Show agriculture 0 in 0 industry by FLORENCE C WEED cereal straws the time is coming when the farmer will become the supplier of the materials used in industry this forecast was made by the late francis P garvan first president of the chemical foundation inc cereal straws are a fine example of the industrial possibilities of farm products for years they have been used in making paper and more recently in making fiber board most of the 84 million tons of straw is produced in kansas north dakota oklahoma illinois indiana and ohio wheat straw is the most important industrially and about tons are used for paper and paper board each year wheat straw yields the best quality product al some rye may be combined with wheat without altering the quality one problem is that of collecting it economically from individual farms straw has a long history as a paper making material being first used in germany in 1765 in the united states the first straw paper was made in 1828 by william magaw of meadville pa the industry still continues in this country and science has developed several improved pulping methods to lower costs and improve the product |