Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-08-11

A Kankakee (Ill.) dispatch to the
| Chicago Record-aerald says: a Maine
ape mill is making paper f1om Ill
inois cornstalks that sells as llgn as
| eight cents a pound, the result OF the
new farm operation that promises
! great results. It is a T matter
that in the use Of stalks for paper re-
suits in the farmer having hS Q
husked for 81 an acre instead q three
cents a bushel and in having gathered
into his barn all the fodder hat is
really desirable for feeding purposes.
For years the paper manufacturers
have known that the cornstak pro-
duces a fiber that is valuable for paper
making purposes, but up to a yFar or
so ago they were at a loss to know
how to cook it to advantage. T4seook
the shell Of the cornstalk to the porp-
err consistency would overlook the
nth. Neither could the leaves Or the
husks be cooked with the stalk with
out spelling some component part.
About eight years ago George f..
Sherwood, of Kearney, Neb., began
RlVlng Tic SuUJOCL VI -ul11AAAl5 2NOAh
stalks 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 Hoskins, and the two set to
work to devise a plan by which the
-y-rl e H. >n~r4a I ord thu NTH
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 were experimental
with.
About a year ago a piece of 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, Ill. The quality of this
paper is such as to make it available
for nearly all the purposes Of a print
er 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
grocers' use in covering l,.rd or butter.
A large proportion. of the paper that
has been made came from the 1908
crop of cornstalks.
It vas first thought best to induce
the farmer to haul his corn fodder to
the plant in Kankakee, nave the corr
husked and then hauling the leaves
and the husks back to the farm fol
feeding purposes. Superintendent Mil
Ter of the factory, however, believed
there was a much better plan, one
that was calculated to enlist the CO
operation. OF the farmers. He perfect
ed a machine, the province of which
is to be hau.ed to the farm, set uI
near the barn and then haul the shocks
of fodder to the machine, just as thu
!. thrashing people haul oat:: or Other
grain. The fodder is fed into the ma
chine, swiftly driven by steam power
: The first act of the contrivance il
to snap off the ears of the cornstall
; and to drop them into a doble con
veyor. which carries the ears alon!
: endways, SHINING off the husks a
). they pass along. Scarcely a shred
Y is left on an ear, the great bull
Of the yellow ears coming out with
! out a vestige of their former covering
r What little Smelling is done in the op
e GRAFTON the machine saves the grain
9 and deposits them in a box at the side
! The ears are u by machinery int
a wagon box, in which they are haule'
away.
;, After having clipped off the ear
the machine runs the stalks to tn
rear, depOsiting them side by side on
q table. Automatically the machine roll
IL them into a bundle that is pushed int
a binder operated on the same pri1
ciple as that Of the binding machi1
L, cry of a harvester. The bundle 9
m stalks, as clean as fish poles, is tie
is with a hemp cord and dropped to th
Sc side Of the machine.
II The leaves and husks of the fodde
Id are dropped on an endless belt ths
carries them to the mouth of a blo7
70 pipe, the function of which is to bio
At this material into the barn Of the farm
n cI, WHO Illus ILL II some OF the lines
n feed stuff that his farm produces.
For thus husking his corn and blow
IS. ing the part fit for cattle feed int
us the barn the farmer pays the machir
"a, man 81 an acre and turns over til
We stalks to the latter free Of charge. TT
" machine will clean Up six acres {
n, about $50 shocks O: corn a day.
The stalks, which have now becon
the property of the husker, are haule
or shipped to the plant at Kankakt
and are conveyed to an upper ROOF
he where they are fed into a machi1
n ns that separates the pith from the she
he Of the stalk. Two knives that a,
We driven at great speed saw the pi1
ng from the stalk that has been role
~ fiat, so that every particle of the Ri
i'd has been taken out. The pith
dropped into one bin and the shan in