Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-01-14
DENAl ilp Ed ALCOHOL.
Oregon Agricultural College Gives In
formation On This Subject.
By C. E. Bradley. regon Agricultural College
Corvallis.

law removing the internal revenue tax
of S2.o7 per ga Ion on grain alcohol
which had been properly denatured or
rendered UNIT tor drinking purposes
! by the addition of certain materials,
such as wood alcohol. benzine or py-
ridine. 1t was hoped that by the re-
moval of this tax alcohol could be OBJ
tanned cheaply enough to compete
with petroleum for light and fuel. The
! demand for such alcohol can be read
/ lily seen when we note that approxi-
mately 100000 gallons of gasoline
are consumed daily in the country and
that the increased demand for it, due
/ to the development of the modern ex.
plosion motor, has doubled its price
in the last ten years. Indiana and
Ohio oils contain only about 5 per
cent of gasoline and the per cent OF
the lighter distillate in California and
j Texas crude oil is very low. The
supply of gasoline therefore seems to
be limited, but the demand increasing.
Alcohol, it has been demonstrated
can meet this demand. Furthermore,
the annual consumption of kerosene
IN the United States approximates l.
900, 100000 gallons. three-fourths Of
which are probably used by the far
mers. Since one gallon of alcohol Is
equivalent to two gallons of kerosene
for lighting purposes. 375,000000 gal
Ions of alcohol could be used on the
farms of this country each year. This
would require for its production 140,-
100000 bushels of corn, or 100000
acres, an increase of per cent over
that now grown. If made from pota-
toes, this 375,O00,0O0 gallons of alcohol
would require 450,000,000 bushels, or
100000 acres, an increase of 60 per
cent over that now produced. The
present consumption of alcohol
amounts to but 16,0OO,Ooo gallons per
year.
Ethyl or grain alcohol is a natural
product, formed by the fermentation
of various kinds of sugar through the
agency of yeast organisms. Since
starch is readily convertible into su-
gar by either natural or artificial
means, materials which contain nota-
BILE quantities of either starch or su-
gar may be utilized for making alco-
hol. The more important sources of
alcohol are the cereals, potatoes. mo-
lasses and fruits. In France alcohol
is chiefly made from the sugar beet. in
Germany from the potato. and in
America from corn. A bushel of corn
will yield approximately % gallons OF
95 per cent alcohol; a bushel of pota-
toes three-fourths of gallon and a
bushel of apples oue-third of gallon
In the large distilleries it costs
about II cents - manufacture and
place on the MARKET one gallon of al
cohol, N the cost of the raw material
used brings this ordinarily to approx
imately 80 cents. Allowing for the
necessary profit, alcohol will reach the
consumer at about 10 cents per gallon.
But alcohol at 40 cents can compete
with kerosene at e cents for lighting
purposes, since alcohol has twice the
Illuminating value of kerosene, and in
competition kerosene can never de-
mand more than one half the market
price of alcohol.
For making cheap alcohol a cheap
concentrated raw product and we'll
equipped plant are necessary. The
plant should have capacity of at
least 100 gallons per day, the cost OF
such plant being in the neighbor
hood of $4,000. No such plant can
operate successfully on waste pro-
ducts alone. especially if such are to
be obtained for only a brief part OF
the year. as, for example. waste fruits
There must be some more stapl. pro-
duct as a basis. with the waste ma
terials handled as a side issue. For a
staple in the Northwest we must look
to potatoes or sugar beets. and dam.
aged grain when it can be secured. on
which materials, together with various
waste products. plant could be op-
Grated throughout the year.
Because of the persistent Inquiries
relative to the merits and dem .rits oi
the wheat known locally as Alaska,
the Idaho experiment stition has
given the wheat a milling test and
subjected the -four so obtained I'd
chemical examination and baking
tests. The results of these tests, to
gether with such other information
concerning the wheat as could be
gathered from reliable sources, have
just been published in bulletin form.
The wheat is apparently of the same
, variety that is known in southern Eu
, rope as Poulard, or Egyptian. It i,
used there for making macaroni and
other pastes, and the -four made from
|
French markets.
Under field conditions the whea
has not made any phenomenal yields
averaging this year perhaps no better
than ordinar- winter wheat. The ker
nels are large and plump and compar,
: favorably in appearance with much c.
i the wheat that is raised in northern
Idaho; because of their size and shaD,
; they are easily broken. however, anc
care must be exercised in threshing tc
prevent this.
The results of the milling test,
show that no particular difficulty i
met with in grinding the wheat. TIL,
, -four secured is described as sharI
, and granular. and is capable of max
ing an excellent quality OF biscuits
mullins, cakes. etc When made into
light bread. color, favor, texture an,
: size of loaf were noted In color tn,
} bread was darker than that bake,
, from Turkey red. but decided,
lighter than that baked from littl
club -four Flavor and texture wer,
pronounced good. In size the loave
were inferior to those baked from
I Turkey red. hut compared very favor