The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-05-20
GQ0O PAPER MADE:
FROM CORN STALKS
Machine Perfected to Extract
Fiber Used as Substitute
for Wood Pulp.
HOW PRODUCT is MADE
New Industry Will, No Doubt Event.
uaIly Promise Great results; Also
Increasing Value of the Crude
Product Now Lost.

Chicago Record Herald: a Maine pa
per mill is making paper from Illinois
cornstalks that sells as high as cents
a round, the result OF new farm OPP
GRAFTON that promises great results. IL
is u farm matter in that me use OF
stalks for paper results in the farmer
having his corn husked for 81 an acre
instead of 3 cents Il bushei and In haN-
ing gathered into his barn all OF the
fodder that is really desirable for feed
ing purposes
For years the paper manufacturers
have known that the cornStalk pro
tluccs II fiber that IS valuable for paper
making purposes, but up to Il year or
so ago they were at a loss to know
how 10 cook it to advantage. TO cook
the shell Of the cornstalk to the proper
consistency would overlook the pith.
Neither could the leaves or the husks
be cooked with the stalk without spoil
ing some component part.
About eight years ago George *.
Sherw GOD of 1<earney, Ncb.. began Civ
ing the subject of utilizing colnstalks
considerable thought. From his seat IN
a railroad car he looked out over the
great wastes Of cornstalks and tried to
figure out the solution of putting them
| to valuable use. Later he consulted a
Chicago chemist named William Hos
| kinS, and the two set to work to devise
a plan by which the shell of the corn
! stalk and the pith could be prepared
for paper making separately. TO do
| this II would be necessary to separate
| the pith from the shell. and 1t would
have to be done by machinery. A score
| or more of such machines were expert
| mented with.
| Machine Is Perfected.
| About n year ago a piece or mechan.
| ism 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 Kan
kakee, county, Illinois. The quality Of
the paper is such as to make it avail
able for nearly all of the purposes OF
| i printer or bookmalier. The character
Of the pith production is slightly differ
ant from that Of the shell. One grade
Of it has been found desirable for gro
GERS use in covering lard or butter.
A large proportion of the paper that
| as been made came from the 1903 crop
| Of corn stalks.
| 1t was first thought best TO induce
the farmer TO haul his corn fodder to
the plant in Nankakee, have the corn
husked, and then hauling the leaves
| and husks back to the farm for feeding
purposes. Superintendent Miller of the
|
much better plan, one that was calcu-
lated to enlist the cooperation of the
farmers. He perfected q machine 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 ma
chine, just as the th:eshins people haul
oats or other grains The fodder Is fed
into the machine. swiftly driven by
team power.
! The first act Of the contrivance is to
snap off the ears of the cOrnstalk and
to drop them into a double conveyor,
which carries the ears along endways,
sllinning off The husks as they pass
along, Scarcely a shred is left on the
ear, the great bulk of the yellow ears
coming out without IL vestige Of their
former covering. What little shelling
is done in the operation the machine
saves the grains and deposits them in a
box ut the side. The ears are run by
machinery into q wagon box, in which
they are hauled away
How Paper Is Made.
After having clipped off the ears the
machine runs the stalks to the rear
depositing them side by side on a ia
bic. Automatically the machine rolls
them into a bundle that is pushed into
a binder operated on the same principle
as that Of the binding machinery of q
harvester. The bundle of stalks, as
|
cord and dropped TO the side of the ma.
| chine.
The leaves and husks Of the fodder
9 are dropped on an endless belt thai
} carries them to the mouth of q blow
pipe, the function of which is to blow
this material into the barn of the farm
er, who finds in it some Of the fines
feed stuff that his farm produces.
For thus husking his corn and blow
ing the part fit for cattle feed into tn
barn the farmer pays the machine maj
{ 81 an acre and turns over the stalks t.
e the latter free Of charge. The ma
d chine will clean up six acres or abou
s 1870 shocks Of corn a day.
Ii The stalks, which have now becom
: the property of the husker, are haule,
Y or shipped to the plant at Kankake
S and are conveyed to an upper room
d where they are fed into a machine tn
l. separates the pith from the shell O
: the stalk. Two knives that are drive
IS at great speed saw the pith from tn
e stalk that has been rolled fiat, so tina
g every particle of the pith has been tax
IS EN- out. The pith is dropped into on
e bin and the shell into another.
! Product Shipped to Maine.
d They are baled separately an
Y shipped to the paper factory in Maine
d where each is treated according to
particular process in making paper.
II At first the husker and depithing ma
i ckines were combined in one, the frs
IS lisa being to bring all Of the fodde
e to tne plant. Then it was found to b
II more desirable to do the husking on tn
h farm and the depithing in the plant
y and they were separated. 1t Is believe
l. that one of the huskers may be PEI
II fected to strip and husk fifteen acre
= a day and will turn out in single au
n tumn 800 tons Of prepared cornstalk.
l. A paper mill with 4 daily capacity {
100 tons Of finished paper will requir
W $4,000 tons of cornstalks annually. 1t
t estimated that the total output Of TIL
n paper mills of this country is 10000
y IONS annually.