Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-19
F0nnS THEY BUILD OR
~ " - - DESTROY
AMAZING BUT RARELY SUSPECTED
TRUTHS ABOUT THE THINGS YOU EAT
Xifrsdd W W. Ioc.sny I BY ALFRED w. McCANN

The thing We call food shortage is
in reality food waste-our corn waste
alone, of which, through dcnaturcd
milling processes, we reject nearly
50,000.00O bushels annually. would
give, IL conserved, more than three
pounds of whole corn bread every
week to every man, woman and child
in the United States.
There is no need to develop hys-
steria over the food shortage situa-
ton. Even though the Department of
Agriculture does show us that we are
facing a serious deficit in wheat,
corn, oats, and barley, and that owing
to the extra demands of Europe upon
us for these very foods the outlook
is exceedingly gloomy, l propose to
show that by adjusting our needs to
our supply we can not only go on ex-
porting, without incurring the risk
OF hunger at home, but wecan actu-
ally part with much more food than
any of our statistics seem to make
possible and still leave an abund-
ance for home consumption.
The crop reporting board of the
Bureau of Crop Estimates, Washing
ton, reports that we had less corn
March l, 1917, on our farms by 327,-
$4,000 bushels than we had March
l, 1915. But, wearereasonably sure
of producing in the United States
during 1917 $500, 200, 900 bushels of
corn.
We have not produced less than
this quantity in any one year since
1907. In 1915 we produced more
than 3,000,000.000 bushels. 1t is
hardly probable that we will now fall
below the lowest record of ten years.
Ordinarily We export about 10o,-
100000 bushels OF corn annually.
Even though in 1917 we should be
called upon to export 500.000,0 900
bushels we would still have for our
own use 1000, 200, 900 bushels.
OF this amount every year 10000
600 bushels are converted into glu-
cose and laundry starch. The glucose
is used for numberless technical pur-
poses, including the manufacture of
pastes. sizes. backing, printers roll
lers. shoe polish, silvering glass for
mirrors, liquid soaps. hair tonics.
sponges and in the tanning of leath-
er, the roasting of coffee. the polish
ing of rice, and the production of
logwood.
Enormous quantities of corn are
employed in the production of >dex-
trines. used in the textile industries;
for Strengthening the fibre and fin
ishing the fabrics OF cloth, carpets,
and twine; for the thickening of coll
ors for calico and other printing; for
CLUES; for ink, mucilages, and adhe-
SiveS.
Corn oil and paragol are used in
the manufacture of soap powders, |
oilcloth. rubber substitutes, insulat-
ing material, etc.
Surely, if necessary, we can do
without laundry lump starch. corn
soap and lollypops, in order TO add
10 our food supply the 50.000,000
bushels of corn which annually so
into the production of these luXuries. |
In the production of grain alcohol,
whiskey, and beer from corn grits
and glucose another batch of 10000 |
600 bushels of corn can besaved for
food purposes, thus yielding from
these two sources alone 100, 900
bushels of sixty pounds each.
In the manufacture of degerminat-
ed cornmeal, which. with the excep-
ton of a small quantity of whole
cornmeal, produced by Knox Crutch-
field, Richmond, Va, and the Great