AUTHORIZING EXCHANGE OF PROPERTY. FEBRUARY 13, 1909.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. KENNEDY, of Ohio, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 15939.] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 15939) authorizing the Secretary of War to exchange property, having considered the same, report thereon with amendments and as so amended recommend that it pass. The bill as amended has the approval of the Commerce and Labor Department, as will appear by the letter attached and which is made a part of this report. Amend the bill as follows: In line 4, after the word "authorized," strike out the words "and directed." Amend the title by striking out the word "War" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "Commerce and Labor." DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, DEAR SIR: Referring to the committee's letter dated February 1, 1908, inclosing a copy of H. R. 15939, authorizing the Secretary of War to exchange property occupied by the Light-House Board at Ashtabula, Ohio, asking that the committee be furnished with such suggestions as may be deemed proper touching the merits of the bill and the propriety of its passage, and to the reply thereto of February 4, 1908, I have the honor to state, at the instance of the Light-House Board, that the matter was considered at its session on May 4, 1908, when the passage of the bill was recommended, provided it be made to read, "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor be, and he is hereby, authorized to exchange", etc., instead of "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to exchange," etc., leaving out the words "and directed" in he original bill. The fact being, it is understood, that no exchange is to be made or entry on the present light-house property permitted until the property to be taken over in lieu thereof is placed in an entirely suitable condition satisfactory to the district officers and in accordance with plans already submitted to the Light-House Board. Very truly, yours, The CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CHARLES EARL, 60TH CONGRESS, Į HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. REPORT 2d Session, No. 2142. SUBSTITUTE FOR WOOD IN MANUFACTURE OF PAPER PULP. FEBRUARY 13, 1909.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. FEBRUARY 15, 1909.-Ordered reprinted for the use of the House as amended. Mr. STANLEY, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 24328.] The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 24328) to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct experiments and determine the practicability of making paper material out of cornstalks, and to erect buildings and purchase apparatus therefor, submit the following report: The preservation of forests and the rapid and increasing exhaustion of the available supply of timber demand if possible some substitute for wood in the manufacture of paper pulp. The Department of Agriculture has conducted a number of experiments in an effort to find some such substitute which can be made commercially profitable in the manufacture of paper. Flax, rice, and wheat straw, esparto, marsh grasses, cane, bamboo, scrub palms, cotton, and cornstalks have all been more or less carefully tested. After an extended survey of the whole field the only substance which offers any probable solution of this problem is the cornstalk. This plant is the only substance yet found which meets all the conditions necessary to its substitution for wood in the manufacture of paper. It can be obtained in sufficient quantities to supply the enormous demand, as this stalk has a large and exceedingly rapid growth and is produced over a vast area. When treated with caustic soda a long fiber is obtained which can be manufactured into an excellent quality of paper and of every variety. According to the statements of Doctor Galloway: [Hearings, Agricultural Committee, pages 81, 82.] Mr. GALLOWAY. Ton for ton the amount of pulp from the cornstalks is just about the same as from wood, but the pulp from the cornstalks is of a finer grade and better quality than that of the ordinary wood pulp. In fact, it is so fine that it could be used to a considerable extent for additions to very cheap HR-60-2-Vol 1-47 * woods which are not now available for wood pulp. That is the idea that is being developed by the Forest Service; that is, in addition to using the cornstalk material directly for paper, it could be utilized for supporting or building up the cells of wood fiber of very cheap woods which are not now used for pulp. Mr. POLLARD. Then the paper made from cornstalks is of better quality than that made from wood? Mr. GALLOWAY. Our samples show that you can make all grades of paper, from fine vellum paper down to thin tissue paper suitable for wrapping butter and things of that kind. Mr. HAWLEY. Does it make good writing paper? Mr. GALLOWAY. Yes. Mr. Cook. I wanted to ask the Doctor this: Do I understand that the same quality of paper as that known as print paper or white paper can be made from cornstalks just at it is made from white spruce? Mr. GALLOWAY. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Not only that, but very much finer paper can be made from the corustalks than is possible to be made from the wood pulp? Mr. GALLOWAY. Yes, sir. This product can be manufactured more cheaply than paper. For manifest reasons a ton of cornstalks can be reduced to a pulp at a much less cost than is necessary to reduce a ton of wood to the same condition. The stalk is cut up with an ordinary shredder or corn cutter such as is now used by the farmer, and is ready in this state to be treated with caustic soda, a substance which separates the fiber from the shive and other substances of like character. The stalk is not only more easily reduced to a condition in which it can be treated with soda, but the process by which it is reduced to a pulp by the use of this soda is much less expensive. One of the principal items of expense in the manufacture of the better qualities of paper-that is, paper manufactured from soda pulp is this chemical used in separating the fiber from other substances. Mr. Sutermeister, now in the employ of the Agricultural Department and in charge of a laboratory in which wood-pulp experiments are being conducted, made the following statement before the Cominittee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce: [Hearings, No. 35, pages 2682, 2683.] The CHAIRMAN. Have your experiments led you to believe that you can reduce a ton of cornstalks or cotton stalks to pulp by the soda process for less than you can reduce a ton of wood for? Mr. SUTERMEISTER. With cotton stalks, I should say no. For cornstalks, I should say yes. The CHAIRMAN. How much less? What do you figure it costs per ton? Mr. SUTERMEISTER. I could not tell you the cost. The cotton stalks require over 30 per cent of caustic soda, whereas we can treat the cornstalks with 18 per cent. Poplar wood requires 25 per cent. A ton of cornstalks will produce approximately a thousand pounds of paper-making material, 60 per cent of which will be pith fiber and 40 per cent long fiber; i. e., fibers about 1.25 millimeters in length, and from which the finest papers can be made. From the pith fiber papers of less tensile strength are easily manufactured. In speaking of this pith fiber, Mr. Sutermeister, in his statement before the Subcommittee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, on the 22d of December, 1908, said: [Hearings, No. 35, page 2676.] Mr. SUTERMEISTER. It can be made into a grease-proof paper. I have made this into paper that I wrapped up machine oil in and left it standing overnight, and it had not soaked through in the morning. Mr. SIMS. Paper made from the pith? |