FERMENTATION PRODUCTS 341 



after it has been freed of all trace of acid. A limited amount of 

 dried starch and sugar feed, together with starch feed (wet), are 

 the principal by-products in the immediate conversion and refining 

 of starch. 



For the manufacture of the products discussed, with the exception 

 of hominy, ths companies generally buy No. 3 and No. 4 corn — more 

 often the latter. We may safely say that these companies furnish 

 a means of handling millions of dollars worth of corn that would have 

 been almost valueless upon the market for any other purpose. The 

 Corn Products Manufacturing Company of Chicago, alone, handle 

 from thirty-five to fifty millions of bushels of No. 3 and No. 4 corn 

 annually. 



FERMENTATION PRODUCTS. The corn is first cleaned by 

 screening and fanning and then run between rollers and crushed. The 

 hulls and germs having been removed, the remaining portion of the 

 corn, which consists largely of starch and gluten, is ground and cooked 

 in large tanks to dissolve the starch. 



It is then taken to the fermenting tanks where about 10 per cent 

 of barley malt and yeast are added, with 40 gallons of water per bush- 

 el of grain. The mass is allowed to ferment. The starch is first con- 

 verted to sugar by the action of the enzymes in the malt, and then 

 the sugar is converted to alcohol. 



The liquid portion, consisting of water and alcohol, is drawn off 

 and heated in large evaporating tanks. The alcohol, having a lower 

 boiling point than water, is driven off first. It is then condensed by 

 directing it over coils filled with cold water. 



The residue left in the fermenting tanks, after being washed to re- 

 move all the alcohol, is taken to powerful presses and as much as pos- 

 sible of the liquid matter is removed. This liquid portion is used by 

 cattle feeders, who frequently have large feeding establishments lo- 

 cated near the distillery. The cattle do best when stanchioned all the 

 time. In front of each row of cattle runs a long trough in which the 

 distillery slop is placed. The cattle drink large quantities of the slop, 

 which, with the exception of a very few pounds of hay to lessen the 

 scouring effect of the slop, constitutes their only feed. "Inasmuch as 

 a bushel of Indian corn weighs 56 pounds, the total weight of ferment- 

 able matter therein, in round~ numbers, is 39 pounds. The weight of 

 the alcohol which is produced under the best conditions is little less 

 than one-half of the fermentable matter. Therefore the total weight 

 of alcohol which would be yielded by a bushel of average Indian corn 

 would be, in round numbers, about 19 pounds. The weight of a gal- 



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