Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-07-02

~SLbu, ~. va Oubr -C.-SOil
cobs have their uses other than as hog
fodder and as raw material for thu
| pipes known as the b%arnyard meer-
schaums. so dear to the hearts Of
smokers who pride themselves N be.
ing connoisseurs. Scientists in the bu.
reau of chemistry in the department o.
agriculture who have been experiment
ing announce that they have produced
several valuable by-products from the
humble cob, and it is expected that
their discoveries viii be commercializeC
in the near future. One of the posi-
bilities of the new industry is a motor
fuel supply-one of the things that
the world needs almost as much as il
needs the machines which the motors
run.
Among the products which are now
TO be extracted from corn cobs are
f~urfural, 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, fur
furel has been a comparatively rare
product and has been sold principally
in small quantities for scientific pur-
poses. The price is now about SIT
per pound. Specialists of the bureau
of chemistry say it can be manufac-
tured from corn cobs at a cost of
possibly Is to 20 cents per pound. To
produce something that is necessary or
useful at one-eighty-fifth of its former
cost may be set down as a real scien-
tific achievement.
Scarcity and high costs have here
tofore initiated against the CONNER
cial use of furfural to any great ex-
tent, and the uses TO which il can be
put as yet are imperfectly known.
However. it is a substance from which
can be made a great many kinds of
dyes. several paints and lacquers and
a substitute for hard rubber, and the
experimental work has progressed suf-
ficienty far to indicate the possibility
of developing a fuel for motors.
Perhaps its most important use is,
in chemical nomenclature as an inter
mediate for dyes. A whole series of
dyes may be prepared by interaction
with various coal-tsr products. Shades
covering a very wide range have al
ready been made and tested by the gov
eminent experts.
As a Substitute for Hard Rubber
OF its uses as a substitute for hard
rubber DR.. w. W. skinner, assistant
chief OF the bureau of chemistry, says:
The Importance of furfural produc-
ton on a large scale is apparent when
it Is realized that such widely used
articles as printing plates-light, dur
able substitutes for electrotypes-
photograph records, varnishes, pipe
stems. cigarette holders, electrical in
strument parts formerly made OF hard
rubber, buttons. binders for brushes
glue. and q hundred other kindred
articles are now being manufactured
from synthetic resin compounds. These
compounds are made with furfural."
Since scientists discovered the secret
of making synthetic resins about Is
years ago this industry has had a re
markable growth. The raw materials
used are chiefly formaldehyde and
phenol. or carbolic acid, These two
compounds, chemically combined. con-
dense as a solid which is highly valu-
able as the basis for making such
articles as those enumerated by DR..
Skinner. Thorough tests have demon
strated furfural to be an excellent sub
stitute for formaldehyde in this work.
Formaldehyde has It's source in
m~ethanol. or wood alcohol. which is
produced largely from the destructive
distillation of hard woods such as
birch, beech. oak, maple and elm.
fence IL is seen UNI Tie uSt Oh IuT-
fural becomes a measure of conserva-
ton.
DR.. Frederick r. La Forge. who.
with Gerald H. Main, has been ron
the experiments in the bureau
Of chemistry. reports that he was able
to run an automobile engine with fur
fural. However. because of its high
boiling point it cannot be used with
the type of carburetor suited to gasoline
and there are some difficulties in the
way of its development as a motor
that will be commercially valua-
BE.
Two grades of adhesive are recovered
from corr cobs, says the bureaus an
nouncement. The first and more valua-
bic one amounts to about 45 per cent
of the weight of the cobs. One of
the chief uses contemplated for