Oxford Democrat., 1921-08-16
Straw Gas.

Il
And winds went over o5ol and sweet. s'
WIN nvery rtpples In the wheat.
!. Straw Gas.
One Of the chief reasons why people-
especially young folks-do not like L
remain on farms that are located at re
mote distances from towns is the lacl
OF modern conveniencss which tend T.
make the home more comfortable an,
attractive and the house and farm worl
less iaoorious and time consuming.
Some OF the brilliant scientists con
nected with the Department of Agricul
ture have, as the result OF many months
OF painstaking experiments, made i'm
portant discoveries that will be of tre
mendous interest to great many farm
ers.
| They have demonstrated the possibil
'ty OF making gas out OF straw.
These government scientists, who's,
mission In life apparently Is to discover
new things for the benefit and better
ment of mankind, can take fifty pound,
OF ordinary wheat straw and convert Il
into 800 cubic feet of gas, which is suffi
oient to run light roadster auto q dis
tsnce Of fifteen miles. The problem
facing them now, however, is to either
reduce this straw gas to a liquid form
or condense 1t sufficiently to permit oil
its being conveniently carried for pur
poses of motor fuel. The question oil
solving this difficulty is now under ex.
perimentation and 1t Is confidently be-
lievsd will be satisfactorily worked on,
at no distant time.
Iuthe near future the Department oi
Agriculture plans to widen its gss-mak.
ing experiments with q view of ascer.
tanning the possibility of making gas
out OF corn and cotton stalks, leaves and
sugar cane refuse.
The present process of straw gas was
first evolved by George Harrison, q
Canadian engineer at Moosejaw, In 1914,
who later cooperated on the project with
Professor MscLauren, of the University
OF Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
The university, in conjunction with the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture, exhibited a straw gas equipment
at the Exposition of Chemical Industries
10 New York City during the fall OF
1918. This equipment was later pur.
chased and improved by the U. 8.
Department of Agriculture.
Several valuable by-products are OBJ
tanned in the manufacture of straw gas.
Carbon residue suitable for manufacture
ing lamp black of exceptionally fine
quality is one. This residue also con-
tains certain amounts of potash, phos-
pilates, and heterogeneous compounds
which give 1t fertilizing value.
The tar and ammoniacal liquids re-
sulting from the process, aside from
their value as disinfectants and preserva-
tives, may prove useful In the dye in
dustry. IL the engineers succeed In
perfecting the present apparatus and In
reducing the cost OF production there is
no doubt that straw gas will have an
important commercial feature.
The big dream of these experimenters
10 eventually to make 1t possible for
farmers to equip their places with a
reasonable priced gas plant from which
they can generate gas on scale suf-
ficisnt to supply light and heat for the
home, and power for tractors and sta.
tiouary engines.
Going upon the assumption that the
Department of Agriculture will event
ually solve all the problems now con-
fronting them, and evolve an economical
plan for making gas from wheat, oat
and rye straw, corn and cotton stalks,
leaves, and sugar cane refuse, the next
interesting proposition, so far as the
general public is concerned, is to know
something about the quantities of these
raw materials that would be available
for such purposes.
The average annual production of
straw In the United States is estimated
at 120, 600, 900 tons.
or this total production 1t is conserva-
lively estimated that about IS per cent
(64, 70S, 900 tons) is fed to live stock, Is
Der cent (17,6l3,000 tons) Is burned, s
per cent (9,212,000 tons) is sold, and 20
per cent (28. .22l 900 tons) is plowsd un-
der or otherwise disposed of.
If the 1913, 900 tons of straw now
burned each year could be converted in
to gas the total production would reach
the staggering amount Of 211 ,S56, ,0O0, ,OOO
cubic feet Of gas. To get some idea OF
the possibilities of that amount of gas,
Just recall that 1t only takes 300 cubic
feet to operate an auto roadster fifteen
miles. At this ratio Q roadster could
cover 10, 567, 800, 900 miles on one years
supply OF straw gas. II the autoist were
to travel in . straight line he would
make 422, TIP trips around the world.
The corn planted this year will be
about 100, 600, 900 acres. Corn stalks
will average about two tons to the acre,
thus making q total of 200, 1000, 900 tons,
or more than two trillion cubic feet OF
gas.
Cotton stalks, of course, are much
lighter than corn stalks, running about
half q ton to the acre. The cotton plant
ed last year totaled S5, ,504, 900 acres. max.
ing II, ,752, 900 tons. If converted into
gas 1t would make 21S, ,024 900 cubic feet.
Just think what the cotton farmers ol
the Southern states could do with that
amount of gas at their disposal!
In digesting all of these tremendous
figures, Just bear in mind that the pres
emit annual production OF gasoline OBJ
tanned from crude oil In this country IL
only little more than four billion gal
Ions.
Those who have been sweating ano
losing sleep over the worrisome posi-
bility of a gasoline shortage due to the
playing out of the nations oil wells, car
now roll over and sleep peacefully.