1559 
The  Future  of  Denatured  Alcohol 
Possibilities  in  Co-operative  Work 
THE  increasing  demand  for  gas  fuel  and  quick 
heat,  and  the  desire  to  make  waste  into  value, 
have  combined  with  the  requirements  of  the  muni¬ 
tions  makers  to  turn  the  attention  of  chemists  to 
denatured  or  industrial  alcohol.  As  a  gas  fuel,  al¬ 
cohol  is  not  as  good  as  gasoline  in  theory ;  it  is  al¬ 
ready  one-sixth  burnt  up,  but,  mixed  with  air,  it 
can  be  more  compressed  before  it  explodes  from  the 
heat  of  compression,  and  this  tends  to  equalize  them. 
As  a  quick  heater,  alcohol  has  no  equal,  safe  and 
odorless.  In  its  most  recent  solidified  form  it  is 
also  cheap,  since  there  is  no  loss  when  not  burning. 
The  munitions  makers  use  alcohol  and  its  de¬ 
rivatives,  ether  and  acetone,  and  their  demands 
have  forced  the  price  rather  high.  This  condition 
will  not  last,  and  meanwhile  the  prohibition  of  al¬ 
cohol  as  a  drink — or  “food”  if  you  wish,  it  is  go¬ 
ing  to  be  prohibited  anyhow — makes  available  a 
number  of  going  concerns  which  can  as  well  pro¬ 
duce  denatured  alcohol. 
Mr.  Ford  lias  announced  that  the  breweries  of 
Michigan  can  make  denatured  alcohol  for  his  trac¬ 
tors  at  a  profit.  He  may  solve  the  problem  of  a 
good  alcohol  motor,  it  is  already  near  solution,  but 
cheap  alcohol  from  farm  waste,  which  is  also  re¬ 
ceiving  his  attention,  is  a  harder  problem.  It  can 
be  solved,  if  he  is  willing  to  pay  the  price,  but  the 
price  will  surprise  Mr,  Ford.  There  is  au  idea  that 
farmers  were  misled  in  respect  to  cheap  alcohol,  hut 
the  only  trouble  was  that  the  law  was  20  years 
ahead  of  its  time.  Any  farmer  who  has  or  can 
buy  the  waste,  and  has  the  outfit  and  the  knowl¬ 
edge,  can  make  de¬ 
natured  alcohol.  Lots 
of  them)  h aye  the 
waste,  cheap  and  ef¬ 
ficient  outfits  will 
come  on  demand,  but 
the  skill  to  manage  a 
few  hundred  billion 
yeast  cells  so  as  to 
make  them  work  at  a 
profit  is  rather  more 
than  is  required  to 
make  a  profit  out  of 
fifty  cows.  But  it  is 
not  unattainable. 
Another  waste  which 
is  getting  a  lot  of  at¬ 
tention  is  the  waste 
liquors  from  the  wood- 
pulp  industry.  They 
grind  up  a  lot  of 
wood  in  these  mills 
every  day.  and  a 
good  half  of  it  goes 
into  solution,  and  this 
solution  is  ferment¬ 
able,  but  getting  yeast 
cells  to  live  and  work 
in  this  sulphite  waste 
is  no  easy  matter. 
There  are  those  who 
claim  they  are  doing 
it,  however,  and  others 
are  taking  any  sort  of 
waste  wood  and  cook¬ 
ing  it  with  acid  till  they  get  a  fermentable 
liquid.  But  they  have  their  troubles  also.  Ma¬ 
terials  which  are  starchy  or  sugary  in  their  nat¬ 
ural  state  are,  after  all  the  best  food  for  the  yeast 
cell,  and  these  are  wasted  every  year  by  the  ton. 
When  we  have  learned,  by  Mr.  Ford’s  help  or  other¬ 
wise,  to  use  these,  there  will  be  cheap  fuel  for  all 
the  motors.  But  like  pasteurizing  milk,  while  any¬ 
one  can  make  alcohol,  it  will  bo  made  cheapest  at 
central  cooperative  plants,  and  their  establishment 
will  probably  be  the  ultimate  solution  of  the  prob¬ 
lem  involved  In  the  production  of  industrial  al¬ 
cohol.  r.  d.  c. 
©>5<?  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
raised  in  this  State  to  a  point  outside  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  is  done  to  prevent  tne  Gorman  and  Belgian  hare, 
raised  in  captivity,  from  being  confused  with  the  same 
kind  of  animals  raised  in  a  wild  state,  which  wild  hares 
are  exclusively  under  the  control  of  the  game  laws,  not 
being  in  any  way  personal  property. 
The  Pennsylvania  Legislature  passed  this  law.  it 
seems  to  us  a  foolish  thing  to  do,  but  the  Game 
Commissioners  should  not  be  blamed  for  enforcing 
such  a  law  if  they  remain  in  office.  Why  should 
our  old  friend  the  Belgian  hare  lie  made  a  crim¬ 
inal?  Some  of  his  boomers  in  past  years  may  have 
deserved  a  cell  but  why  take  it  out  of  the  hare? 
Now  what  breed  of  rabbits  can  be  used  so  as  not 
to  draw  the  color  line? 
The  Rural  School  Question 
I  HAVE  read  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  and 
interest,  your  editorial  on  page  1424,  on  the  re¬ 
sult  of  the  late  election,  and  your  suggestions  as  to 
wlmt  should  be  done  next.  1  am  glad  to  see  your 
paper  offer  its  columns  and  its  power  and  influence 
for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers  of  this  State,  which 
is  characteristic  of  it. 
There  is  one  question  which  will  come  before  the 
Legislature  this  Winter,  that  is  of  vital  importance, 
not  only  to  the  farmers  of  the  State,  but  to  all  who 
have  the  education  of  the  children  in  this  State  in 
mind.  There  will  be  a  bill  presented  this  Winter, 
called  the  "Township  System  for  Schools.”  This 
question  has  been  before  the  Legislature  previously 
but  was  not  passed  because  of  the  opposition  that  it 
met  from  the  farmers.  For  the  past  two  years,  the  De¬ 
partment  of  Education  have  been  quietly  working 
among  the  rural  districts  to  convince  them  that  the 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Belgian  Hare 
* 
On  account  of  their  color,  the  marketing  of  Belgian 
or  German  rabbits  has  been  made  practically  prohibi¬ 
tive  by  the  game  laws  of  Pennsylvania.  Do  you  know 
of  any  other  breeds  that  compare  favorably  with  the 
Belgians  in  size,  hardiness,  etc.,  and  whose  color  bears 
no  resemblance  to  the  wild  rabbits?  A.  G. 
Pennsylvania. 
ON  application  to  the  Game  Commissioners  of 
Pennsylvania  this  law,  or  custom,  is  explained 
as  follows: 
Under  our  present  law  if  anyone  desires  to  sell  Ger¬ 
man  or  Belgian  hares  they  must  first  secure  a  propa¬ 
gating  license  costing  one  dollar,  and  tags,  costing 
three  cents  each,  to  be  attached  to  each  shipment  of 
hare  made,  said  tag  to  be  attached  to  shipments  of 
hare  as  made.  Further,  our  laws  forbid  the  shipment 
of  either  German  or  Belgian  hare  that  have  been 
A  Rural  School  at  Work.  Fig.  604 
township  system  would  be  a  good  thing  for  them. 
It  has  been  discussed  in  tlie  Grange,  all  over  the 
State,  and  the  majority  of  them  have  decided  that 
it  is  not  “for  the  best  good  of  the  most  people.” 
A  township  system  for  schools  may  be  a  good 
thing,  but.  it  should  be  a  vastly  different  law  from 
the  “Tallett  bill,”  which  was  introduced  in  March, 
1015,  referred  to  above.  The  Department  of  Educa¬ 
tion,  or  rather  the  present  Commissioner  of  Educa¬ 
tion.  has  one  idea  which,  if  carried  out,  would  work 
a  hardship  for  many  farmers,  viz.  the  elimination 
of  the  rural  schools.  It  is  his  desire  to  consolidate 
all  rural  schools  with  village  and  city  schools,  re¬ 
gardless  of  the  wishes  of  the  people.  He  became 
frightened  at  the  protest  that  went  up  all  over  the 
State,  and  wrote  and  had  introduced  the  Tallett 
lull,  which  if  passed,  would  make  it  still  easier  to 
do  away  with  the  rural  schools. 
The  State  Grange  made  a  fight  last  Winter  to 
have  the  education  law  changed,  but  started  it  too 
late  in  the  season  to  be  useful ;  I  hope  that  they  will 
take  it  up  again  and  tn  time  to  have  the  changes 
made  this  Winter.  With  the  above  idea  in  view 
1  would  like  to  join  that  “organization”  that  you 
mention  and  help  the  farmers  to  get  some  laws 
passed  that  will  be  for  their  benefit.  I  know  what 
you  did  for  the  farmers  in  the  “milk  strike,”  and 
your  past  record,  ant  hope  that  you  will  help  us  in 
this  great  question  of  rural  schools.  j.  o.  halt,. 
Soy  Beans  for  Hay  and  Silage 
A  Heavy  Yield  of  Fine  Feed 
I  HAVE  an  old  drained  swamp,  the  outlet  to  which 
is  too  small ;  a  six-inch  tile  where  I  should  have 
a  12.  In  the  Winter  this  swamp  frequently  fills  up 
with  water,  and  does  not  drain  out  until  too  late 
to  plant  corn.  That  was  the  case  last  Winter,  the 
water  finally  subsiding  in  June.  I  decided  to  risk 
planting  a  crop  in  it  about  that  time,  and  about 
July  first  was  able  to  plow  the  ground,  fit,  and  sow 
Soy  beans.  I  used  the  grain  drill  with  all  outlets 
open,  sowed  one  bushel  of  seed  per  acre  using  the 
Jet  variety,  a  dual  purpose  bean  which  matures 
early,  makes  good  hay  and  also  is  useful  for  grain 
if  desired.  The  crop  grew  as  well  as  could  be  ex¬ 
pected  when  you  consider  that  we  had  no  rain  at 
all  all  Summer. 
When  it  came  time  to  fill  the  silo  I  decided  to 
work  this  crop  in  with  the  corn.  I  sent  a  man  in 
t lie  day  before  we  started  running,  and  told  him  to 
mow  half  the  beans  down  and  rake  them  immediate¬ 
ly.  The  plot  contained,  at  a  guess,  four  acres,  and 
I  noticed  that  it  took  him  most  of  the  forenoon  to 
mow  and  rake  the  ground  and  when  lie  came  in  he 
said,  “Well,  I  got  them  cut  dowu  and  raked,  had  a 
terrible  time  raking,  there  sure  is  a  mess  of  beans 
('ll  that  ground.”  I  did  not  suppose  the  yield  would 
lie  very  heavy  because  tlie  plants  were  only  three 
feet  tall. 
When  we  filled  tlie  silo  I  had  two  teams  haul 
beans  and  six  teams  haul  com;  arter  running  for 
one  day  I  asked  my  man  if  he  had  better  mow 
down  the  other  half  of  beans  and  be  nearly  ex¬ 
ploded,  “If  yon  go  and  cut  the  rest  of  those  beans 
down  there  will  not 
be  any  room  for  corn 
in  your  silo.”  As  a 
matter  of  fact  we 
hauled  from  approxi¬ 
mately  two  acres  that 
he  cut  that  first  day, 
29  wagon! oads  of  the 
green  beans,  tlie  loads 
averaging  I  should 
think  about  one  ton 
each.  Considering  the 
fact  that  I  did  not 
finish  sowing  these 
beans  until  July  5th, 
I  think  the  yield  was 
excellent,  and  mixed 
in  with  the  corn  as 
we  did  it  has  made 
remarkably  nice  feed. 
The  other  half  of  the 
patch  we  cut  a  week 
or  so  later  for  hay.  I 
allowed  it  to  cure  out 
about  a  week  before 
attemptiug  to  liaul  and 
it  then  made  seven 
and  one-half  good- 
sized  loads  of  dry  hay. 
Probably  the  loads 
weighed  a  ton  each. 
We  bad  ideal  weath¬ 
er  for  curing  tlie  hay 
which  certainly  help¬ 
ed  but  when  we  feed 
it,  aside  from  the  fact  that  it  was  somewhat  more 
laxative  than  Alfalfa  hay  I  really  could  see  no  dif¬ 
ference  in  tlie  feeding  value,  and  the  yield  was  cer¬ 
tainly  gratifying.  chas.  b.  wing. 
Ohio. 
►SEAWEED  FOR  POTATOES.— Prof.  Massey, 
page  1203,  speaks  of  using  potash  with  tlie  seaweed 
for  the  potato  crop.  With  all  due  respect  for  Prof. 
Massey,  whose  writing  I  am  familiar  with  for  a 
great  many  years,  it  is  a  surprise  to  see  him  advis¬ 
ing  the  use  of  potash  where  seaweed  is  used  as  the 
fertilizer  for  the  potato  crop.  Seaweed  is  essen¬ 
tially  a  potassic  manure,  and  to  use  potash  iu  any 
form  with  it  is  pure  waste.  Seaweed  contains  three 
times  as  much  potash  as  the  best  barnyard  ma¬ 
nure,  liquid  all  saved  (and  three-quarters  of  the 
potash  is  in  the  liquid).  Seaweed  contains  six 
times  as  much  potash  as  it  does  nitrogen,  and  about 
12  times  as  much  phosphoric  acid,  its  chemical  anal¬ 
ysis  being  proportionately  2-1-12,  the  latter  being 
the  potash.  With  such  a  valuable  potassic  manure, 
why  then  use  additional  potash  for  potatoes  or  any 
other  crop?  T  agree  with  Prof.  Massey  in  that  sea¬ 
weed  is  such  a  splendid  manure  for  potatoes.  This 
year  our  potato  crop  was  grown  with  seaweed  for 
the  fertilizer,  and  the  crop  was  seldom  better  on 
this  farm.  J.  A.  Macdonald. 
Prince  Edward  Island. 
