Evening star., 1927-04-24
FARM WASTE PRODUCTS
BY FREDERIC J. H4SKIN.

Out In Minnesota there isla chemist
who has taken $3.50 worth sof various
products from a ton of straw by a
process of distillation. His. name Is
George H. Harrison and the things ha
gets out of straw range from q gas
with which he has run his automobile
to the paint on the body of the car.
His demonstration, TO rxhe lima gina
tive mind, points a way to q solution
of the pressing problem of what to do
for the farmers of the Unired States
who are so insistent .Etfaat something
be done for them. Tea9eh them to save
their straw and INSTRUCT them IN its
utilization. The average acre of wheat
Yields about tons Of straw. Con-
slider the follw of the farmer who saves
siler the fooy of thel elfarnler who saves
when tie grain iS not worth more
than $25 or $40 al, best. whereas the
straw has a potential value of $500!
In an average YEAR about 60,000,00O
acres are devoted 10 wheat growing in
this country, and Hhe acreage has run
above rs, 900 900. The banner produc-
ton year was ing 1915. when slightly
more than 60,000tb00 acres We're har.
vested and the crop ran little above
], 1000, ,00O, 900 bushels. But all that
grain was worth Less than billion
December / of NiTat year, while the
straw, If utilized TIA the maximum of
Mr.. Harrison's ability, would have
been worth 80 times that much
OF course, it, fcould not have had a
farm value of g1hat fabulous amount,
for putting straw through the Harrl
son laboratory processes Is expensive,
but with all that potentiaI treasure
buried in his stTawstaek, Hi. the paor
A. hns a.a1snOaFtFzd the n1ff1r
lie interest that ether famous Anaert
can character, lie, the poor INDIAN, i
bound to sit UP and taka notice. II ?,
may even decide to study eheEnlStr y
and set up "a laboratory SouneWnei fef
between the woodshed and the kiEche "
What lThere rs I'm SsrSw.
ton of straw makes a fair siZ ed
stack. Burn 1t and all there is left is
about 40 poh1mffs OF ashes. Appr' Ed-
mately 1850 pounds have gone upt In
smoke, andEt fs that part of the stl FCw-
stack that ttSyields most Of Mr.. II rri-
sons products. ThuS, from eacff ton
OF straw which he processes by fine
chopping land forcing it through Eubes
heated toit1, zoo degrees H., hef gets
1880 cubic feet of gas, after IRaving
used onetthird OF the gas ger Esrated
from the sstraw to maintain Il es tenn
perature.
Condensed, the gas he has 1e ct yields
$40 pounds OF carbon, 100 p. gInds of
pitch an9 is gallons Of oil. tthe car
bon can fba ground into hig quality
paints, IL. is said, and watf sproofing
materials can be made from Ethe pitch.
Straw oil Is a germieide ar Il disin-
fectant, an the latter use |sing supe-
rior to roetk tar products In strength
and in It's being nor-iTrits Ent, neither
burning 'nor destroying liS Eng tissues.
Lignin. which Is foun . in straw,
stalks Ind most plant fuse. has
fair chance of besting cokll tar in the
variety OF it's product DIR, c. A.
Brownb, chief of the Bu teau OF Chem
istry gbf the Departme1 vt of Agricul-
ture, says that it PRO ably offers as
| many methods OF uttI hGation for the
manufacture OF tanr fling materials,
dyestuffs and other inc 6lstrial products
| as was offered 80 ye' trs ago by that
othe5ftrade waste, CO MI tar, which has
proved TO be an aim b at inexhaustible
souureJof wealth"
BGt straw is only one OF the farm
waste pToductS--th6E Ee hitherto SO re-
| gar6ed-that can bet coined into regu.
lar RpcneT. Take Fthe l1onely corn
stalk and the hum de cob as further
examples. At the department of Ag-
ricWlture there ts q 4 list of PIT products
and uses OF corn, Out most Of these are
| or fthe grain. wh Ich represents only
about one~fouFth blf the weight of the
corn plant stalbt, leaves, cobs, silks
| anu taSSeIS are for the most part
| WiSted. nut the chemists are getting
Hufy to put an end to that sort of
| timing, and alFS lIdy they are saying
| mere fs more )tentiaf cash value i'm
the stalk and Eb than there is In the
lIcorn.
Millions Iof Tens Of CObs.
e. CoFnstaiks "A re- used to consider.
4 able extent N fodder for farm ami.
4 mails, but thF n corncobs. OF which we
have an am tplal crop of more than
29,O00, ,d99 toi VI. are almoRt all burned
1 or got rid of lin some other way. The
Important eli emicai, furfural, can be
/ made from fhe cobs and furfural can
be prucssSe' TO make such articles as
Eteiephcu@ e,ceivers. radio horns, pho
n1graph r. t;ords. pipestems and ciga-
Trefte h0lde EH. Other uses to which both
the StaEka and the cobs may be put
l, are waIfiS hfrd, paper, adhesive, char.
coal. fuel, embalming fluids, solvents
and ptpsfE
/ Cascin 70 product OF skim milk, of.
Il fers aHo Tier opportunity for the farm
en- to re ktize a profit, for IL is used In
tine MA b ufacture OF combs, buttons,
shoe h grns, poker chips and billiard
Rballs. YCasein is also used in large
Equantif es in finishing high-grade
hprintfr IL papers such as are used in
books nd magazines. and still another