Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-06-06
DO WONDERS WITH CORN.
Experiments Develop Nearly Forty
By-Products from Corn.

Experiments Develop Nearly Forty
By-Products from Corn.
When the chemists are finally thru
with their experiments on corn the
! farmer will rise up and proclaim with
more enthusiasm than ever before that
| Corn is king" Wheat, oats and bar
| lev, and every other cereal will have
been relegated each to its comparative
| ly narrow sphere in the economic
| world. and the agricultural possibilities
of the United States will have reached
a stage of development far beyond the
dreams of the widest enthusiast.
| Sixty years ago corn was considered
| fit only for the feed of animals and the
production of bourbon whisky. Today
| it is the basis of thirty or forty manu-
featured products. each of which is
daily proving valuable article in the
commercial world Within the last two
months a company has been organized
with $S0,000,O00 capital in New York
which is to deal in nothing else than
corn-buying the shelled grain and
manufacturing and selling its byprod-
ucts.
In one year this concern-the Corn
Products Company-will consume "a
much corn as all Europe buys in a
small export year, and nearly half as
much as Europe uses in big export
year. The annual capacity of the COM
pany's factories is estimated at 10000
900 bushels of corn. or 100000 bushels
week. and all of this immense amount
of grain will be utilized in by products.
1t would be hard even in these en-
lightened days to convince the average
farmer boy that the product of his Ia
Dor in the hot summer days is more
than feed for cattle and hogs. stuff to
be run thru distillery. or perhaps
the grist of a miller who manufactures
cornmeal Yet the cornfeld is the
place from which are drawn such pro-
duets as beer. corn oil, starch sugar,
rubber, mucilage, gumdrops, wall pa
per- soap. ink, salad dressing, and
dozen other materials which enter into
the demands of everyday life.
The possibilities contained within
grain of corn began to unfold them
selves nearly forty years ago, or thirty
years after Thomas Kingsford, an
English chemist, began to extract
starch from corn in Colgate's factory
at New Bergen, n. j. His researches
set an example to other chemists. and
today practically all the starch used
in the United States is made from
corn. Thirty years ago practically no
glucose was produced in the United
States. and now the exports alone
amount to $S,0O0O00 of s9,000,000 an
nually, While the foreign product made
from rice wheat, potato and sago
starches can not compete with the
home product
There are four parts to kernel of
corn-the outer covering, the hull or
bran; then the hard, hinty or glutenous
part then the starch. and last the
little white point which extends thru
the tip and is called the germ.
OF the four parts the germ, about the
size of The wheat kernel. is the most in
teresting. and, when its weight is con-
sidered, the most valuable. Its histor,
is like that OF the cotton seed, for only
a few years ago it was looked upon as
a nuisance and the starch and glucose
manufacturers spent money to get rid
of it. Machines cracked each grain, the
mass was given bath, and the light
germ f1oated out, while the starch, olan
and gluten remained behind.
After the chemists found that the de-
spised little germs contained an oil
worth more than any other constituent
of Indian corn the waste ceased Now
the germs are put under hydraulic
pressure of something like two tons to
the square inch and the oil is squeezed
out of them. The little coats of fiber
left become base for oil cake and go
back to the cattle.
Corn oil is of golden color. transpar-
ent. and so sweet and pure that it Of
ten serves as substitute for olive oil.
Unlike other vegetable oil, it will stand
for years in any climate or temperature
Without changing its color or becoming
rancid. For barrel of $50 pounds the
manufacturer in Chicago gets about
S23, or 6 cents a pound-nice price Tor
what was thrown away few years
ago.
Manufactured Into Rubber.
Corn rubber has all the outward
characteristics of india rubber, even to
the odor 1t is made of corn oil squeezed
out of the germs. The oil undergoes a
sulphur treatment and a baking, and
the rubber substitute results.
The main point in favor of corn rub
Der is that it can be sold for about one
tenth the price of Para rubber. which
costs about 81 pound. The corn rub |
Der can be used in rubber boots, BIZ
cycle tires, sheet rubber water proofing,
rubber heels, linoleum-in nearly all
classes of rubber goods. Its greatest