"STRATFORD EVENING POST" FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1929. FARMERS AND RESEARCH.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 45, 28 June 1929, Page 4

"STRATFORD EVENING POST" FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1929. FARMERS AND RESEARCH.

THE farmer who has long been sitting upon the legislative doorstep is now peering through the laboratory window in search of farm relief, says the Christian Science Monitor. He has begun to believe that the chemist, as well as the legislator, may discover thy solution to his problems. He is becoming convinced that a new vapour in a, test tube presents far ; more promise than the mirage which oftentimes arises from political conferences. This conviction was strongly expressed by Louis J. Taber, master of the National Grange. SpeaKing before .the American Chemical Society at its Columbus conventi.ni, Mr Taber declared that chemical research offered a more permanent solution of tliQ agricultural problems than any measures which Congress might adopt. He was repeating wha.t researchers themselves have beiieved for some time —that discovery of new and important industrial uses for farm products will transform the present vexing overproduction into a liigmy profitable surplus. The role which the chemist will play in the future of agriculture is indicated by the results of research that has oeen J progressing quietly behind the doors ! of the Nation's laboratories. The kernel of corn has yielded fifty different products; the humble corncob is transformed into phonograph records of paint remover. Dozens of promade into paper. Dozens of products have been made for cotton seeds, ranging from soap to artificial leather. Door knobs and wall paper can be produced from sour milk. Fruit pits reappear as'cKarconl. And yet the chemist insists that this is only the beginning of such thi'Jgs. Most of the research in this field lias been for the purpose of eliminating I waste. The chemist has seen the | tremendous volume of farm material ' that was of no apparent worth and j has proceeded to find a way of -turning it into something which the world can use. The next step appears to he | the development of basic, industrial j uses for farm products as" well as. for i farm by-products. It envisages the

ture will operate primarily for tlic production of raw material for industry. Meanwhile the chemist .has also been turning his attention to the solution of many oFthe farmers' technical promblems. Engineers are busy studying standardisation, production costs and the improvement of distribution methods. All this may offer no immediate panacea, but it is the sort of thing.-upHm which future pro--2W is bated. Ths> farmer who flunks otherwise may profitably reflect upon the simple fact that the cream separator—which has reduced his labour and increased his profits—was developed as the direct result of a classroom experiment hy a professor of physics.