The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, April 23, 1943, Image 9
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