Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/130

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��Popular Science Monthly

��Marr, of Norfolk, Virginia, we are nearer to the util- ization of waste areas of swampy- ground than ever before. Colonel Marr has taken out patents on a chemical process for the treatment of sedges and grasses which makes them im- mediately availa- ble for industrial use. There are nearly two million tons of wild growth found within the borders of the United States and two hundred and fifty thousand tons within territory

���Col. R. A. Marr, at left, examining a bundle of oakum made from waste swamp grasses and weeda by his recently patented chemical process

��contiguous to the United States, which can be chemically treat- ed and made into strong paper and cordage.

There are three hundred thousand tons of an annual growth of fresh and salt w^ater sedges and rushes which can be made into substi- tute textile fibers for jute and other rope materials. This raw material works easily with jute machinery and it can be used in whole or in part for cotton bagging, light oakums, roofing

���Experiments with bear t;rass and banana. At left, indicated by F, appears the grass in its natural slate and in its sliredded or spinning state, after chemical treatment. In KK is shown the hvc steps in the making of banana pulp, from the raw article to the finished product

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