The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1922-09-23
AYAC|NTH FOUND TO Be
VERY VALUABLE.
Has Oils, Chemicals And
Other Ingredients.

ed at Welsh, Louisiana, we notice
that a company has been incorpora
ted to exploit the water lily, OF
Water Hyacinth, that is causing Sc
much trouble to navigation in all q
our Southern streams.
1t is all the result of one mans
! firm belief that everything on eartl
was put here by the Great Creator
for some good purpose. He hac
heard the Hyacinth discussed (ant
cussed) so often as being worse thar
worthless, that he started an inveS-
tigation to prove his theory to be
correct, even in the case of the
troublesome water Hyacinths.
How his researches turned out we
will tell you in the words of the
Welch Journal:
''Mr. j. f. Lewis of Roanoke is
firmly convinced that everything pla-
ced on this earth, whether plant,
animal or soil, has some use-somc
value. Sight of river crammed
from bank to bank with the prolific
plants caused him to reflect. The
more he reflected the surer he felt
that the great expanse of lilies re-
presented value to humanity pro-
viding they could be properly con-
verted. After much reflection AMI
some experimenting he sought the
advice and assistance of Mr.. A. R.
Arceneaux in the planning and pa
tenting of a machine for the har-
vesting of the lilies. In the matter
of perfecting the machine and secur-
ing the patents Mr.. Monroe Davis
was interested. The securing of these
patents completed the first lap in
the progress of the development
commercially of the water-hyacinth.
The next move by these partners
was the securing Of analysis of the
cured product as to it's feeding
value. These analysis developed that
it was richer in a number of impor-
tant components than alfalfa hay
Experiments along this line are still
in progress.
Valuable Chemical And Oils Found.
Also Fine Paper Pulp.
'In getting the chemical analysis
the service of DIR. E. W. Ritter of
Lake Charles, was sought. DR.. Rit-
ter is a chemist of more than ordi-
nary talent, besides being far
sighted business man. The results Of
his Investigations of the water hya-
cinth for Messrs. Arceneaux, Lewis
and Davis, led him into personal
desire for further experimenting
with the Hyacinth. He has perfected
methods of producing from the plant
a number of commercial commodi-
ties, some of which are very valua-
BILE and have a ready demand on the
market. These products include an
excellent paper pulp; non-con-
gealable oil, an oil that is not effec-
ted by either extreme heat or cold;
an aromatic vegetable oil used in
the manufacture of the finest toilet
soaps; a rare grade of ether, a
chemical compound which applied to
paper, wood or cloth will make it
fire proof; an important chemical
used in the manufacture of fertili-
zers. DR.. Ritter claims to have per-
fected processes by which all of
these products can be produced &C.
onomically from the water hyacinth
and in commercial quantities. Pa
tents on the processes of producing
the different commodities are now
pending and these patents together
with the patents on the harvesting
and curing machinery will become
the property of the Water Hyacinth
Harvesting and Products Company,
Machinery for trying out the pro-
cesses is now being constructed and
we are informed will soon be in