AGRICULTUEAL ALCOHOL IN GERMANY. 35 



used in one year as much as 80 carloads of 393 bushels of 56 pounds 

 each. ' It was expected that they would use only about 30 carloads in 

 1907, partly because of the good crop of potatoes and partly because 

 of the high price of Roumanian corn. This corn, which is said to be 

 richer in starch than the American La Plata corn, had formerly cost 

 but $1.30 per 100 pounds, but at that time the price was $1.83 per 

 100 pounds. This increase was partly due to an increase of 71.5 

 cents in the duty on foreign maize. 



If, as stated by the superintendent, the dividends had been only 

 as high as 4 per cent in good years, the high value of the stocks 

 could be explained only by the value placed on the spent mash. 



The superintendent of such a distillery, as may be expected, is a 

 very different sort of man from those found in the distilleries which 

 are hand equipped or even in the medium steam-operated plants. 

 As has been pointed out, the larger distilleries are taxed much more 

 heavily, and in order to obtain the same returns on the investment 

 they must be operated much more economically and must produce a 

 larger percentage of alcohol. 



