The National tribune., 1907-12-12
FARMERS AS DISTILLERS.

af1oat in order to enlist the farmers II
its support. They were told that suci
bill would allow them to set up still'
on their own farms, in which the!
could work up their waste products
and thus add much to the profits OF
farming, possibly make all the profits
that their farms would produce over
and above the cost of running The
National Tribune pointed out at the
time and subsequently, when the bill
became a law, that this was deiusion
The production of alcohol from any
kind of vegetable or other matter is a
work of great skill, and cannot be sue
cessfully done without much training
and natural aptitude for the work
Furthermore. any of the waste products
of the farm that can be made into alco-
hol can usually be more protitably en-
ployed in feeding hogs and cattle.
We wanted the "denatured alcohol
bill' passed on its own merits, because
it was demanded by number of busi-
ness interests in the country, which
were suffering on account of the bur-
dens laid upon them by our highly
taxed alcohol In every other country
the manufacturers are allowed alcohol
free of taxation, and consequently our
makers of hats, varnishes and thou
sand other mechanical trades of great
prominence We're badly hampered in
their competition with those of Eng
land, Germany and France.
Our main fear was that the misin-
formation set afloat would be made use
Of by sharpers to get farmers to buy
distilling plants from them at high
prices, which would be only a source
of disappointment and loss to the pur-
chasers. We feared something like that
which occurred in the sugar business
when the farmers all over the West
were victimized by fake sugar factories
and refineries.
This fear has not been realized, how
ever, and the farmers have as rule
shown so little interest in the manu-
facture of alcohol that the Internal
Revenue Department has become
aroused and changed It's tactics. When
the law passed the Internal Revenue
Bureau had in mind its long warfare
with the moonshiners, and made the
execution of the law as restrictive as it
possibly could. In fact, an expert could
not tell with certainty just how to set
up and run still upon a farm without
coming into conflict with the regula-
tions
Thn Ia NV f1CC hnn trio fnr
year, and scarcely any distilleries have
been set up, certainly not more than
one where 100 were expected There
fore, the Bureau of Internal Revenue
has decided to become more encourag-
ing, and a recent circular lays down
eral in comparison with the first issued
1t makes class known as industrial
dlstilleries;'' that is, those in which not
more than 100 proof gallons of alcohol
can be produced in "a hours, and at
which alcohol for denaturation shall be
made. The Commissioner of Internal
Revenue says:
The effort has been. so far as Gov
ernmental regulation and supervision
Gle to the placing of industrial distil-
leries on the same plane as the saw
mill. the grist mill and the flour mill"
a distiller may use any kind of prod
uct that he pleases or as many different
kinds in the course of a season. He
must not, however, locate a plant on
the premises of brewery or within
600 feet Of a rectifying establishment
or a vinegar factory using the vaporiz-
ing processes. He must make a writ
ten statement, describing his distillery
with all its apparatus, and give a bond
equal to the tax on the spirits ne can
produce in 30 days. He can operate
his still at such times as suits his con-
venience, and any number of persons
may unite in the operation of the dis
tillery; that is. several farmers may
own distilIery and take turns in using
it, so that it may be as common an in
stitution as the cooperative creamery
or elevator.
1t is hoped that this liberality will
result in the development of distiIleries
al over the country, as the quantity
and variety Of raw material is unIimit-
ed and the amount OF capital necessary
quite small. The distiller is not even
required to denature his own product.
but may send it to a central plant for
that purpose.
The Commissioners circular contains
the following statement as to the
amount of alcohol produced from diff
ferent substances:
For the information of those inter-
ested, il may be stated that as a general
proposition it is simply a question
whether a thing containing fermcntablc
matter can be more profitably employ
ed in the production OF Industrial spir
it's than in the production OF something
else. The spiTit-yielding material in
vegetable matter is its fermentable con-
tent. II has been demonstrated by cx-
pertinent that 100 pounds of the fol-
LOWING products of the farm will pro-
duce alcohol in the following quantities:
lilce, wine gallons, 100 degrees proof:
rye, barley, spelt. corn and sorghum
seed, . gallons; Irish potatoes, - gal
Ions; cassava, Y gallons: turnips. IA
gallon; articholes, Ia gallons: sugar
beeJs, gallons; sorghum ar sugar
cane ! gallon; waste molasscs. 6 GAL
Ions; grapes, 2 I-6 gallons: bananas.
i 30 gallons, and other fruits from /
to y gallons.
THE LARGEST ANIMAL.
In spite Of the fearsome stories which
the gcologists tell us about the size of
the prehistoric monsters, the whale