Evening star., 1935-08-18
MILLION.DOLLAR WEED
RISES FROM PEST CLASS
Jerusalem Artichoke, Once Worthless
Vegetable, Now Source of Sugar Sup
ply and Vast Quantities of Alcohol.
BY MALCOLM MCDOWELL.

A WEED long regarded as no.
~ account. worthless vegetable
~ pariah, one of the most en-
n thusiastically detested Of farm
nuiSances and held up TO Scorn as
an unmitigated pest, now acclaimed
as q most remarkable plant. a poten-
tial dividend producer million dollar
weed-this is the Jerusalem artichoke.
The why" and the how of the
recent agsrandizement Of this pestif-
erous member of the sunf1ower fam
lily 60 back to the research laboratories
Of those wizards who are constantly
turning out miracles, the industrial
chemists. Jerusalem artichoke grows
in all parts OF this country, on all
sorts OF lard and with scant regard
to weather conditions. locations and
soils Anything goes with this rugged
individuali,t. The acre yields of these
tubers are little short Of enormous.
The industrial chemists, probing
the inner secrets Of the tubers to find
out what they might have in them
discovered they are prolific sources OF
levulose. the sweetest of sugars, and
OF industrial alcohol. Now plant
which Is easily grown, which practical
ly Is immune from most plant dis
eases and which is available as raw
material for the manufacture Of sugar
and alcohol is plant worthy of the
earnest attention of farmers and in
dustrialists, even though it always has
been classed as a lowdown weed nui-
sance.
Million Dollar Debut.
And ii got this attention when II
made its million-dollar debut before
the conference of representatives of
agriculture. industry and science held
early in May at Dearborn. Mich.
which put the farm chemurgic" in
the front-page headlines Of the coun-
try's dailies. After the proponents OF
the artichoke had listed the potenti-
alities OF its tubers in the exact
phraseology Of scientific data. the
opinion was offered by the industrial
lists and scientists that the million
dollar weed might become eligible as
member of the multimillionaire
class
1t has been found that the artichoke
tubers have a levulose content as high
as "a per cent, and that an acre OF
artichokes has produced from 300 to
$50 gallons of industrial alcohol
Furthermore, it was shown that the
bushel yield Of the tubers OF this
amazing plant is 400 to 900 in New
England, 200 to 400 on Western soil
some of it semi-arid, and that expert
mental crops have made yields a!
high as $500 to 1000 bushels to thu
acre on irrigated lands in Texas anc
California. These figures convey
some idea Of the enormous poSsibili'
ties of the Jerusalem artichoke as {
source Of two of Americas most i'm
portant products-sugar and alcohol
Improved Variety Developed.
Fred G. johnson of Hastings. Nebr.
will 20 down in American agricultural
history as pioneer grower and de-
veloper of the white, or improved
Jerusalem artichoke. Speaking of i
as a raw material available in indus
try. he said:
The Jerusalem artichoke is rapid.
becoming a source of sugar; it soor
will be elevated from its class as weed!
and, because Of the ease Of cultiva
ton and the large yield obtainable. i
has come to be regarded ss a yer!
remarkable plant and q source O
large quantities of sugar and al
cohol."
DR.. William J. Hale, one Of th'
most famous American chemists. ha
made some rather startling assertions
concerning the million-dollar weed
Aside from utilization in the form
of new foods" he said, ''the tube
will supply levulose, the sugar so pc
cent sweeter than sucrose, or ordi
nary sugar, and far better for tn
human system. The engineering prob
lens necessary to insure successful