32 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
these lines. Farmers, who are naturally 
conservative, need very little caution in 
such matters, but it is important that a 
full understanding of the difficulties of 
these problems should be disseminated. 
It is quite certain that if alcohol can 
be produced in the near future at a cost 
not exceeding 25 or 30 cents per gallon of 
95 per cent strength, it will be a most 
valuable source of power on the farm. 
Although with the present relative prices 
of alcohol and gasolene there is no finan- 
cial advantage in the use of the former, 
it is highly probable that the price of 
gasolene will advance and that of alco- 
hol fall. Thus the farmhouse and the 
barn may be liberally supplied with water 
at such an elevation that it can be used 
with all the facility enjoyed by those 
who live in the city by means of a safe, 
cheap, and effective method of pumping 
made possible by the alcohol motor. The 
machinery around the barn and the sta- 
bles which is utilized for chopping food 
and grinding grain in the preparation of 
rations for domesticated animals should 
be of a character which is efficiént and 
at the same time without danger. An 
alcohol motor placed in a small room 
separated from the barn at such a dis- 
tance as not to endanger it in case of an 
accident would make it possible to sup- 
ply power of this kind. Although alcohol 
is far less dangerous in use than gasolene 
as far as probability of explosion is con- 
cerned, there should be no misunderstand- 
ing respecting the fact that it is an ex- 
plosive substance both when in the form 
of vapor and when mixed with air, and 
all the precautions which are used in the 
case of gasolene should be employed also 
with alcohol. While the use of these pre- 
cautions will practically eliminate any 
Source of danger, it is nevertheless ad- 
visable. even in the case of alcohol, to 
separate the building in which it is used 
from the barn, which contains more or 
less highly combustible matter. The fact 
that a substance is less dangerous than 
another is no excuse for omitting any of 
the precautions to, prevent injury as the 
result of accident. 
Uses Not Directly for Farm Operations 
It seems advisable that some of the 
uses of industrial alcohol not directly 
connected with farm operations should 
be known to the farmer, in order that 
he may be fully informed respecting the 
industry in which he necessarily takes so 
important a part. The purposes for 
which tax-free alcohol can be used in the 
arts are fully set forth in a public docu- 
ment entitled “Free Alcohol, Hearings 
before the Committee on Ways and 
Means, House of Representatives, Fifty- 
ninth Congress, First Session, February- 
March, 1906.” <A very full discussion of 
the subject is also found in an English 
report entitled “Industrial Alcohol Com- 
mittee, Minutes of Evidence Taken Be- 
fore the Departmental Committee on In- 
dustrial Alcohol, with Appendices. Pre- 
sented to Both Houses of Parliament by 
Command of His Majesty. Printed for 
His Majesty’s Stationery Office by Wy- 
man & Sons (Limited), Fetter Lane, Lon- 
don, BE. C., 1905.” The evidence submit- 
ted in the two reports mentioned con- 
tains practically all that is known con- 
cerning the uses of denatured alcohol. It 
is not intended here even to make a res- 
ume of this evidence; only the most im- 
portant uses which are benefited by tax- 
free alcohol can be mentioned. 
Varnishes, Lacquers, Ete. 
One of the most important technical 
uses of alcohol is in the manufacture of 
varnishes and lacquers, where the gums 
which are employed are necessarily dis- 
solved in alcohol. This use of alcohol is 
extremely important and affects a great 
many industries. 
Ether 
The ether of commerce, sometimes 
called sulfuric ether, is manufactured ex- 
clusively from alcohol by the action of 
sulfuric acid and heat. This ether is 
used in a great many technical operations, 
since it is one of the best solvents known, 
especially for fats. It is also extensively 
used in surgery as an anesthetic. Under 
the present arrangements ether used for 
technical purposes can only be made from 
alcohol on which tax has been paid, and 
