The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-01-17
NEW USES FOR MAIZE.
Indian Corn a More valuale Plant than
Supposed.
Washington Star.

plv it many new vegetable materials
have been made to serve as stock, rags
to-day furnishing only minor frac-
ton of the raw stuff employed for the
purpose. Among these substances
wood pulp stands first. A very i'm
portant contribution is made also by
the famous esparto grass Of northern
Africa and Southwestern Europe.
But the time is approaching when the
leaves of Indian corn will be utilized
in this way to an enormous extent.
Tn Vienna the manufacture OF pa
ner from maize is already conducted
on an extensive scale. Intelligence
inc 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
number of other advantages. Very
little sizing is required; it bleaches
we'll and it is stronger than rag paper
No machinery is required for tearing
nm the corn leaves. The latter are
merely soaked in hot water for few
days, after which they are easily sep
arated into three parts-the large
veins and ribs, the material between
the ribs and coarse paste.
The first are utilized for making
gunny sacks, cordage and certain kinds
of cloth the second furnishes mate
rial for peculiar sort Of bread, de-
scribed as having an agreeable flavor;
the third is employed for paper pulp.
Ali of these uses for maize are new; ;
as.is likewise the process of obtaining
valuable oil from the corn. For
this last purpose the grain is crushed,
and the germs, which contain the oil,
are separated by winnowing. line
germs are then subjected to hydraulic
pressure, yielding Is per cent. OF OIL
which is of pale golden-yellow color
and has a pleasant taste and odor. 1t
is employed in dressing wool and to
lubricate machinery. The yield is
sixteen pounds for every one hundred
bushels of maize.
Maize oil is well adapted for llluml-
mating purposes, giving bright
white fame. 1t is also good for heat
ing, developing high temperature IN
burning. In the West, whero the
supply of coal is often prccarious'
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
fuel famine, the whole ear has been
employed. In France, the cobs, sat
urated with resin and tar, are utilized
as fire lighters, fetching, when thus
prepared, for $500 to s4.Ooper thous-
and, according to size.
The husks are used for packing
oranges and cigars, as we'll as in stuff
ing pillows, mattresses and lounges:
As shoppers for bottles also the cobs
are sometimes employed. Toasted
cornmeal is utilized in some parts OF
this country as a substitute for coffee.
The cobs yield large amount OF pot
ash. A mill shelling 500 bushels an
hour turns out 1000 pounds OF cobs
every sixty minutes; or 10000 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 above mentioned capacity will fur
nish as a by-product 535 pounds OF
potash per diem.
Science has devoted much attention
to finding out where this most valua-
BILE of American farm products had its
origin. An overwhelming weight OF
testimony goes to show that the earl
r liest home of the maize was the high
lands of Central Mexico. 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 some circumscribed
locality, above 4,5OO feet elevation,
north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
and south of the twenty-second degree
of the north latitude, near the an
cient seat of the Maya tribes. There
is hardly 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.
It is considered probable that the
plant was known along the Rio Grande
BY 700 A. D. Three hundred years
later it had reached the coast of
Maine. In Peru the Incas used it be-
fore the year 700. By the time Of Co.
o.-a.,lo.o