Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-01

THE FIBER USED AS SUBSTITUTE
FOR WOOD PULP.
Farmer Has His Corn Shucked for One
Dollar an Acre in the
Field

Kankakee ILL.,. Dispatch to the Chicago Record
Herald.
Maine paper mill is making paper from
Illinois corn stalks that sells high AZ
cents pound the result of a new farm
operation that promises great results. 1t IS
a farm matter in that the use of stalks Tor
paper results in the farmer having his corn
husked for 81 an acre instead of cents a
bushel and in having gathered into ms
barn all of the fodder that is really desira-
BILE for feeding purposes
For years the paper manufacturers have
known that the corn stalk produces hber
that is valuable for paper making purposes.
but up to year or so ago they were at a
loss to know how to cook it to advantage
To cook the shell OF the corn stalk to the
proper consistency would overlook the pith.
Neither could the leaves or the hushs Do
cooked with the stalk without spelling some
component part.
About eight years ago George r. Sher-
wood of Kearney. Neb began giving the
subject of utilizing corn stalks considerable
thought From his seat in a railroad car
he looked out over the great wastes of corn
stalks and tried to figure out the solution
of putting them to valuable use. Later he
consulted a Chicago chemist named Will
lam Hoskins and the two set to work to
devise plan by which the shell of the
corn stalk and the pith could be prepared
for paper making separately. To do this 1t
would be necessary to separate the pith
from the she'll and it would have to be
done by machinery, A score or more of
such machines were experimental with.
Machine is Perfected.
About a year ago a piece of mechanism
was completed and set to work, with the
result that nearly 100 tons of the finest
grades of paper have been made from
stalks that grew in Kankakee county, Ill.
The quality of this paper is such as to
make it available for nearly all of the pur-
poses of printer or bookmaker. The char
acter of the pith production is slightly diff
ferent from that of the shell. One grade
of it has been found desirable for grocers'
use in covering lard or butter. \ large pro-
portion of the paper that has been made
came from the 1903 crop of corn stalks.
1t first thought best to induce the
farmer to haul his corn fodder to the plant
in Kankakee have the corn husked and
then hauling the leaves and the husks pack
to the farm for feeding purposes Superin-
tendent Miller of the factory. however, be-
leved there was a much better plan, one
that was calculated to enlist the co-opera-
ton of the farmers He perfected ma
chine the province of which is to be hauled
to the farm, set up near the barn and then
haul the shocks of fodder to the machine.
just the thrashng people haul oats
other grain. The fodder is fed into the
machine, swiftly driven by steam power.
off the ears of the corn stalk and to drop
them into a double conveyor. which carries
the ears along endways. skinnng off the
husks as they pass along. Scarcely shred
is left on an ear the great bulk Of the
yellow ears coming out without vestige
of their former covering What little she'll
ing is done in the operation the machine
saves the grains and deposits them in a
box at the side. The ears are run by ma
chinery into wagon box, in which they
are hauled away.
How Paper is Made
After having clipped off the ears the ma
chine runs the stalks to the rear, depositing
them side by side a table. Automatical-
ly the machine rolls them into a bundle
that is pushed into binder operated on
the principle as that of the binding
machinery of a harvester The bundle of
stalks. clean fish poles is tied with a
hemp cord and dropped to the side of the
machine
The leaves and husks of the fodder are
dropped on an endless belt that carries
them to the mouth of a blow pipe, the
function of which is to blow this material
into the barn of the farmer. who finds in il
some Of the finest feed stuff that his farm
produces.
For thus husking his corn and blowing
the part fit for cattle feed into the barn the
farmer pays the machine man 81 an acre
and turns over the stalks to the latter free
of charge. The machine will clean up six
acres or about 40 shocks of corn a day
The stalks which have now become the
property of the husker are hauled or
shipped to the plant at Kankakee and are
conveyed to an upper room, where they are
led into machine that separates the pith
from the shell of the stalk. Two knives
that are driven at great speed saw the pith
from the stalk that has been rolled fat SO
that every particle of the pith has been
taken out. The pith is dropped into one
bin and the she'll into another
Product Shipped to Maine.
They are baled separately and shipped to
the paper factory in Maine, where each Is
treated according to particular process in
making paper.
At first the husker and depithing ma
CHIMES were combined in one. the first idea
being to bring all of the fodder to the plant
Then 1t was found to be more desirable to
do the husking on the farm and the depith-
Ing in the plant, and they were separated
1t Is believed that one of the huskers may
De perfected to strip and husk fifteen acres
day and Will turn out in single autumn
GOO tons of prepared corn stalks. paper
mill with daily capacity of 100 tons of
finished paper will require 10000 tons of
corn stalks annually. 1t is estimated that
the total output of the paper mills of this
country is 100000 tons annually