The evening times., 1899-12-02

DR.. H. W. Wiley, Chief Chemist of the
Department OF Agriculture, has for some
time been conducting experiments looking
to the utilization of the Indian-corn stalks,
which, throughout the country have here
tofore been a source Of annoyance to the
farmers inasmuch as no advantageous dis
position of them has been possible and
their destruction a matter OF much labor.
When seen this morning by n Times re-
porter as to the success of his expert
ments and the present disposition OF the
stalks, Dr. Wiley said:
in the West the custom has been to
burn the stalks in the field. In the win
ter when the ground is frozen, the farm
ers break them down and rake them to-
gether in piles and then set fire to them,
thus losing some of the most valuable fer
tilizing constituents that they. contain and
thereby impoverishing the SOIL
THE stalks" continued DR.. Wiley, ION
account Of their toughness are very Diff
ficult OF mastication and are not desirable
for forage for cattle. Chemical analysis,
however, shows that the substances Of
which the stalks are composed have almost
as great a feeding value as those Of hay.
This discovery led to experiments in me-
chanically dividing the stalks by grinding
to fine powder. 1t was found that in this
state. when properly moistened, they were
eaten with avidity by cattle and horses.
and proved to be palatable and nutritious.
''The pith Of the cornstalks has been
used" said Dr.. Wiley, "for many practi-
cal purposes. Under the patents issued to
Mark w. Marsden, strong company has
been formed in Philadelphia for extracting
he nit ~ Sh III IN akn ho
packing for the cofferdams of battleships.
The United States Navy is now supplying
all Of its new ships with cofferdams pack
ed with Indian-corn stalk pith. These
cofferdams are placed Immediately within
the armor short distance above and be-
low the water line. II the armor Is per-
forated by shot or shell. the pitch abso-
lutely prevents the water from entering
the ship as the path of the projectiie is at
once closed by the pitch, and the ship is
again watertight.
1T is thus impossible to sink a battle
ship SO equipped by perforating it any
number of times by shot or she'll"
When asked what Is done with the resi-
due OF stalk after the pith has been eX-
tracted, DR.. Wiley said:
"It can be ground into a fine powder
and 1t thus makes an excellent cattle food.
By treatment with caustic alkali and other
chemicals. 1t makes n very superior paper.
being tough and yet soft and of a silky
lustre. Both the pith and the paper stock
made from the outer shell have been nj
trated and used for the base of smokeless
powder and pyroxyllin. By mixing various
nutrient substances with the ground
Shells" continued DR.. Wiley, complete
rations have been made for various pur-
poses, as, for instance. horses and steers
at work. or for the maintenance of domes-
tic animals or their fattening for the mar
ket. This ground cornstalk has been sent
to the experiment stations Of Europe
where 1t has been tested by the highest
scientific authorities of the various coun-
tries and pronounced to be the very best
material that has been produced for alb
sorbing molasses and blood for cattle feed
ing.
I'm Europe vast quantities of beet sugar
and molasses are being produced for cattle
feed, but some other substance must be
used as an absorbent or vehicle for the mo-
lasses before n4can be fed. Brewers grains
and dried peat have been used. the latter
most extensively for this purpose. Dried
peat, however, has no nutritive properties.
and acts simply as a vehicle. Ground corn
stalks, on the other hand, have far higher
absorbing powers than dried peat and
the mixture is, itself, valuable
food. European experts lately visited
subject of groundstalks as a cattle
food and stated that If favorable freight
rates could be secured, 10000 tons OF this
material could easily be disposed of in
Europe annually, and that the consumption
would rapidly increase. Poultry foods OF
high quality are also easily prepared from
the same mixture"
DIR. Wiley stated that the ground corn
stalks are also used in the manufacture of
packing for steam pipes, as the substance
is found to be an almost perfect non con-
ductor of heat In conclusion, DR.. Wiley
said:
''It is evident that in the cornstalks Of
this country our farmers have a source Of
cattle food that has never been appreciated.
There is enough nutriment in the 41prn-
stalks produced in the United States. il
properly utilized, to feed all of our domes-
tic animals and still have an abundant
quantity to export to foreign countries"