessary. We hope to see the cx-
pertinent made on large scale, a one horse power
concern will never succeed. The market here is
ample for several large mills and coarse paper can
be manufactured'proftably beyond doubt, and If
tie tule will make a good and white paper, we can
from this source sunply the world