Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-07-02
NEW USE FOUND
FOR CORN COBS
BY SCIENTISTS
BY FREDERIC j. HAskIN.

3
4 Washington, July Corn cohs
have their uses other than as hog
fodder and as raw material or the
pipes known as the barnyard meer-
x schaums, SO dear TO the hearts of
smokers who pride themselves Oh
X being connoisseurs. Scientists IN
The bureau of chemistry in the de-
partmeht of agriculture who have
been experimenting announce that
they have produced several valu-
able by-products from the humble
cob, and it is expected that their
Il discoveries will be commercializei
in the near future. One of the pos
sibTlities of the new industry is a
y motor fuel suppiy-one of the
things that the world needs almost
as much as it needs the machines
which the motors run.
Among the products which are
now to be extracted from corn cobs
are furfural, cob adhesive, acetate
of lime and cellulose. The first
named seems to have more uses
than any of the others. Up to the
present time, furfural has been
comparatively rare product and has
been sold principally in small guam
titles for scientific purposes. The
price is now about $17 per pound
Specialists of the bureau of chem
istry say it can be manufactured
from corn cobs at a cost of possibly
Is to 20 cents per pound. To pro-
duce something that is necessary or
z useful at -eighty-fifth OF lis
former cost may be set down as
! -
Scarcity and high costs have
heretofore initiated against th4
commercial use of turfural to any
& great extent, and the uses to which
A II can be put as yet are imperfectly
Y known. However, it is a substance
from which can be made a great
MANY kinds of dyes, several paints
and lacuuers and a substitute for
hard rubber, and the experimental!
work has progressed sufficiently
far to indicate the possibility OF de-
yeloping a fuel for motors.
Perhaps its most important use
is. in chemical nomenclature, as an
intermediate for dyes. A who'c
+ series of dyes may be prepared by
interaction with various coal-tar
products. Shades covering a very
wide range have already been made
and tested by the government eN-
perts.
As "a Substitute for Hard Rubber.
OF it's uses as a substitute TO"
hard rubber DR.. w. w. Skinner, as
sistant chief of the bureau of chem
istry, says: "The Importance of fur
fural production on large scale is
apparent when it is realized that
such widely used articles as print
ing plates-light, durable substi-
tutes for NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
RECORDS, varnishes, pipe stems, Gig
aret holders, electrical instrument:
parts formerly made of hard rub
Der. buttons, binders for brushes,
glue. and hundred other kindred
articles are now being manufac-
ztured from synthetic resin COM
pounds. These compounds are
made with furfural."
Since scientists discovered the
secret of making synthetic resins
about Is years ago this industry has
had remarkable growth. The raw
materials used are chiefly formal
dehyde and phenol, or carbolic acid
These two compounds. chemically
rombined, condense as a solid which
Is highly valuable as the basis for
making such articles as those
Enumerated by DR.. Skinner. Thor
ough tests have demonstrated fur
furaI to he an excellent substitute
for forma ldehyde in this work.
M Formaldehyde has its source IN
methanol, or wood alcohol, which IS
produced largely from the destruct-