ALCOHOL Li 
fortunately, the fermentable substances 
—sugar, starch, etc.—are often not deter- 
mined individually, but are combined 
and reported as “‘nitrogen-free extract,” the 
percentage of which is obtained by sub- 
tracting the sum of the other components 
trom 100. The value thus obtained for 
“extract” will of course include not only 
the sugar and starch, but also the un- 
fermentable pentosans and the sum of 
the errors made in determining the per- 
centages of the first five components. For 
these reasons the fermentable material 
actually present may be lower than the 
figures for nitrogen-free extract or car- 
bohydrates would indicate, as from 5 to 
10 per cent of this extract may be un- 
fermentable. Whenever possible, repre- 
sentative analyses have been used show- 
ing the amount of starch, sugar, and un- 
fermentable pentosans as individually de- 
termined and not as found by subtrac- 
tion. 
Saecharine Materials 
Agave—Different species of this plant 
are used in the Southwest in the prep- 
aration of several varieties of distilled 
alcoholic liquors, and at least one dis- 
tillery has been erected in the hope of 
utilizing them as a source of industrial 
alcohol. It is known that the juice of 
these plants contains large amounts of 
sugar at times, and there is every rea- 
son to believe that, with proper technical 
direction, they can be used profitably for 
industrial purposes.* 
Fruits—The average amount of sugar 
contained in some of the common fruits 
is shown in the following tabulation: 
Average per- 
eentage of 
total sugars, 
calculated as 
dextrose. 
FO) 0) (ee 12.2 
BaMana, oe cece cee cetee weeeaeeeeeee weeee 13.8 
GLADE ek cece cece ctteeeeee eens ee eee 15.0 
OTADZG oie ec leceeeceesnscessecceseeeereees 5.4 
Peach 2. wee eeeceeee ce cesses naeeeceeeeeenenes 7.6 
P@@Y ooo eeeeeececee ceeee cee wees we ee sence ee 10.0 
Pineapple 2... ...ccce cece cet eeeeeeeee tees 11.7 
Prickly pear oo... lee. we eee cee eee . 4.2 
TOMato oo. cecceeececee aeeeceeeeeeeee ooo 2.0 
Watermelon ooo... cececeeeaeceeceeneeeeenee 2.5 
*A sample of one of these plants, sotol 
(Dasylirion teranum), was analyzed in the Bu- 
rean of Chemistry and found to yield 16 per 
cent of levulose. 
It must not be supposed, however, that 
it is practicable to obtain all of the su- 
gar in these fruits in a form suitable for 
fermentation. It would be necessary, in 
preparing any of them for distillation in 
a column still, to express the juice from 
the marc, since the latter, if allowed to 
enter the still would impede its working, 
and obviously a certain proportion of 
the juice and of the sugar will remain in 
the mare. 
Thus it is estimated that it would be 
impossible, in working with apples, to ob- 
tain more than 75 per cent of the total 
fermentable material, or about 9 per cent 
of the the weight of apples delivered. On 
this basis, a ton of average apples should 
yield about 14 gallons of alcohol. Esti- 
mating the cost of gathering culls and 
windfalls, and of delivering them at the 
mill, to be $4 per ton, a figure based on 
actual experience, the raw-material ex- 
pense for a gallon of alcohol will be at 
least 28 cents. 
In the case of grapes, assuming that 
approximately 80 pounds of juice may be 
expressed from 100 pounds of Concords, 
and that this juice contains 18 per cent 
of total sugars, a ton of fruit should yield 
petween 21 and 22 gallons of alcohol. If 
the expense of picking and hauling grapes 
to the distillery is placed at $6 or $7 a 
ton, a figure obtained from a grape-grow- 
ing district in California—the cost of raw 
material for a gallon of alcohol will be 
30 cents. 
In the case of watermelon, if a 90 per 
cent extraction of juice containing 2.5 
per cent of sugars is obtained, a ton of 
melons will yield about three and one- 
half gallons of alcohol. If the cost of 
gathering and hauling the fruit is set at 
$2 per ton, the raw-material cost will 
be not less than 50 cents per gallon of 
alcohol. 
In these three specific cases, it has 
been assumed that the fruit itself was 
valueless on the spot where grown, and 
that it could be delivered at the distillery 
for the mere cost of gathering and haul- 
ing. Even on that basis, it would be 
too costly to use as raw material in mak- 
ing industrial alcohol. The fact that fruit 
