The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1904-08-11

| Chicago keCOru'AleAoiu ""'" ~
paper mill is making paper from Nv
inois cornstalks that sells as high as
eight cents a pound. the result OF the
new farm operation thai promises
great results. Ii is a farm matter
that in the use of stalks for paper re-
sults in the farmer having his corn
husked for 81 an acre instead OF three
cents n bushel and in having gathered
info his barn all the fodder that is
really desirable for feeding purposes
For years the paper manufacturers
have known that the cornstalk pro-
duccs n fiber that is valuable for paper
making purposes, but up to year OF
50 ago they were at loss TO Know
how 10 cook it to advantage To COOK
the shell of the cornstalk to the porp'
or consistency would overlook the
NTH. Neither could the leaves or the
husks be cooked with the stalk With
out spelling some component rart.
About eight years ago George H.
Sherwood. 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 cornstalks
and tried 10 figure out the solution OF
putting them to valuable use. Later
he consulted a Chicago chemist named
William HOskins, and the two set 10
work to devise plan by which the
shell of the cornstalk and the plth
could be pre-, AIRED for paper making
separately. 10 do this it would be
necessary to separate the pith from
the shell. and il would have 10 be done
by machinery A scort or more OF
such machines were experimental
with. ..t
About a year ago a piece of mechan-
ism was completed and set to work.
with the result that nearly 100 tons
of the fine I grades Of paper have been
made from stalks that grew ia Kan
kakae County, Ill. The quality Of this
paper is such as TO make il available
for nearly all the purposes of print
or or bookmaker. The character Of
the plth production is slightly differ
ent from that Of the shell. One grade
Of it has been found desirable for
grocers' use in covering l.rd or butter
! A large proportion Of the paper that
has been made came from the 1905
crop Of cOrnstalks.
1t vas first thought best TO induce
the farmer to haul his corn fodder to
the plant in Kankakee, nave the corn
husked and then hauling the leaves
and the husks back to the farm for
| feeding purposes. Superintendent Mil
Ter Of the factory, howevo", believed
there was much better plan, one
operation Oh the farmers. He perfect
ed a machine, the province Of which
is TO be hau,ed to the farm, set up
near the barn and then haul the shocks
CT fodder to the machine, just as the
thrashing people haul cat or other
grain. The fodder is fec into the ma
chine, swiftly driven ly steam power
The first act of the conuivance is
to snap off the, ears of the cornstalk
| and to drop them into a doble con-
veyor, which carries the ears along
endways, skinning Off the husks as
they pass along. Scarcely a shred
is left on an ear, the great bulk
Of the yellow ears coming out with
out a vestige Of their former covering.
What little Smelling il done in the op.
Grafton the machine saves the grains
and deposits them in boz at the side.
The ears are run by machinery into
a wagon box, in which they arc hauled
away.
After having clipped off the ears
the machine runs the stalks to the
rear, depositing them side by side on
table. Automatically the machine rolls
them into bundle that is pushed into
a binder operated on the same prln-
ciple as that of The binding machin-
cry of harvester. Tne bundle of
stalks, as clean as 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 CT the farm
er, who finds(in 1t some of the finest
feed stuff that his farm produces.
For thus husking his corn and blow
ing the ptrt fit for cattle feed into
the barn the farmer pay 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