21,1 Cole: Manufacture of Industrial Alcohol 19 
the sap exuding from palm trees. In 1920, this value had fallen 
to 35.4 per cent, due mainly to the increased use of molasses. 
The utilization of palm saps at present is confined to a few 
small areas. There are great tracts well situated for exploita- 
tion which have not yet been touched. The cost of production 
of alcohol from various sources is given in Table 3. 
TABLE 3.—The cost in dollars," United States currency, of the various 
kinds of raw materials required to produce alcohol.” 
Cost of the raw ma- 
terial required to 
produce 1 liter. 
100 proof. | 180 proof. 
Sugar beets at 5 dollars a ton; sugar content, 14 per cent. -.-------------- 0. 032 0. 058 
Soreham stalks at 8 dollars per tons: -2220< 5 oc ses sees ee se 0. 032 0. 059 
Savarcine at B25: doilars per ton. csc ke dete coca nnee- “esse 0. 028 0. 050 
Beat miolnsoes Bt 16 Goss per Olas 526 cine a cine ne enc esa ee ekcee 0. 029 0. 053 
Cane molasses at 0. 12 dollar per gallon¢ _______..-.----.---- ------ -------- 0, 032 0. 059 
Jerusalem artichokes at 5 dollars per ton _-.-..--------.------------------ 0.027 0. 048 
Cassava at 6 dotlara D6¥ tii 25.2 ces ass car tac cee de cect ce eee det ee 0.019 0,084 
Potatoes at 4 dollara ner ton for culls ..5<....--5- 2+ = e- .- -5-5 0.021 0.037 
Sweut-potatoes at § dollare per ton cs.2 is cs cca ete ee oe ce 0. 031 0. 056 
Barley at 0.65 dollar per bushel of 48 pounds-----...--.--------. ---------- 0.041 0.074 
Maize at 0.70 dollar per bushel of 56 pounds ----..--.--------------------- 0. 0387 0.066 
Oats at 0.35 dollar per bushel of 32 pounds_--_--------_-----------.-------- 0,046 0. 082 
Rye at 0. 80 dollar per bushel of 56 pounds. ...-...---.. ....-.-------------- 0.051 0.092 
Nipa at 0. 00389 dollar per liter, 4 equivalent to 6.5 per cent alcohol - .___-- 0.015 0. 027 
Coco at 0. 005 dollar per liter, equivalent to 6.5 per cent alcohol_-___--.---- 0.0384 0. 069 
Coco at 0. 0062 dollar per liter, equivalent to 6.07 per cent alcohol_-___---- 0. 0488 0. 088 
+ 
4 One dollar United States currency is equal to 2 pesos Philippine currency. 
>From Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chem. 130 (1910) ; nipa and coco data from Gibbs, 
Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 6 (1911) 104. 
© The present price of molasses (February, 1922) is 3 centavos (1.5 cents) a gallon. 
4 Pratt, D. S., Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 8 (1913) 395, estimates cost of nipa at 0.0015 
dollar per liter, which gives less than one-half the value computed for cost of alcohol from 
nipa tuba given in the above table. 
MOLASSES 
Among the waste products utilized for the manufacture of 
alcohol, molasses ranks first. In the United States the chief 
source of industrial alcohol is cane or black-strap molasses. This 
product has been used for the manufacture of West Indian rum 
for more than two hundred years, but the utilization of molasses 
in large quantities for the production of industrial alcohol is a 
development of the last few years. For the manufacture of 
alcohol, molasses far surpasses any other material except palm 
saps in the ease with which it can be manipulated. Some 
300,000,000 gallons of molasses are annually available in the 
West Indies. Tank steamers carry this material to the distil- 
