UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
w
BULLETIN
No. 309
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry A. TAYLOR, Chief
WM.
PROFESSIONAL PAPER
Washington, D. C.
November
4,
1915
ZACATON AS A PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. By Charles
J.
Brand, in
Charge,
and Jason L. Merrill, Assistant Chemist, Paper-
Plant Investigations. 1
CONTENTS. Page. Introduction
Botanical history and
zacaton Distribution of zacaton
Laboratory tests of pulp production Micromeasurements of fibers and other
3 6
Physical tests of zacaton papers
25
Conclusion
27
10 cells
.
Page.
Chemical investigation of the grass and pulp. Cellulose from zacaton Semicommercial tests of the pulp
1
systematic position of
15
18
20
14
INTRODUCTION. There appears to be a constant and increasing interest in the discovery plant materials which may be substituted for wood and rags in the making of paper stock of various kinds. The uses to which paper may be put are multiplying rapidly, the consumption for present purposes is increasing greatly, and there is a constant depletion of existing supplies. Many materials from both wild and cultivated plants are at present going to waste, so that a natural desire to save them adds to the general interest in the subject. This interest is world wide and practically spontaneous. In southern China bamboos and rice straw are under experiment; in Manchuria the stalks of the grain sorghums; in Mexico wood waste and various trees not now used for other purposes; and in Egypt the plant formation known as Nile suud, which constitutes the dense jungle growth of the upper White Nile and contains a large proportion of papyrus plants. In the Philippines attention is being given to bamboos and various other grasses and also to the fibrous by-products of the Manila-hemp indusof
1
The Paper- Plant Investigations
of Charles J.
—
Bureau of Plant Industry are conducted under the direction Markets and Rural Organization.
of the
Brand, Chief of the Office
of
Note. This bulletin should be useful to all persons who are interested in the economic phases of paper making, especially to print and book paper manufacturers. It has a botanic and chemical interest as well. 6826°— Bull. 309—15
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