Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-12
Glucose Production in Texas.

Glucose Production in Texas.
! Texas is a most loyal member Of the
American union, and doubtless member
ship in that confederation gives her en-
tire satisfaction in every particular; yet,
after taking q calmn view of her as
she is one can scarcely dispel the oonvic-
ton that nature originally intended
| Texas for some other position. she has
within her borders every thing that dis
tinct nation could need. No other state
IN our association is as favored in this
particular; indeed it may be rather safely
maintained that no other area of the
same sizs on the whole face of the globe
is so favored. If wall so high that
man could not scale it was thrown
around Texas the Texas people would
live and prosper inside without finding
themselves put TO any Inconvenience
whatever, once they fairly understood
the situation and got themselves squarely
down to business.
But we started out to carry the subjec.
of beer materials one step further. In
the two preceding articles we have
shown, we think, that Texas can pro-
duce the two leading gradients of beer.
Surprising that Texas was put TO the
necessity of manufacturing her beer
from the stump, as we say, there Is still
another product that she would need
sugar. The sugar now most generally
used by the brewers of this country is
glucose, substance which, when eyap-
Grated to drvness, is known as grape su-
gar. 1t is much cheaper material than
cane or beet sugar, but brewers tell us
that were this otherwise they would still
Use glucose, as IL works better and gives
better results than does the cane sugar.
Glucose Is usually manufactured from
corn, and entirely, we think, in the
Northern states. Irish potatoes are
sometimes worked into the finer grades
of glucose, they making a better article
than corn, but the corn article is less ex-
penslve, and hence the one most COM
mon on the market.
Now, should Texas be forced to make
her own beer from her own materials,
she would be placed under the necessity
of producing glucose. This she could do
from corn, of course, yet she W6taia not
be driven TO the use of corn; she could
beat corn by long odds. Careful test
has fully established the fact that sweet
potatoes yield equally as fine q grade of
glucose rs Irish potatoes, and that the
yield is much larger. Test has further
will make fully as much glucose as one
bushel of corn. 1t does not call for the
finest and sweetest potato to make the
greatest yield, glucose being purely a
transformation of starch. Our common
est and most productive sweet potatoes
are richest in starch. OF these varieties
very large per cent. of the lands of
Texas will yield 400 bushels to the acre,
with less labor and outlay than would be
required to cultivate an acre to corn.
For the manufacture of glucose, then,
we have in our aero of sweet potatoes as
much material as we would have in 200
bushels of corn-more than four times as
much corn as we could reasonably expect
to get from one acre, on an average. So,
you see, we are solid enough on the glu-
cose question.
We hope that it will be understood
that we are not advocating the produce |
ton of beer at all but merely attempt |
ing to to show something of what Texa, !
is able to do People will drink beer,
and some regions of country must pro-
duce the raw materials out of which to |
make it. Should Texas produce these !
materials on a large scale they would, of
bring big money to Texans, |
while, at the same time, it is not at all |
probable that they would lead TO the |
of one gallon more of beer
than would be manufactured did Texas
have nothing whatever to do with beer
yielding products. Why not, therefore,
take in our share of the money while 1t is
going, and will be sure to go anyway,
provided we are able TO do SO.
This sweet potato glucose question is
one of great Importance to
Texas. The glucose used in the manu-
facture of beer is proportionately less
than a single drop in barrel of water.
Glucose Is being used everywhere. Nine
tenths of all the syrups and molasses now
on the market are either pure glucose,
Or they carry q larger or smaller per
cent. of glucose as an adulterant.
General taste has become educated to O
demand for 1t. A strictly pure cane
molasses would strike the taste of a large
majority among the masses as having
wrong in it. There would be
what they would call ian unnatural
iavor' about it, they being accustomed
10 the glucose flavor, so they would take
.he mixed article in preference.
There Is doubtless millions for Texas in
The production of sweet potatoes and tn
Of glucose syrups from
hem. Once into it Alright we could Gf
We desired TO do so at the expense of
arge profits to ourselves) completely run
he corn glucose out of every American
market. Our advantages over the corn |
glucose makers would stand as two hun
ired bushels of corn to the acre against | ,
heir thirty or forty.