Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-09-19
PAPER MADE FROM GRASS.
New Corporation to Use Flag fror
Montezuma Marshes of New YORK

New Corporation to Use Flag from
Montezuma Marshes of New york.
The Montezuma Fiber company was
incorporated at Albany with $4,000
capital 10 make paper pulp out OF
march flags, tall coarse grass grow
ing in the Montezuma marshes, says
the Syracuse Herald. A secondary
object is the manufacture of paper
generally. Experiments conducted
during the last two years by Eugene /.
Kinney of this city and by the Solvay
Process company have been so sue
cessful that the price OF marsh land,
which has hitherto been little more
than nothing, has gone up. The new
company holds more than 5000 acres
of this Montezuma marsh land and
the Solvay Process company about
$500 acres, which includes about all
the marsh land available In what
may be called the Montezuma swamp,
between Cayuga and Cross Lakes.
The first experiment of the new
company with the hitherto wasted
flags of Montezuma was conducted in
Newark, N. j., where a small quantity
Of the flags were passed through a
miniature paper machine with a re.
suit so satisfactory that a ton of the
flags was sent to large papermaking
mill at Elbridge. A fair quality of
paper was the result. Later at Ska.
neateles and later still at the mills of
the Ithaca Paper company, expert.
ments were conducted with success
and good paper somewhat similar to
ordinary manila paper was made at
small cost. Since then the company
claims to have made a good quality
sells for $40 ton.
The Solvay Process company has
been using the Montezuma flag paper
for making cartons, saleratus boxes
and paper barrels. 1t was in view of
the success of its experiments with
these boxes that the Solvay company
decided to buy the great tract of the
marsh land and to make all of its own
paper hereafter.
The crop of flags is harvested In
the late summer and midwinter 4
each year. After being cut it is left
for few days to dry in the open like
hay. The dry material is then carried
by trolley or canal to the mill, where
it is baled and stacked. When brought
to the mill the flags vary in length
from SIX to ten feet, but it is immedi-
ately cut into small sticks of four or
six inches. The sticks are carried on q
travelling belt to the top floor and
dumped into a rotary "digester" whiea
cooks them for several hours. This
cooking and digesting is done by a
special process that Mr.. Kinney has
invented. When the stuff comes out
OF the "digester" it is pulp and ready
to go through the paper mills and
come out as wrapping paper or box.
board according to the treatment If
gets. 1t can be bleached to any shades
wanted. Also it can be colored with
sulphite like any other paper.
The harvest is from ten to fifteen
tons Of marsh grass to an acre. Cut.
ting it only makes the next crop rank.
err The total area of marshes is about
10000 acres, of which one-half grows
this grass. The Fiber company and
the Solvay company have leases on
some OF the rest of the swamp. What
they haven't got is now held at $50
an acre. where it was sold only recent
~ for 81. The new company expects
to build pulp mill at Montezuma.
selling the pulp to paper fanufactur-
ers.