OTHER USES OF THE MAIZE CROP 80 1 



it measures 28 by 22 inches ; the warp consists of common chap. 

 twine and is woven with ripe maize husk. XVIL 



768. Other Uses for Maize Cobs. — In addition to their use 

 for the manufacture of charcoal and corn-and-cob meal already 

 alluded to (11 665 and 764), maize cobs are used in St. Louis, 

 Mo., U.S.A., for the manufacture of "Missouri corn-cob" 

 tobacco-pipe bowls ; these are prepared from a particularly 

 large type of maize, and are chiefly used locally, but there is a 

 limited export to the British Islands and the Colonies. Cobs 

 are also used in America and France as fire-lighters ; at one 

 time maize-cob fire-lighters were retailed in Paris for twelve to 

 twenty francs per 1,000. On the treeless parts of the South 

 African High-veld, where wood and coal are scarce and 

 expensive, maize cobs are in some cases the only fuel used ; 

 they make an excellent " baking fire " ; in the United States a 

 ton (2,000 lbs.) of maize cobs is estimated to be worth one-third 

 of a ton of dry, hard wood. In some parts of South Africa 

 maize cobs are used for firing the tobacco seed-beds, and are 

 considered the best fuel for the purpose. 



In 1906-8 experiments were conducted at the Dynamite 

 Factory of the British South African Explosives Company, 

 Limited, Modderfontein, Transvaal, in the use of maize cobs, 

 ground down to an impalpable powder, as a substitute for the 

 imported " wood-meal " or wood-pulp in the manufacture of 

 explosives. Writing in September, 1908, the General Manager, 

 Mr. Cullen, stated that the trials had not been very success- 

 ful, so that the idea of working up the maize cobs had been 

 abandoned. 



In parts of Iowa, where maize is shelled on a large scale, 

 the cobs are carted back to the land as a fertilizer for the 

 addition of humus, potash, and phosphoric acid. Maize-cob 

 ash contains about 50 per cent potash. 



769. Maize Chaff. — Maize chaff, obtained in the cleaning 

 of shelled maize in the mills, and in the preparation of corn cob 

 pipes, is used in upholstery and mattress-making. 



770. Zea or Maize Silk. — The " styles and stigmas of Zea 

 Mays Linne (Nat. Ord. Gramineae)" are official in the United 

 States pharmacopoeia under the name " zea," " Maidis stigmata " 

 or "corn silk ". The portion which is used in medicine is that 

 which is commonly known as the " silk " of the " ear," being 



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