New-York tribune., 1908-11-01
TRYING TO MAKE
PAPER FROM CORN
STALKS MAY GIVE USE
Full PRODUCT.
Farmers Interested, but Nothing
Conclusive Established By Chem
lists of u. S. Forest ScrUicc. :
by WaIdDn Fswosta

tn. cb.ntsts OF tho United States forest ssrvscs.
co-ooeratsng with the plant experts OF tns De-
partment OF Agriculture. believe tnaI my Ho ..
found the clew TO commercially praSei01oi0
method OF making paper from cornstaiAs az ta9
present time the American agrfcuIIuEdA 1OI1A-A.
nroduces annually millions millions OK tons %
cornstalks much OF which not only becomes "3S'o
but is actually tacumbrancs TO the farmers
1t is the desire to keep down the eost OF p&peF
to the consumer that has inspired Uncis sam Ia
tbts investigation As is generally known almost
all the paper now used. with the exception OK tns
very finest grades. Is made from wood pup Ano
with the enormous drain on the forests Ine prico
Of wood for payer making has Increased rapidly N
the last few years .
Congress- at its last session appropriated So.o0s
70 be expanded by the Department OF Agriculture
In an effort 20 hnd satisfactory subsTirE1es Tor
wood pulp. In furtherance Of this project tasre
has lately been established IN Washington WOOD
utilization laboratory. which Is fully equipped with
all the machinery and appliances for exper1r1enta
pulp manufacture
The common field variety Of corn obtained from
farms IN Virginia and Maryland has bean used
For this the goveSnrneut has paid . Ton n aodl
ton to the cost OF sportati0n- II - escated
that with stalks at 8 ton the total cost OF the
raw material for ton OF pulp VIII agsresats ~
while an outlay OF S3 Is required for the IA" ma
tertaI for ton OF wood pulp, with wood az III
present price OF s. a cord.
In the absence OF opportunity for carrying on the
manufacture Of cornstaIk pulp any extsnstvs
scale the chemists Of the forest service are unable
as vet to give a more satisfactory comparison OF
costs They say however, that even II IL should
develop IN actual practice that the cost OF pro-
ducing cornstalk paper Is great as that OF wood
pulp paper the value OF the experiments would not
be Iessened since the OF wood pulp IS advanc-
ing so steadily that q product permanently avail
able at present prices will ere lopS De considered
q boon by paper users.
Then too, $ a ton for cornstalks - not neces-
sarfIy a fixed price. The government officials have
received letters from farmers onerinS TO supply
stalks as low 81 ton It has long been the
custom to locate paper mills the OF ths
raw material. and It IS not improbable that with
cornstaIk paper manufactures in the corn belt
of the Middle West It would be found possible to
reduce the cost Of production below present esti-
mates
The volume OF correspondence that has poured
into the Department OF Agriculture this subject
attests the interest OF the farmers IN this pros
pective means OF turning their almost worth
less cornstaIks into ccin- Paper manufacturers.
too have offered the OF their plants to Try out
the scheme commercial scale. and one pro-
prfetor OF g large corn canning factory has gone
TO Washington within the last few days TO ascer-
tain the advisabiIity OF establishing a mill and
producing cornstalk paper as by-product.
The government experimenters have produced
from corstaIks paper of different tnts and two
general classes Thick. heavy paper suggestive OF
parchment IS produced from the pith OF the stalks
while finer paper OF longer hbrs Is obtained from
the hard outside portions The latter IS seemingly
equal in quality TO the best wood pulp grade and
would be suitable for IN books. etc. However.
the heavier paper IS quite brittle, and either new
markets would have to be cultivated for It, else
this grade OF pulp would have 10 be combined
with other pulp to produce paper conforming
to the present specifications Of consumers.