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1 THE SUN, NEWBtJRRY, S. C, APRIL 23, 1943 Once Poor Wastelands Now Yield Profitable Products; ► Use Farm Crops in Plastics Chemurgy Opens Industry to Agriculture; Urge Production of Many New Plants. facture of butadiene for synthetic rubber. Petroleum refineries em ploy it as a solvent. Walnut shells act as fillers in many types of plastics. They are used for the making of large cast molds in forming or stamping large alumi num airplane sections. Appreciable quantities of walnut shell flour are fillers in various rubber products. This flour contains “cutin,” a wax like substance of waterproof char acter. Revive Castor Planting “The proportion of usable wealth to be derived from an acre’s production is becoming larger. Chemurgy has meant maximum utilization of maximum production. It has insisted that ways be found to use the high as well as the low values of the harvest— the stalk as well as the grain, the shell as well as the kernel, the weed as well as the crop.” With those words, Wheeler McMillen, president of the National Farm Chemurgic Council, describes the revolutionary effect chemurgy promises to have on agriculture. With a national pur chasing power to support the new products of this industry, farm ers will not only be obtaining additional income from standard crops, but they will derive revenue from the use of the vast sub marginal lands now lying waste. Loss of territory and reductions of shipping have cut off importation of many products formerly received from other countries. The impor tance of these products to our econ omy, and the possibility that we may be deprived of them for sub stantial periods, has led to a move ment for the cultivation of these products here at home. As a result of these movements, it has been learned that many of these products were raised in this country many years ago, but gradu ally were abandoned as domestic growers found it hard to compete The castor plant’s beans (inset) contain valuable oil—for medicine and industry. Yield per acre varies according to soil. Dandelions, milkweeds and cat tails—all of these, and many more, were once considered the useless and even pestiferous embroidery of the lonely plains. But today they have been proven to have real com mercial value. Although American experiments with the dandelion have not been as extensive as those in Russia, efforts are being made here to convert the latex of this colorful little plant into rubber. In this field, we were con cerned with the guayule shrub, and although the project later was aban doned because of the steady flow of natural rubber from the Indies, it has now been revived in the sandy Southwest. But if we have lagged in our de velopment of the dandelion, not so with the milkweed or the cattails. Milkweed Yields Fiber According to Dr. Boris Berkman, milkweed produces two fibers. A pioneer in milkweed development, Dr. Berkman says one fiber is tubu lar with an air chamber. It is 58 per cent alpha cellulose, 20 per cent lignin and is covered with a vege table wax of a high melting point. This fiber is found in the pod. Known as milkwood floss, the fiber is buoyant, has a high insula tion value and promises to be valu able for soundproofing material. Dr. Berkman predicts its use in life pre servers; life jackets; aviator suits combining insulation value for high atmosphere with buoyancy in case of a landing in water; sleeping bags; mattresses; pillows; and surgical dressings. The other fiber of the milkweed is found in the outer layer of the stalk. In different species of the plant, it represents between 10 and 20 per cent in weight of the entire stalk. Known as Bast, this fiber has a great tensile strength, and the high alpha cellulose content of 92 per cent. Dr. Berkman says that studies show that Bast fiber ranks second to manila hemp in breaking and tensile strength. Running about three-fourths of an inch in length, the fiber is soft, pliable and much finer in texture. It has good possi bilities for use as textile. Seventy-two per cent of the milk weed found growing wild in Michi gan was on No. 4 subnarginal land. Approximately 85 per cent of milk weed seed germinates. In experi ments last year, milkweed pickers earned from four to seven dollars a day, and they included women and children. The tall, somber cattail that stands silently in the marshes today may soon be the base for a flourish ing industry. In experiments con ducted under the direction of C. F. Burgess, noted chemist, this lowly plant was found to have high heat insulating, sound absorption and wa ter resistant properties. According to Mr. Burgess, the floss of the cattail can be produced at a cost competitive with cotton. About 140 man-hours of labor are needed From corncobs chemicals. to collect and process 50,000 spikes a day. These spikes yield 1,500 pounds of cattail floss. Location of plants close to the marshes where the plants abound would trim operat ing costs. Belladonna Is Medicinal The Belladonna, whose reddish bell-shaped flowers and shining black berries ornament the fields, contains medicinal properties which make cultivation of the plant both useful and profitable. Dr. Alex Laurie of Ohio State uni versity points out that Belladonna is one of a number of plants whose tops and roots yield alkaloids that prevent gripping of irritant cathar tics, relax muscles and decrease secretions. One of the alkaloids— scopolamine—is among the most satisfactory materials used in child birth. According to Dr. Laurie, bella donna thrives in acid soils. All shade must be eliminated if the quality of the plant is to be retained. A 30-inch spacing between rows and 12 inches in the row required 17,500 plants and produced as high as 1,000 pounds of dry material per acre in cultivations at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment station. It was found that high nitrogen and phosphorus are necessary to secure higher yields, but the alkaloid content was not increased proportionately. Harvesting and drying demand knowledge of plant growth and ade quate equipment. Dr. Laurie says. Since usually three crops may be secured per season, the plants must not be cut down to the ground. It is in the field of plastics that chemurgy has made such great strides in utilizing the product of the farm in industry. From cotton linters chemurgy has produced cellulose acetate, a mold ing and extrusion material in the form of sheets, rods and tubes, and also ethyl cellulose, an excellent elastic plastic when used with other agents. From skim milk, casein is derived. Buttons, synthetic wool, felt hats and bonded plywood are all products of casein. Oat hulls, nut shells and corncobs have a ready use in plastics. When the war created an acute shortage of formaldehyde, chemurgists ob tained furfuraldehyde from oat hulls and corncobs. Furfural is used in phenolic resin and also in the manu- with the cheap labor of other coun tries. The case of castor beans is an example. Oil from these beans serves a variety of important pur poses, as a medicine as we all know, but also as a hydraulic liquid, lubri cant, demulsifier, tanner and pre server and insecticide. In 1860, castor beans were grown commercially in the Midwest. There was a pressing plant for the beans in Kansas. But when we began im porting castor beans from India and Brazil, our own industry died out. The location of India in the war zone and the shortage of ship ping to Brazil has led to a bean shortage that has prompted the movement for resuming castor bean cultivation here. Under the impetus of the depart ment of agriculture, a castor bean seed production program has been designed to build up a stockpile of approximately three million pounds of pure variety castor beans for plantings. Texas, Oklahoma, Kan sas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana are the eight states that will share in the pro gram. In recent experiments, Dr. W. L. Burlison of the agriculture depart ment of the University of Illinois discovered that certain types of cas tor beans would produce profitable crops when grown in the right soil and climate. A bean that yielded 475 pounds per acre in one section of the state, yielded 1,748 pounds in another section. It has been point ed out that in this country beans would have to be planted each year and harvested before frost. In Bra zil, the plant is a perennial, with blossoms and mature beans growing on the stalk at the same time. Cascara and digitalis are found in the forests and mountains of the Northwest Pacific area. Over six million pounds of cascara bark year ly are obtained in Washington and Oregon. With a value of $1,250,000, this crop is gathered from wild growth and cultivated groves. Digi talis leaves are also picked from native and planted patches in the same states. Sage, coriander and anise thrive' in the Northwest, but the large amount of hand labor needed for the care of these crops has proven a discouraging factor. The work of thinning and weeding these crops conflicts with the same type of labor in the sugar beet fields. NAZIS LEAVE EXPLOSIVE SOUVENIRS BEHIND “Soldiers who pick up attractive looking objects on the battlefield never make the same mistake twice.” This grim precept of war is being strongly re-emphasized in the train ing of our troops by order of Lieut. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, command ing general of army ground forces. The news that booby-traps were being employed extensively by the enemy in North Africa came as so surprise to army training officers, for intensive training in booby-trap detection and destruction has been part of the basic training program for many months. However, the army is making sure that every spe cific lesson learned in the front lines is being hammered home in train ing. Booby-traps by the thousand, and in many different forms, are being left behind by the retreating Ger mans, and are .being -dropped from enemy planes behind our own lines. They are usually in the form of fountain pens, watches, attractively colored balls, fat wallets, and simi lar objects. No possibility is overlooked by the enemy. Even a whistle was found to contain a booby-trap. When the whistle is blown, the vibrating pea hits the striker, causing the explo sion. The small charge is in the body of the whistle, and is exploded by a striker and cap. TERNS SEWONG CMRCLE 8364 36-52 Deceptive, Smart Spring Beauty. TAT'HAT a cute figure will a two ' ’to six year old cut in this en semble. The frock is all prettied up with scalloped bodice, buttons and rickrack trimming. The but ton-down bonnet and matching panties are also very gay with rickrack edging. Pattern No. 8357 Is In sizes 2. 3. 4, 5 and 6 years. Size 3 ensemble takes 3 1 ,* yards 39-inch material. pOUNDS thinner and inches tall- * er—that’s what this .smart frock will make you look. It was thought up by a top-flight designer who wanted her style to be as decep tive as it was smart! Just look at all the good points—the crisp white vestee, the beautiful han dling of the bodice, the slimming skirt and the attractive styling of the belt. • • • Pattern No. 8364 is in sizes 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 4€. 48, 50 and 52. Size 38 takes, with % sleeves, 4% yards 39-inch material. % yard for contrasting vestee. Due to an unusually large demand and current war conditions, slightly more time is required in filling orders for a few of the most popular pattern numbers. Send your order to: SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT. 530 South Wells St. Chicago. Room 1958 Enclose 20 cents in coins for each pattern desired. Pattern No Size........ Name ••• Address O— ft- O* O- <v. (v. (t. \ ASK ME o! ? ANOTHER [ \ | A General Quiz " | * Questions 1. What is the chemical symbol for silver? 2. Who defeated Horace Gree ley when he ran for President on the Liberal Republican and Demo cratic tickets? 3. What is the approximate weight of a gallon of water? 4. A person with hyperopia is said to be what? 5. The science of matter and motion is called what? 6. What is the approximate width of the Strait of Gibraltar at its narrowest point? 7. Starting at the equator, how long does it take the sun to rotate on its axis? Answers 1. Silver’s chemical symbol is ag, 2. Grant. 3. Eight pounds. 4. Far-sighted. 5. Physics. 6. Eight and one-half miles. 7. Twenty-five days. I ST. CHOICE-MILLIONS St. Joseph aspirin I WORLD S LARGEST SELLER AT 10 Always Right No one but a fool is always right. —Hare. FOR QUICK RELIEF cARBOI L A Soothing Q A I \i P ANTISEPTIC W k W Ei Used by thousands with satisfactory re sults for 40 years—six valuable ingredi* ents. Get Carboil at drug stores or writo Spurlock-Ncal Co., Nashville, Tcxm. SHAVE w*h SHELBY, High-Strung Goat Drops In Faint When Surprised An odd kind of goat found in Tennessee, whose origin has never been determined, baffles scien tists. A sudden clap of hands, a yell or the unexpected sight of a person will cause these goats to collapse in a faint! They roll over frozen in unconscious rigidity for 10 seconds to 1% minutes. Then they arise and become their nor mal selves again. But once these highly strung goats—victims, probably, of hered itary nervous abnormalities—have fallen into “trances,” they cannot soon be frozen again. From an old French word “mes” derived from the Latin word “mis sus” meaning a course at a meal, comes the Army’s name “mess” for its breakfast, dinner and sup per. Favorite meal with the soldier is chicken dinner—his favorite cigarette, Camel. (Based on actual sales records from service men’s own stores.) A carton of Camels, by the way, is a gift that’s always welcome. And though there are Post Office restrictions on pack ages to overseas Army men, you can still send Camels to soldiers in the U. S., and to men in the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard wherever they are.—Adv. Stretch ^ In addition to serving Kellogg's Com Flakes for breakfast, and as' 'meatless meals,'' use them to extend your meat. In meat loaves, hamburgers, casserole dishes, etc., they blend perfectly with meat flavors. Recipes are on the Kellogg's Com Flakes package. SAVE TIME-WORK-FUEL-OTHER FOODS, TOOI IN THE * RANGERS * they say: “CAT CRAWL* for an advance hugging the ground “BUSHMASTERS* for Rangers trained in the Caribbean area for tropic jungle-fighting "MINSTREL SHOW" for an attack at night with faces blacked up “CAMEL" for the Army man’s favorite cigarette fl*ST IN THC SEX VICE The favorite cigarette with men m die Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard is Camel. (Based on actual sales records in Canteens and Post Exchanges,) Camel COSTLIER TOBACCOS