Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 3, Number 4, DeMotte, Jasper County, 8 June 1933 — Page 8 Advertisements Column 2 [ADVERTISEMENT]

HOW PAPER INDUSTRY MAY BE SAVED BY BAMBOO PULP.--The average man would laugh if he were told that, within his lifetime, there may come a period when he .may not be able to buy a newspaper or book without paying a price that would now be reas exorbitant. This, however, is a recognized fact to experts who are in close touch with the pulp and paper industry. They may be called alarmists, but they have facts and figures. Many substitutes of vegetable origin have been experimented with, but gradually they have been rejected as unpractical for one reason or another. The obvi ous solution to the problem lies in the use of bamboo. The sup plies of bamboo in Burma and India alone are inexhaustible, and at the present time 99 per cent is not used for ahy productive purpose. Here, then, seems to lie the answer to the world demand for pulp. W. Riatt, who for several years has been in charge of an experimental factory at Dera Dun, India, says that just as good, if not better, paper can be made from bamboo pulp at half the cost of wood pulp. This bamboo is an interesting grass. Its growth is so rapid that it can be watched with the naked eye. If a stake is planted alongside a young culm, in 24 hours it will be found to have grown a foot to 18 inches; in three months’ time it will reach its full height of 120 feet, with a diameter of eight inches. “Bamboo is almost a human plant,” says Mr. Riatt, “and by its force of character and growth, is bound to become known to the public, who, in the near future, will undoubtedly have to conserve this product for paper-making”.--Sunday Magazine Section of the Philadelphia Record.