FOOD AS FUEL

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 200, 23 August 1919, Page 17

FOOD AS FUEL

?TuKl.\".. V'K OMi iTIVE< Y\ ITU I iKN. Acres* t:.c i. apt.-- ~; n.rar. fn«m the land* that imr iremMed bpr.palh the timndrr <■: jiuns or have fek the shork -p; hanlp. nrap? thp trr for food. Her? in Argentina we arc burning 11 as fuel—scores of Thousand? of tons of it. «rites a correspondent from RurnoAires in The "Daily Moil" of May 30. Wliilf Europe i- still on raticuis «t -.he bo?t or s-t-iirviiu: a: the worM. we generate steam with irrain. or make irar on" of it. and nobody sppm? t>l v ondor £T the moral iniquitT of the prex-rdurc. The Arsrn:iDC P.rpi:"'!i,' produces en-oiirn wheat and maize annually to pcrsnii thr export of pomrthlnc likr 4. r >rin.r , no ir>n« io c<:>unirir= thai Kstp "n =-hon for i :ir best ran of syr Tears. In bufT feafon. pTOTidpd conditions arr normal. ■«■• i-sd j-hip from our three grrain porv* of Buen'>? Aires, K.isari". and F.ahia Blanca anythinr -up to β-quarrtr of a million tons a '■we»'k. For ibp pa>l three tnonthF hardly a dozen ship? have loaded or unloads i a; r.urnn-. Aires-. Thr dock w ork.f rs ?-:ru<-k .v .Tanuarr. and then. a ; u-r : hrir priov-aiicc-f w?re all fupposed to have been frrtled. tb-pr ':.3r:rd a bovcoit of ---r-t-sin Rhip? and firre f . fbrn the local and oversea Fhipowneri- <i*clared a lock-om. Thr entire exportation oi sra:D durinr February iras ?nrr,r 150,00 D .ions ifrwm ouUying pon-«— scarcely a- Tvc-:-k"E siijtnent in other Bui thai if tot entirely ihe rea?on ■s-iiT v.r. ar? bumins the gTa : .n that ?hoiild be wrrt :o Europe. Arirpmine has no cva'. Bpfore and during thr war ?ihp "n'hat. supple? php ncedi] frnni England and the United Stales. When coal rose to orer £]<"> - -on in Bueno? Aires the and other fon?ran?rf to u?.e the nai.ive-srro'nn nardnood. For a :ime it na; reasonably cheap, bui afrrr r .hat it beoa-nie thp Fuhj*?i of exploitation nnd ppofiteerinc. and ro~? in value to £4 a Then another fuel had in be found. In iftif'.r :.arvc=rin™ operation.*, when mafhint :v is driven by s;rain. the fanners use wheat stTaw and maize cobs. ?-aTDpHody proposp-d maize oobe for ?ta:ior.ary and lor-omotire boiler?. T: -was tried -and found suocessfnl, tbo-iip:h. of c-ourse. it noi to " h f compared with ma] or '.vnod. bulk for bulk. From burning thp striped cob to sboTtllinp the tmshellaj maize into fur-nai-es wi? a ftpp. pfr>ecially >rben Xai-ure in -her b&un-tifulness made it ■impossible for the corn in rise in value by exhaustion l>l ?upplie?. a? in tie case of wood: To-day the price of maize, harvest?d by the" farmer, is stunetliing like 3 f. per 100 kilogrammes iroujrMy. Scvnt). That is ior the un?b«Hed "corn on the cob." as our American friends -would say. To shell it doe? not pay: far better t-o srl] :t at 35/ a ton for fueL