The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-01-06
NEW USES FOR MAIZE.
ALL PARTS OF INDIAN CORN NOW
UTILIZED.
Bread Made Out Of the Leaves-The
Germs Yield OIL TOR Illumination
aud Machinery-The Cobs and Husks.

aud Machinery-The Cobs and Husks.
The demand for paper in the world is
growing greater steadily. In order to
supply it many new vegetable materials
have been made TO serve as stock, rags
to-day furnishing only "A minor fraction
of the raw stuff employed for the pur-
pose. Among these substances wood
pulp stands first. A very important con
tribution is made also by the famous es
parto glass Of northern Africa and south
western Europe. But the time is ap-
preaching when the leaves OF Indian corn
will be utilized in this way to an enor-
nous extent. In Vienna the manufac-
ture Of paper from maize is already con
Quoted on an extensive scale. The Al
legemeine Zeitung. a scientific journal of
importance, is printed on sheets OF this
product, the ~yellowish tint Of which is
restful to the eyes. 1t has a number Of
other advantages. Very little sizing is
required; it bleaches well and it is
stronger than rag paper. No machinery
is required for tearing up the corn
leaves. The latter are merely soaked in
hot water for a few days, after which
they are easily separated into three parts
the large veins and ribs. the material
between the ribs and "A coarse paste.
The first are utilized for making gunny
sacks, cordage and certain kinds OF cloth
the second furnishes material for a pecu
liar sort of bread, described as having an
agreeable flavor: the third is employed
for paper pulp.
All of these uses for maize are new,
as is likewise the process of obtaining a
valuable oil from corn. For this last
purpose the grain is crushed, and the
germs, which contain the oil, are sep
arsted by w%ipnowing. The germs are
then subjected to hydraulic pressure.
yielding 10 per cent. of oil, which is of
u pale, golden-yellow color, and has a
pleasant taste and odor. 1t is employed
in dressing wool aud to lubricate ma
ohinery. The yield is sixteen pounds to
every one hundred bushels Of maize.
Maize oil is well adapted for illumihat-
ing purposes, giving a bright. white flame.
1t is also good for heating. developing a
high temperature in burning. In the
West. where the supply Of fuel is often
precarious, corn cobs are frequently used
in stoves, three tons of them being reck-
oned as equal to one ton Of hard coal.
Sometimes, when there has been a fuel
famine, the whole ear has been employed.
In France the cobs, saturated with resin
and tar, are utilized as fire lighters,
fetching. when thus prepared. from
$40 to 81 per thousand, according to
size.
The husks arc used for packing oranges
and cigars, as well as in stutfing pillows,
matti esses and lounges. AS shoppers for
bottles also the cobs are sometimes en-
ployed. Toasted cornmeal is utilized in
some parts of this country as a substi-
tute for coffee. The cobs yield a large
amount of potash. A mill Smelling 800
bushels an hour turns ont 1000 pounds
of cobs every sixty minutes, or 70, 900
pounds for each working day. The cobs
are consumed as fuel in the mills, and
the refuse ashes are collected for the ex-
traction of the potash. A factory of the
aforementioned capacity will furnish as
"A by product 53j pounds of potash per
diem.
Science has devoted much attention to
finding out where this most valuable of
American farm products had its origin.
An overwhelming weight of testimony
goes 10 show that the earliest home of
maize was the highlands of Central Mex
leo. All of the plants closely related to
Indian corn are indigenous to that part of
the world. 1t is believed that the vege-
table originated in a circumscribed local
ity, above T., 800 feet elevation, north of
the Isthmus OF Tehuantepec and south
of the twenty second degree of north
latitude, near the ancient seat of the
Maya tribes. There is hardly a doubt
that the Mayas were the first To cultivate
maize, and that they distributed it in
every direction. From them the use of
the cereal spread north and south.
1t is considered probable that the plan
was known along the Rio Grande by 700
A. ID. Three hundred years later it had
reached the coast of Maine. In Peru the
lncas used it before the year 700. BY
the time of Columbus it was found every
where. Ii was one of the products Of
American soil which the great navigator
took back with him to Spain and showed
to Queen Isabella. From Spain it soon
spread over Europe, and in the sixteenth
century grains Of it were sowed in Italian,
French. German and English gardens.
Before long it was cultivated upon a
larger scale in the fields. 1t became
widely known as Turkish wheat" be-
cause the New World as confused in the
popular mind with the East Indies, the
trade of which was carried on by way Of
Turkey.
The ancient Mexicans, to whom the
development of the usefulness of Indian
corn is due, were u highly civilized peo-
pie. They were skillful builders. made
utensils of copper and tin, worked COLA
and silver into ornaments, bad an elab-
crate religious system, preserved a
large literature On parchment, , of
the maguey plant, kept a calendar aud
understood the arts of agriculture, rails
ing beans, pepper, gourds and many other
fruits of tillage. Their country was SO
deusely populated that floating gardens
were constructed, on which all products
OF the soil known to them, particularly
maize and beans. were sowu. These
gardens were constructed of logs over
laid with earth. They have been de.
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