THE ESPARTO FIBRE OR SPANISH GRASS.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 221, 26 February 1866, Page 3

THE ESPARTO FIBRE OR SPANISH GRASS.

On more than one occasion we have directed attention to this grass, as a desirable snbjecfc for experiment, and we are glad to announce that a firm to whom the colony is indebted for many useful plants, has undertaken the introduction ot Esparto, and that seed may shortly be expected. The firm in question " has 'called our attention to a brief notice of this grass by Dr. S. Macadam, at the last meeting of the British Association, and which contains information that may possibly be serviceable to experimenters on other descriptions of fibre, the New Zealand flax more especially. The paragraph referred to and quoted below, appears in the Gardeners 1 Chronicle of 7th October. "In section B. (chemical science), Dr. S. Macadam read a paper on Esparto fibre, or Spanish grass, and its employment in the manufacture of paper. During the last three years, large quantities of a grass obtained from Spain have been employed in this country in the manufacture of paper. Delivered in Great Britain, it costs about £5 10s to £6 per ton. The recent high price of rags has caused a demand for Esparto fibre ; aad should it continue, other countries, as Barbary, which yield the same grass, will no doubt contribute largely to the supply. The chemical composition of an average sample is: moisture, 9.62; oil, 1.23; albuminous compounds, 5.46 ; ligneous fibre, 56.28 ; starch, gum, and sugar, 26.32 ; ash, 5.04. In the manufacture iuto paper the material, first carefully cleaned, is subject to the action of caustic soda. The fibre, however, is rather short in nature, and hence paper entirely made of it is extremely liable to tear. It is customary, therefore, to give strength by mixing the pulp from Esparto fibre with the pulp from rags, commonly in the proportion of equal parts. The paper so manufactured is largely employed as a printing paper, and the majority of the Scotch newspapers are now printed on it. The spent soda liquor, being of a caustic nature, is highly pernicious and destructive to fish, when it is run directly into a fLshing stream ; even if diluted to the extent of many times its own volume, the liquid possesses the power of killing them within a few hours. Two plans have been suggested and put in operation for the arrestraent, more or less completely, of the soda liquor. The first, the boiling down of the ley, heating the residue with carbonaceous matter, such as fine coal or sawdest, and the recovery of the soda from the calcined mass ; the second, the reception of the liquor in large open cesspools, where it may percolate through the soil. Both plans have been successful."