The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-01
WE HOPE TIT IS TRUE.

MT. Guenther, our Consul-General at Frankfort. Germany, has reported to this government a declaration recent ly made by prominent sugar planter of the Island of Trinidad that he has discovered a method of making white paper from sugar-cane stalks. or bag asse, after the juice has been express ed for syrup anl sugar making.
 Of course it is not what we might call a new discovery that paper can be made of sugar-cane refuse, for that has been done. just as paper sas been made of other materials. but hereto fore it has not been a success. This Trinidad planter, to use the words of an observant contemporary, expresses confidence that he has practically over come that obstacle, and that his pro- cess of manufacturing paper from bag asse, or cane refuse. is comparatively inexpensive. in fact. he declares that 1t will pay to grow cane for paper alone, leaving the sugar as clear profit. So sanguine is he of the commercial suc- cess of his scheme that he is said to have built a paper mill, at a cost of $S5.000. as an adjunct to his sugar fac- tory. He has. according to Consul General Guenther's report, turned out paper worth twenty-four dollars ton; and about ton and quarter of cane makes ton of pulp. The scheme is at least worthy of investigation, consid- ering the immense quantity of ground sugar cane which goes to waste at the factories; particularly since 1t is es- timated roughly that in the United States 75 per cent of the total ton- mage of paper is now made from wood pulp or wood fiber"
 The importance of this discovery, if there be no mistake in the statements. can harliy be overestimated. 1t is 6 well-known fact. at least to all con- sumers of white paper, that the supply of wood-puip suitable for paper mak- ing is fast being exhausted in our own country, and that the high duties pre- vent its importation from abroad. It is equally well known that the de- mand for paper is steadily increasing with the growth of population and the spread of the reading habit among the people.
 These two considerations render the alleged discovery one of vast impor- tance to both publishers and readers of books and newspapers. Bagasse is practically a waste product. After the juice has been pressed from the cane stalks the latter are largely a nuis- ance. Sugar cane Is a plant that fiourishes admirably in a large area of the United States. If both the juice and the now useless stalks can be made to yield good profit the cultivation of the plant will not only be largely increased. but the added value of it's products will add millions to the an- nual income of the large and small planters of the Southern United States, i for much more of 1t could be grown than is now done, and the crops would be largely increased If there were ar added profit in It's cultivation.
 As before remarked, it Is not a new discovery that paper can be made out of this waste product. The time has been when cotton and linen rags were about the only paper stock that could be used but invention and discovery have long since progessed far from that time. Now. they can make paper of variant quality from almost any plant or material that has fibre; thu only drawback being that it Is not | profitable to make 1t out of some oi the materials that have been expert mented with. If. therefore. this new discovery proves to be the success thaf is claimed for it the time may not b' far distant when print paper will b. both plentiful and cheap. If the Trini dad man has accomplished what h, claims he may properly be considered a benefactor to the human family.