The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-08-07

which is said to be de
creasing to an alarming extent in al
regions where pulp.producing trees
grow The latest of these discoverie,
has been made in Uganda, Africa, anC
the Imperial institute of London de
seribes in a report on the subject q
series of experiments made with this
new material, which is known as ele
phant grass.
The marshlands Of tropical Africa
are thickly covered with this grass
which grows to a height of from six
TO ten feet and has proved a source OF
trouble and expense to agriculturists
as it grows rapidly after the shoots
above ground have been burned or cut
down. A sample of dried mature ele-
phant grass was sent recently from
Uganda to the Imperial institute with
the object Of ascertatning its suitabili-
ty for the manufacture of paper.
The consignment, which weighed 1T
pounds when received and 145 after
being air dried is said to have yielded
after treatment in the laboratories a
pulp of good color composed Of ul-
innate fibers rather longer than those
Of esparto grass and about the same
length as those of bamboo pulp. It fur
nished a fairly good paper which the
British experts expect to be able to
improve so as to make of this material
suitable and profitable substitute for
wood pulp.
But papermakers have learned ever
since wood pulp was first used in their
plants, to be rather skeptical regard
ing reported discoveries Of substitute
raw materials. The use of wood pulp
for the manufacture of paper is of
comparative recent origin, as its com
mercial application as a raw material
for this purpose dates from about 1869.
But long before the first cry of con-
servatlon was heard and the first pro-
tests made against the devastation of
forests men had been engaged in the
search for a new raw material. An
important American corporation has
for years employed experts in an eff
fort to discover a suitable method for
making paper pulp Of banana stalks.
Colorado came to the front some
time ago with the announcement that
pinon wood, which grows in abund-
ance in that state, could be made TO
supply wood pulp, and John Fftzger-
aid, supervisor of the National pike
forest, was quoted as stating that the
government was planning to erect
mills for the manufacture of paper
with this new material. What became
of pinon wood pulp?
New Mexico soon followed with the
report that bear grass, which grows
luxuriantly on the southwest prairies,
and with less rain than any other
plant had been found to be suitable
for the manufacture of paper but that
was the last heard about it and an
other revolution in the industry"
failed.
The scarcity Of pulp wood appears,
however to have been greatly exag-
gerated. The problem may be solved, |.
according to good authorities, without
the discovery Of substitute material by
the preservation of forests in wood |.
producing states This important ques-
tlon has aroused considerable interest
in the United States during recent .
years and decisive steps have been ta-
ken by the government for the refor-
estation Of devastated areas and the .
protection Of standing forests.
1t has been shown that to supply
mill having an output of 300 tons of
newspaper a week $500 acres planted
with spruce and hard woods would be
sufficient to give the wood pulp nee.
essary for one year. If the total for
est areas was 100000 acres the timber