Again, a property which discourages the use of sugar-cane, bagasse, corn-stalks and materials of like nature, is that the cellulose which they con tain is present in two or more forms having widely different physical properties, and these forms do not behave alike when treated with paper-making chemicals. Thus, the pith, fibrovascular bundles and rind (the latter consisting of highly lignified fiber) of bagasse will be attacked in the order given by chemical treatment, and a treatment sufficient to soften the rind is rather too severe for the fibro vascular bundles, and entirely too severe for the pith. Such treatment, therefore, results in low yields, and the resulting pulp is not homogeneous, consisting of long, coarse fibers and of the short pith cells, the latter of which impart parchment like and objectionable characteristics to the paper.
A material which is suitable for making papers of all grades is the fiber of flax grown for seed. The straw contains 20 to 25 per cent of flax fiber suitable for making the strongest and best paper. Here, again, there are three forms of cellulose present, and it is difficult to separate cheaply the wood of the straw from the true bast fibers. Difficulty, too, has been encountered in removing the seed left in the straw, the oil from which, if it is not removed, appears in the finished paper, giv ing it a greasy, spotty appearance and spoiling it for any but common papers.
Looking to the time when the cost of wood will encourage a larger use of other raw materials, but little consideration need be given to materials suita ble for common papers, such as strawboard, box and cardboard, common wrapping paper, and the like, as it is not probable that the supply of straw, bagasse, corn-stalks, and other low-grade material which, under these conditions will be available, will be reduced in the near future. For the better papers, such as newspapers, strong wrapping, book, writ ing and record papers, we may expect the demand to he met more largely than at present, under the stimulus of increased prices, by a larger collection of rags, scutching and spinning waste of the textile industries, old rope, paper trimmings and old papers; utilization of other kinds of wood and of the waste woods of other wood-using industries; recovery of the fiber now wasted in flax-straw, of which the product of about three million acres is annually wasted in this country; substitution of the cereal straws, bagasse, corn-stalks, bamboo rnd many other materials; and, finally, when it becomes necessary, the production of a material primarily for the making of paper.
Adansonia (Adansonia digitata). Malvaccee.
Adansonia is the inner bark of the baobab or monkey bread tree. It is obtained from the tropical regions of the western coast of Africa, and is suitable for making a strong wrapping paper having a high finish.
Balsam (Abies balsamea.) Coniferee.
Balsam is used in Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Wisconsin for sulfite pulp, yielding a pulp of the same general character as spruce.
Bamboo (Bambusea species). Graminece. Fig. 121, Vol. I, and Fig. 729.
These are giant grasses which have long been known as suitable for making paper, but have never been used extensively for this purpose, probably owing to the greater ease of securing wood. Recent experiments have again demon strated the value of the dwarf bamboos, particu larly, for paper-making. Bamboo is native in tropical and subtropical countries, and is used extensively industrially in southern Asia and the Philippines. It has been introduced successfully into the United States. It is the chief paper-making material of China, and owing to the rapidity with which it grows (a yield of six tons of paper stock per season has been estimated), it is a promising material of the future. It makes a soft, white paper, possessing some of the characteristics of paper made from straws, and is suitable for wrapping, newspaper and book papers. The fiber is 1 to 10 mm. long and .015 mm. in diameter. The yield of paper is about 40 per cent.
(Zea Mays) and Sugar-cane bagasse (Saccharum offieinarurn). Graminece.
The former is grown extensively in the United States, the latter in the United States, West Indies, East Indies and Hawaii. They have both attracted considerable attention, as have also cot ton-stalks, as paper-making materials. Samples of very acceptable paper have been prepared, and bagasse has been used for some years by several mills in preparing a low-grade wrapping paper. [See Zifqie and Sugar-cane.] Cotton (Gossypium species). ilalvacece. Fig. 355.
Cotton is a single-fibered seed hair and is used in the paper industry in the form of fibrous waste from the decortication of the seeds, which, even after ginning, retain on their surfaces about 10 per cent of fiber; by delinting, 1 per cent of a short fiber is recovered. Old and new rags, spin ning waste and thread are the chief sources of cotton-paper stock. Large quantities of rags are imported from England, Germany and Egypt. The total quantity of cotton and flax fiber used in the United States for paper-making in 1905 was 294, 552 tons. Cotton is largely employed in the finest record, ledger, writing, book and blotting papers, usually mixed with a little linen. The fibers are 20 to 40 mm. long, and .012 to .037 mm. in diam eter. The yield of paper from rags is approxi mately 83 per cent. [See Cotton.] Cottonwood (Populus deltoides). Salicacem. Fig. 449.