The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-06-20

overlooked, and the welfare of posteri-
ty jeopardized by the exalted views of
the quality and quantity of good soil In
this great "land of the Free" as if ev-
erything was not limited and exhaust
BILE at some time.
Already thousands and thousands of
tons of fertilizers are annually needed
and used upon some of our farms at
fifty dollars per ton, or more, while
with prudence, the same fertilizers
might have been returned to the soil,
from the very harvests it bore, if utilized
upon the farms, instead of being ship
ped abroad at great expense. In most
starch factories, at Kingsford's, for in
stance, where forty tons of starch are
made daily, this refuse is not utilized,
but is run into the river, communicating
its waters, aud waste to everybody,
representing in feed the value of 5000
bushels of grain per day. 1t is signifi-
cant that in spite of this loss, there is
profit enough left to have produced
ample fortunes, beside paying freight
upon this enormous waste.
Here 1 would say that this refuse is
not. like the swill Stops of distilleries,
fermented, sour. and therefore iniu-
rious, but is perfectly fresh and sweet
as the grain itself, differing from the
latter only in the amount Of starch re-
moved. This same refuse is excellent
paper stock, and as such, worth about
three cents a pound, or dollar for each
bushel of corn, in addition to the value
of the starch.
Instead of starch, sugar or sirup can
be made from the corn, that grain
yielding, on an average, two gallons of
sirup per bushel, although three gal
Ions may be obtained from good corn,
equal to the best drips or the incest
honey in the market, and worth no less
than fifty cents a gallon, or a dollar
per busLel of corn. Most of the So
called strained honey sold by manu-
facturers in cities, is nothing but corn
sirup. favored with honey, and the
amount of such honey sold puts to
shame the busiest bees. The average
product of sugar per bushel is twenty
five pounds, salable at three to four
cents per pound, or dollar per bushel,
in large quantities. Here, rs in the
production of starch, the hull of the
grain is a useful by-product, while the
freight upon the reduced weight of
sugar, sirup or starch is not only an
advantage over the shipment of the raw
material; but there is considerable
home consumption of these products,
saving freight altogether, beside real
izing better prices and retaining the
money at home, instead of sending it
abroad for these commodities.
This same sugar can he made into
good wine, beer or vinegar, of which a
gallon, equal to the best, can be pro-
duced at four cents, the same that sells
now at five times that price in large lots.
The delicious grapes, now used to
feed cattle in some parts of California,
could readily be converted into sugar,
cognac oil, and cream of tartar, the
pecuniary result of which would equal
any bonanza of the Golden State.
Cream of tartar is imported from the
European wine regions, in various de-
grees of purity, in quantities of thou
sands of tons annually, at prices ex-
I cecding thirty cents a pound. OF
course, the old method of scraping the
tartar from old wine casks would not
be practicable, but it could readily be
produced, not only to fill our own mar
ket, but for export. The same may be
said of cognac oil, the best of which is
imported from Europe, at prices ex-
ceeding 800 per pound.
The most successful branch of farm
ing to-day is the one that has COM
menced manufacturing, to-wit, the
dairy farm. The manufacture of but
ter and cheese and condensed milk pays
better than the production of the raw
material, and even in these branches
there is room for improvement. Many
other branches, like the preserving and
picking CT fruit, meat, etc., could be
profitably added to the list of farm
manufactures; and the benefit of such
enterprise would not only consist in in
creased profit to the farmer, but the in
creased demand for labor in the coun-
try during the entire year would with
draw from the large cities some of
the surplus population. Farm houses
would be replaced by small settlements
of the operatives in the vicinity of such
farm factories, who would enjoy life
better than they ever can in crowded
cities, especially during hard times and
lack of work.. M. Hirsch, in West
ern Manufacturer.