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POWER ALCOHOL: ITS POSITION AND PROSPECTS. 
so perfectly done that fewer potatoes are left than when the digging . 
_is done by hand, . Not being an agriculturist, I mention these matters 
with some diffidence. 
The position as regards molasses, a by-product of sugar manufacture; 
appears not to have greatly changed since the publication of the report - 
of the Power-Alcohol Committee in 1918; that is, that the greater part 
of the molasses produced in Australia is still being allowed to run to 
waste. In Cuba, in 1917, it was worth 73d. per gallon for shipment to 
the United States, where it is used for the manufacture of alcohol. As 
it costs 35s. per ton to transport to its destination, its value in the 
United States of America was about £7 per ton, and the price is steadily 
rising, as its value for cattle food is being more widely appreciated. 
At its present price there, it is no cheaper for the manufacture of 
alcohol than is maize. In the committee’s report its value is stated as 
being about 25s. to 30s. per ton. It seems remarkable that so large a 
quantity of a valuable produce should continue to be allowed to run to 
waste, especially as there is in the Commonwealth such a famine in 
methylated spirit that many industries are severely handicapped. ; 
In the committee’s report many vegetable products are mentioned as 
probably suited for cheap raw materials for the production of ‘alcohol. 
Unfortunately, these are still only suggestions, as little or nothing has 
been done in the way of making practical tests. I think it doubtful 
whether any of the crops mentioned will be used, to any great extent, for 
the manufacture of alcohol, for the simple reason that they woud have a 
higher value for food purposes, and would, therefore, be used as food, or 
for other purposes for which starches and saccharine materials are 
more valuable than raw materials for the production of alcohol. 
There remains yet another source of alcohol to which some cou-— 
sideration may be given, and that is saw-mill waste; its production from 
that base has attracted much attention, and the process in use has been 
known for many years, yet there were in 1917 only two establishments 
in the United States in which it is used, and in those two establishments 
an immense amount of money has been sunk. 
The figures given as being the cost of production are remarkably 
low, yet I believe that they are perfectly correct. Possibly. the prohibi- 
tion campaign may have had something to do with the non-expansive 
condition of the industry, as the very great technical difficulties ineident 
to the process had only just been overcome when I had the opportunity 
of visiting one of the distilleries using mill waste in 1917. The process can 
only be worked under special conditions, one of which is that the waste 
must be available at a very low cost, and in very large quantities. Soft- 
wood only is considered suitable, as the yield from hardwood is said to 
be too low to pay. Sawdust proved to be unsuitable, as there was diffi- 
culty in extracting the saccharine matter after it had been formed by 
treatment with acid. Hogged wood, or chips from planing machines, is 
used. These are subjected to a mechanical crushing process, by which’ 
the grain is opened up, then put into rotary converters, which are strong 
iron cells lined with acid-proof bricks, jointed by a special cement. 
Each converter takes about seven cords of wood. The wood contains 
nearly 50 per cent. of moisture, so the charge is equal to about 4 tons of 
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