Chemurgicians

A notable group of U. S. industrialists, journalists, chemists and farm experts gathered in Dearborn, Mich, just a year ago to sign a "Declaration of Dependence Upon the Soil and of the Right of Self-Maintenance." This curious document was presented for signature by Francis Patrick Garvan, flag-waving head of the Chemical Foundation, was duly signed in Henry

Ford's reproduction of Philadelphia's Independence Hall to the accompaniment of the Fordson High School band. For publicity purposes the meeting was called "The First Dearborn Conference of Agriculture, Industry and Science." Official sponsor was "The Farm Chemurgic Council." In spite of the dense pall of propaganda that overhung the affair, the assembled Chemurgicians managed to put on record a considerable body of worthwhile information about agriculture-for-industry.

Last week the Chemurgicians assembled for their second Dearborn conference. More than 1,200 representatives turned up for the three-day session, about four times as many as last year. Indeed, the conference had to be transferred from the Dearborn Inn to the Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit. Next to Henry Ford, the most distinguished guest was Heber J. Grant, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I am here to learn," said that venerable Mormon leader.

Mr. Grant and Mr. Ford hit it off splendidly. After a preliminary luncheon Mr. Ford, full of ideas about soy beans which he raises and puts into his cars in large quantities, tossed off a few quotations for the Press. "The plastic field is the greatest in the industrial world today," said the aging motor manufacturer. "The farm will furnish the automobile body of the future."

The conference itself was conspicuous for its lack of New Deal animosity. A good many sessions were devoted to familiar Chemurgician products like soy beans, tung oil (for paint), Jerusalem artichokes (for alcohol), slash pine (for paper). A "Pioneer Cup" was awarded to Leo Hendrik Baekeland, father of the plastic industry (Bakelite), though that aging chemist did not bother to come out of his Florida retirement to receive it in person. Mr. Garvan delivered his usual harangue in favor of blending alcohol with gasoline. But most of the speakers were either technical experts or working vice presidents of corporations in the organic chemistry field, and they stuck to their subjects. Some Chemurgician subjects:

Oats, unlike wheat or corn, go to market firmly encased in hulls. The hull is used to make furfural, a chemical resembling formaldehyde. Furfural may also be produced from such things as corncobs, sunflower seeds and old leaves, but oat hulls are available in large quantities at convenient places and the furfural yield is high. Three big uses for furfural are in plastics, in refining lubricating oils, in purification of wood rosin.

While working on the hull, oat millers have also discovered curious outlets for the groats in addition to breakfast food. Oats are good for the skin and tend to preserve other foods. Special oat flour is used in soap, cosmetics, facials, sunburn preparations. Potato chips and nuts dusted with oat flour are supposed to stay fresh longer. Lard containing 5% oat flour keeps better than pure lard. A small amount of oat flour in coffee preserves the aroma. Chief objection to oat flour is that the improvement in the quality of the treated food is not great enough to overcome processors' fear of being accused of adulteration. Hence the oat millers have devised packaging paper coated with oat flour.

Cotton. Nearly 1,000 miles of cotton-reinforced asphalt road will be laid in the U. S. this summer in a demonstration backed by the Federal Government. Asphalt-with-cotton needs less maintenance than ordinary bituminous road surfacing, the fabric preventing cracking, water seepage, minimizing heaving when frost comes out of the ground. Eight to ten bales of cotton are required for each mile of road. If all bituminous resurfacing were done with cotton, a market for some 400,000 bales would be provided annually. Latest development in cotton is an experiment in converting the entire plant-boll, pod, leaves and stem-into cellulose.

Corn, About 2,000,000 acres of prime farm land are required to supply the 60,-000,000 bu. of corn consumed annually by corn refiners. Chief products are 600,000,000 Ib. of starch, 400,000,000 Ib. of sugar, 1,000,000,000 Ib. of syrup. There are also innumerable corn specialties and byproducts. Corn refining has been a well-established industry for more than half a century, yet the annual grind last year was only 50% larger than in 1906. "These figures offer a sobering thought in our program of promoting the consumption of agricultural goods by industry," observed Vice President Morris Sayre of Corn Products Refining Co. "There are encouraging indications that the future will bring more rapid progress, but I do not believe this nation should be led to expect industrial miracles which would suddenly gobble up more agricultural goods than the farmer can produce."

Cork. The U. S. imports virtually all its cork, though the cork oak thrives in California, where it grows about twice as fast as it does around the Mediterranean. What has deterred Californians from boosting cork is the fact that the bark is not stripped from the cork oak for commercial purposes until the tree is 35 years old. San Francisco's Emory R. Smith said last week that, when he was faculty head of Stanford University's Agricultural Research School, he tried to persuade Founder Leland Stanford to plant 1,000 acres of his grant to cork oaks to provide the institution with future income. But 35 years looked like too long a time to the old Californian who had gained a fortune in short order from Southern Pacific R. R. "Had these cork oak trees been planted, as suggested," Mr. Smith declared last week, "they would, with reasonable care, now be yielding a revenue to Stanford University of from $200,000 to $300,000 per year, and the U. S. would be on its way to independence in cork production."

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