Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-27

% s. E
the sweet potato. the yam and the waste
from the molasses factory can do the same
for our southern states while IN the great
west the sugar beet and Indian corn can
turn the wheels of the factory, farm and
conveyance and Danish from the home the
chill of winter or the blackness or night.
Such is the estimate of Prof H. w. Whey
chief of the governments bureau of chem
istry He tells me that sugar and starcn,
when fermenting, yield about half their
weight In absolute alcohol. About one
fifth the weight of potatoes, nearly three
quarters the weight Of corn and almost one
sixth that of the sugar beet are these Ter
mentable sugars and starches.
The potato viii be our chief source OF this
undrinkable commercial alcohol. Inc aver
age acre of potatoes-300 bushels-Wili pro-
d,lce 2j5 gallons of such fuel for running
automobiles. farm motors and other en-
gines: for heating, cooking and llghtlng
A bushel of potatoes will produce o.so gar
lon of alcohol We now raise potatoes al
most exclusively for human food. and we
plant only those varieties which have the
finest flavor for the table, independent OF
their yield per acre. But there are pota
toes yielding many more pusneis per dcle
than these esteemed for food. They are
such as are grown for cattle food in parts
of the old world where corn Is scarce. sec
rotary of Agriculture Wilson estimates that
there would be no difficulty In obtaining ooo
gallons of alcohol per acre from such
variety Potatoes can now be grown mere
as a commercial crop only within snort
distance from market. 1t does not pay TO
haul them far. But as soon as II can be
used as a source of heat, light and power
factories will spring up In country negh-
borhoods where coal is now expensive, anu
large areas of potatoes will be grown for
their largest possible yield of alcohol The
sweet potato and yam would furnish about
the same proportions of alcohol as the
white potato.
4 x
An acre of corn-fifty bushels-will fur
nish 1870 gallons of absolute alcohol:
bushel of corn, two and four-fifths gallons
An acre of potatoes thus produces much
more alcohol than an acre of corn, when
only the grain of the latter is taken into
consideration. But corn stalks If harvested
before they dry out contain large quaint
ties of sugar and starch. enough to produce
100 gallons of commercial alcohol per acre,
according to the estimate of Secretary Will
SON. In 100 600 acres of Indian
corn the making of ten billion gallons OF
this alcohol therefore goes to waste an
nually. Secretary Wilson predicts that the
time is coming when we will utilize this
immense source Of energy. According TO
DR.. Wiley the fermentable material In the
stalks could be removed by the presses
now used to extract the juices of sugar
cane. And speaking of commercial alco-
hol from corn. 1t might be of interest to
add interesting statement which / have
from DR.. wiley, that twenty times as fnucn
power can be obtained by burning the al
cohol in corn than by burning the corn it
self-as has be = done In the west in times
of coal famine. also estimated that
the value Of the b. products of corn after
the Industrial alcohol is extracted will pay
the cost Of distillation
An acre Of sugar beets will produce 224
gallons of alcohol, DR.. Wiley tells me. Our
vast irrigation projects in the southwest
are watering lands which will soon produce
sugar beets more profitably. perhaps, than
any other crops and the molasses from
these crops can readily be turned into
alcohol. A waste product of the cane sugar
mill, known as base molasses," would be
another available source of our CONNER
cial alcohol supply. Millions of gallons of
this produced in all of the Central and
South American countries and the West In
dies are now largely burned, fed to anil
mails or destroyed, although portion is
dumped on our shores at almost any price
above freight. AT New Orleans, Boston
and Brooklyn 1t is being worked up into
inferior liquors. The alcohol made from It
has a disagreeable odor and taste. But II
repulsive matter must me added to 1t to
make 1t undrinkable and tax-free, under the
new bill, 1t will serve as we'll as any other
alcohol thus manufactured for power. heat
and light. Already In Cuba such alcohol
from this base molasses" Is being made at
10 cents per gallon. The base molasses
itself can be had at New York at cents