97 



crude material at the distillery, which must come from a 

 relatively small area, since any considerable freight bill on 

 crude material would be fatal to the industry. This means 

 that if agricultural distilleries are to be built and operated 

 in the United States, only owners of large estates or coop- 

 erative associations controlling large areas of land and 

 large quantities of fermentable crops, can do business. A 

 small agricultural distillery to be set up in a corner of the 

 barn and operated by the farmer or the hired man on rainy 

 days or between chore times in the winter, is a mistaken 

 idea. 



Agricultural alcohol is likely to make a feasible propo- 

 sition in this country only after Congress has so amended 

 the lavN's to permit the building of larger plants, and only 

 after we realize that alcohol production as such is likely to 

 prove a paying investment only in those verj' exceptional re- 

 gions in which large quantities of fermentable material can 

 be had for little more than the asking. 



Alcohol manufacture is likelj' to be a success in the 

 United States only where the distillery and the fermentable 

 crop are a part of a large, well-designed and intelligent al- 

 cohol operation, involving corporations and stock raising 

 on a considerable scale, and the profits seem likely to ap- 

 pear, not in the alcohol, but in an increased productiveness of 

 the soil, due to the careful culture of the fermentable crop, 

 and in the increased amount of stock which may be made 

 possible by the increased crop production. 



At present we are threatened with danger from two 

 sources. First, from over-confidence due to a misunder- 

 standing of the difficulties of the situation. We shall meet 

 the second danger when the fact dawns on us that the solu- 

 tion of this question is one which involves a vast amount of 

 study and hard work. When the discouraging features of 

 the situation threaten to paralyze further effort, we must 

 look the facts in the face, recognize the difficulties, and 

 hopefully and persistently work out this well-nigh supreme 

 problem of the increased conservation of the resources of 

 our lands. 



Meeting adjourned for dinner. 



