The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-03
MONDAY. JUNE 8, 1912,
A POSSIBLE NORTH DAKOTA
PRODIGY.

Should the agricultural appropria-
ton with the Hanna amendment fin
ally be accepted by the conference
committee of the house and senate,
as now seems almost certain. North
Dakota will have opened before II an
opportunity to study the utilization
of one of the greatest wastes of its
farms. The Hanna amendment to
the agricultural bill. which ny the
WAY. struck such Il responsive echo
in the house that it WAS allowed to
pass without the Invocation of the
out of order" protest to which it was
liable. provides for an appropriation
of $1,000 to he used by the asricul-
tural college of his state in expert
product for the manufacture of pa
per.
h MANUFACTURES of flax fiber from
North Dakota flax straw has been
found impossible. If this product of
the farm that is now wasted is to be
converted into salanlc articles some
other line must be tried. There are
produced in this state annually, ar-
cording TO the federal bureaus stat
istics. from one and Il half to two
million tons of straw. AT the present
time less than a quarter million ons
is profitably utilized out of the en-
tire worlds supply which is about
three to four million tons. including
the product of the state. The rest is
waste.
One of the greatest drains of the
forests is the demand for timber for
pulp for paper making. While a large
quantity of timber waste is utilized
for this purpose, the fact remains
that vast areas are almost denuded
Of young timber TO supply this de-
mand. In this way the future sup
ply of lumber timber is materially
reduced, and if the demand for print
paper increases i'm the lex twenty
five years as it has in the past twen-
ty-ilNe. the future will have to look
Cor come substitute for lumber.
The utilization of flax straw for
y ai,"r making would stop this drain
OH the forests to the extent of its sub
stitrtion for timber. Flax will al
was he grown for the seed because
the uses of flax seed have ecom per
rlHncnt in our industrial system.
Sh"lld a use he found for tn" straw.
which would add to the profit of flax
ra;*ing without increasing the cost.
larger areas would he grown and the
industry would become an increasing
instead of a diminishing one. Even
if the raw straw should not bring
more than a dollar a ton, which
would he a Very low estimate if II
has any value whatever AS IL nate
rial for print paper. it is easy tn see
Hp-1,,f t1nn r, ,y,j :, hnlf 10 .r, a. al
ION tons now produced in this state
would add to the farm incomes, not
taking into consideration even the
larger production that would come
with profitable production.
The task of working out the solu-
ton of making paper from flax straw
is placed in competent hands. The
agricultural college of this state has
In Prof. Bollev the grca1cst flax cx-
pert in the world. and the institution
has never failed to measure up to the
demands made upon il. Commenting
on the possibility of making paper
from fax straw, DIR. Galloway, chief
of the bureau of plant industry at
Washington. says: In tho work that
has been done excellent qualities OF
pulp with fair yields of tihcr-up to
forty per cent on bone dry raw ma
terial-have been secured. Some
difficulties nave been in
bleaching, but it is not believed that
these are insurmountablc." Thus
it appears that the pioneer work has
already been done, and that the North
Dakota Institution will only have to
perfect the processes by which the re-
suits already secured have been ac-
complished.