The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-05-20
GOOO PAPER MADE
FROM CORN STALKS
Machine Perfected to Extract
Fiber Used as Substitute
tor Wood Pulp.
HOW PRODUCT is MADE
New Industry Will, No Doubt Event.
ually 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
c~ornstalks that sells as high as s cents
a pound. the result of a new farm OPP
GRAFTON that promises great results. 1t
is a farm matter in that the use OF
stalks for paper results in the tanner
having his corn husked for 81 AN acre
instead OF 3 cents a bushel and in haf-
ing gathered into his barn all of lie
fodder that is really desirable for feel
ing purposes.
For years the paper manufacturers
have known that the cornStalk pro-
duceS IL fiber that is valuable for paper
making purposes. but up to a year or
so ago they We're at u loss to know
how to cook it TO advantage. To cook
the she'll of the cornstalS to the proper
consistency would overlook the pith.
Neither could the leaves or the huslls
be cooked with the stalk without spoil
ing some component part.
About eight years ago George r.
Sherwood of kearney, Neb., began Civ
ing the subject OF utilizing cornstalks
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 Il
'@'tAA hthiibSN w iiAtiA ~,
kfns, and the two set to work to devise {
Il plan by which the shell of the corn
stalk and the pith could be prepared
for paper making separately. To do
this it would be necessary to separate
the pith from the shell. and it would
have to be done by machinery. A score
or more of such machines We're expert
mented with.
Machine is Perfected.
About a year ago a piece of meehan.
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 ii avail
able for nearly ali of the purposes of
a printer or ~bookmaker. The character
of the pith production is slightly differ
ent 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
has been made came from the 1865 crop
of corn stalks.
ItS was first thought best to induce
the farmer to haul his corn fodder to
the plant in Kankakee, have the corn
husked. and then hauling ths leaves
and husks back to the farm fer feeding
purposes. Superintendent Miller of the
factory, however. believed there was a
much better plan, n that was calcu-
lated to enlist the cooperation of The
farmers. He perfected a 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 threshing people haul
oats or other grain. The fodder is fed
into the machine. swiftly driven by
steam power.
The first act of the continuance is to
snap off the ears of the cornStalk and
/ TO GrCD them into a double cOnNpVOr.
which carries the ears along endways,
skinning 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 a vestige of their
former covering. What little shelling
Is done in the operation the machine
saves the grains and deposits them in a
box at the side. The ears are run by
machinery into a wagon box, in which
they are hauled away.
How Paper Is Made.
After having clipped off the ears the
depositing them side by side on a ta-
BILE. Automatically the machine rolls
them into a bundl hat is pushed into
a binder operated on the same principle
as that of the binding machinery of a
harvester. The bundle of stalks, as
clean as fish poles, is tied with a hemp
cord and dropped to the side of the ma
him
The leave 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 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 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 ma
chine will clean up six acres or about
100 shocks Of corn q 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 fed into a 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 fiat, so tina
every particle of the pith has been talk
en- out. The pith is dropped into one
bin and the shell into another.
Product Shipped to Maine.
They are baled separately ana
shipped to the paper factory in Maine,
where each is treated according to a
particular process in making paper.
1T 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 it vas found to be
more desirable to do the husking on the
farm and the dspithing in the plant.
and they were separated. 1t is believed
that one of the huskers may be per-
fected to strip and husk fifteen acres
a day and will turn out in a single au-
tumn 600 tons of prepared cornstalks.
A PAPER mill with a daily capacity of
100 tons of finished paper will require
10000 tons of cornstalks annually. 1t is
aCtin,nfa7 that tho fntoJ o,,trr+ m It,
paper mills of this country is 5000. OO0
tons annually.
The French HOUSEWIVES Thrift.