ALCOHOL 



21 



Per cent. 



Water 9.4 



Ash 2.1 



Protein 10.7 



Fiber 1.9 



Fat 1.9 



Starch 53.7 



Sugars 5!6 



Pentosans, gums, etc 14.7 



Total 100.0 



This material Is used very largely in 

 distilleries which produce compressed 

 yeast or rye whisky, and it sometimes is 

 employed in small amounts in the yeast 

 mashes of alcohol distilleries, but it is not 

 suitable for use as the chief ingredient of 

 the mash in an alcohol distillery on ac- 

 count of its expensiveness and though 

 containing about 60 per cent of ferment- 

 able matter it rarely yields over 85 gal- 

 lons of alcohol to the ton. 



Sorghum seed — This grain, regardins? 

 which many inquiries are made, has the 

 following average composition, closely re- 

 sembling that of maize: 



Comparison of Sorghum Seed and 

 Eaflr Corn 



Sorghum Kafir 



Determination Seed Corn 



Per cent Per cent 



Water S.3 12.5 



Ash 1.8 1.3 



Protein 13.3 10.9 



Fiber 1.5 1.9 



Fat 3.0 2.9 



Pentosans 4.3 



Sugars 1.5 



Nitrogen-free extract 66.3 70.5 



Total 100.0 100.0 



Undoubtedly sorghum seed could he 

 worked in the distillery as corn is an.:l 

 probably would require less cooking and 

 give fully as good a yield, though its 

 use for this purpose has never been 

 tested as far as the writer knows. 



Wheat — What has been said regarding 

 the yield of alcohol to be obtained from 

 rye applies in a general way to wheat also. 

 Although wheat contains nearly 65 per 

 cent of starch and sugars, it is too ex- 

 pensive to be used for alcohol production 

 unless frozen or for other reason unavail- 

 able for food purposes. 



Per cent. 

 Water io.5 



Ash 1.9 



Protein 11.5 



Fat 2.0 



Fiber 2.3 



Sugars 2.8 



Pentosans 7.0 



Starch, etc 62.0 



Total 100.0 



Roots 



Artichoke — The tuber of the Jerusalem 

 artichoke has the following average com- 

 position:* 



Per cent. 

 Water 79.0 



Ash 1.0 



Protein I.3 



Fiber g 



Fat 2 



Pentosans 1.2 



Nitrogen-free extract 16.5 



Total 100.0 



It is seen that artichokes contain from 

 16 to 18 per cent of fermentable matter 

 in the form of levulose and inulin, and as 

 the latter may be converted into the 

 former without the use of malt, by merely 

 boiling under pressure, it can be worked 

 very cheaply. When 17 per cent of fer- 

 mentable substance is present, a ton 

 should yield about 25 gallons of alcohol; 

 and as it can be raised and delivered for 

 about $5 per ton the raw material for a 

 gallon would cost about 20 cents. The 

 tuber has remarkably good keeping qual- 

 ities and deserves far more attention than 

 it has yet received as a distiller's ma- 

 terial. 



Cassava — The root of the sweet cassava 

 has the following average composition: 



Per cent. 



Water 65.0 



Ash .7 



Protein 9 



Fiber 1.7 



Fat 3 



Starch 25.4 



Nitrogen-free extract 6.0 



Total 100.0 



It is fair to assume that about 80 per 

 cent of the dry matter of the root, or 

 about 28 per cent of the weight of the 



• 1 Behrend, J. Landw.. 1904. 52 :127. 



