NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



Before giving details from Mr. Burbank, as 

 to the best method of planting and caring for 

 the cactus, one important point must be in- 

 dicated. While the new cactus is not so rich 

 in starch as some other plants, its enormous 

 yield per acre provides a large amount of 

 material which is fermentable and which thus 

 promises to become available for the produc- 

 tion of ethyl alcohol, denatured alcohol, which 

 is now to come into such general use and for 

 such a variety of purposes through the action 

 of the government in allowing its manufac- 

 ture without tax. Experiments have been 

 carried on at the New Mexico College of 

 Agriculture to determine the amount of fer- 

 mentable material in the wild cactus. It is 

 shown by way of comparison in the reports 

 recently issued as a result of the experiments, 

 that the average yield of corn throughout the 

 United States is about 1,613 pounds per acre, 

 containing 1,129 pounds of fermentable ma- 

 terial convertible into 80.64 gallons of alcohol, 

 worth, at the current price of the denatured 

 alcohol, 40 cents a gallon, or $33.25 for the 

 acre. The experiments at the New Mexico 

 College were conducted under unsatisfactory 



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