FARM MANAGEMENT 29 



that such a still could be erected in any part of the country at a 

 cost not to exceed $12,000. The interest on this would be, say, $700. 

 If enough raw material can be obtained from the neighborhood it 

 might be operated at a reasonable profit. Co-operation among farm- 

 ers is one of the questions of the present time, as it is among those 

 carrying on business in the cities and towns, and a co-operation that 

 will enable the farmer to dispose of what is now waste material so 

 that it will bring him a revenue and at the same time enable him to 

 procure a prime necessity at a smaller cost, is one that will com- 

 mend itself to progressive agriculturists. (F. B. 269, 469.) 



The manufacture and sale of denatured alcohol for use in the 

 arts and industries, and for fuel, light and power, is provided for 

 by an act of Congress. Denaturing consists in adding to the alcohol 

 certain substances that render it unfit and unsafe to be used as a 

 drink or for the compounding of medicines. The substances specified 

 by law for completely denatured alcohol are methyl alcohol and 

 benzine in the following proportions: To every one hundred parts 

 by volume of ethyl alcohol of the desired proof (not less than 180 Q ) 

 there shall be added ten parts by volume of approved methyl 

 alcohol and one-half of one part by volume of approved benzine ; for 

 example, to every 100 gallons of ethyl alcohol (of not less than 

 180 proof) there shall be added 10 gallons of approved methyl 

 alcohol and ^ gallon of approved benzine. (Reg. 30, Bu. Int. 

 Rev.) 



Conclusions. (1) Any engine on the American market to- 

 day, operating with gasoline or kerosene, can operate with alcohol 

 fuel without any structural change whatever with proper manipula- 

 tion. 



(2) Alcohol contains approximately 0.6 of the heating value 

 of gasoline, by weight, and in the department's experiments a small 

 engine required 1.8 times as much alcohol as gasoline per horse- 

 power hour. This corresponds very closely with the relative heating 

 value of the fuels, indicating practically the same thermal efficiency 

 with the two when vaporization is complete. 



(3) In some cases carbureters designed for gasoline do not 

 vaporize all the alcohol supplied, and in such cases the excess of 

 alcohol consumed is greater than indicated above. 



(4) The absolute excess of alcohol consumed over gasoline or 

 kerosene will be reduced by such changes as will increase the ther- 

 mal efficiency of the engine. 



(5) The thermal efficiency of these engines can be improved 

 when they are to be operated by alcohol, first by altering the con- 

 struction of the carbureter to accomplish vaporization, and second, 

 by increasing the compression very materially. 



(6) An engine designed for gasoline or kerosene can, without 

 any material alterations to adapt it to alcohol, give slightly more 

 power (about 10 per cent) than when operated with gasoline or 

 kerosene, but this increase is at the expense of greater consumption 

 of fuel. By alterations designed to adapt the engine to new fuel 

 this excess of power may be increased to about 20 per cent. 



