Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1929. HEMP FOR PAPER MANUFACTURE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3973, 20 July 1929, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1929. HEMP FOR PAPER MANUFACTURE.

A CABLED item of particular interest to New Zealand flaxmillars states that: ■ “Dr. von Ehrenthal, Director of the Kothen Paper Technical Institute, Germany, on behalf of Australian and New Zealand Investments, Ltd., carried out experiments in making paper from New Zealand hemp. He reports that it is better than the usual pulp from wood and grain, and equals the better quality manufactured from linen rags. It is suitable for cop-per-plate printing paper, banknotes, fine note paper, and tissue for cigarette papers, and could be used for improving medium paper from eucalyptus pulp.” It has been known for some years that paper of a high grade can (be manufactured from hemp and also from “scutcher dust,” a waste product. Apart from paper manufacture experiments in the manufacture, of textiles from hemp have been successfully carried out. In conversation with (the Man-; ager of an English paper manufacturing fijiim some years ago, we discussed the question of paper manufacture from hemp. He stated that there was no doubt that paper of a high quality could be produced from hemp, hut added that the cost of production in New Zealand would not- justify the venture. In support of this he quoted labour conditions in Sweden (from whence his linn drew raw pulp supplies as compared with what would obtain in New Zealand. We hope, however, that the recent experiments will result in creating a demand for New Zealand hemp in other directions than for the production of binder twine.