The following table summarises the approximate annual quantities of alcohol produced by the larger countries, with the principal raw materials employed.

Average for the five years 1909-1913.

* 3 years' average.

Belgium and Holland each produce about 7} million gallons.

In France, approximately one-half of the total quantity is obtained from sugar-beets, and one-sixth from molasses. About one-sixth also is produced from wine and fruits. The remainder is supplied by potatoes and other starch-bearing materials. In the year 1912 about 12 1/2 million gallons were used for heating and lighting, and 4 millions for making explosives.

In the United States, the bulk of the alcohol produced was derived from grain, chiefly maize, but an appreciable proportion is obtained from molasses. According to A. M. Breckler,1 the total molasses available in the States and Cuba would suffice to produce about 67 million gallons (Imp.) of alcohol. At the price of 5 cents per U.S. gallon for molasses, alcohol could be produced from this

1 J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 1917, 9, 612, material at about 10 cents per U.S. proof gallon, equivalent to Is. per Imperial gallon at 100 per cent, strength. The average price of alcohol from maize during the five years prior to 1917 was 17.5 cents per U.S. proof gallon. From the point of view of the use of alcohol as a motor fuel, maize spirit is too expensive, and the total amount obtainable from molasses would represent only about 5 per cent. of the country's requirements of motor fuel.

Germany, it will be noticed, is, after Russia, the largest producer of alcohol, with more than three times the quantity made in this country. A large proportion, however, roughly one-fourth of the whole, is used in heating and lighting, for which purposes in the United Kingdom cheaper petroleum and gas are available. In Germany, the alcohol-distilling industry, instead of being concentrated into a few hands as in this country, is a very widespread one. In fact, the distillery is often an appanage of the farm or the small holding. The total number of distilleries is more than 70,000. Five-sixths of the number, however, are very small " farm ' distilleries producing alcohol from fruit, and with an average output of only about 10 to 20 gallons yearly. There are more than 6,000 larger farm distilleries with an average yearly output of rather less than 1000 gallons each, producing alcohol from grain. The great bulk of the German alcohol, about four-fifths of it, is, however, obtained from potatoes. Most of the distilleries employed in this branch of the industry - approximately 6,000 - are also agricultural distilleries.

The German distilleries are divided into three classes, which are accorded certain differences of treatment in the matter of taxation. There are first, " industrial distilleries " (gewerbliche Brennereien), carried on by individuals or companies solely for manufacturing purposes. Secondly, there are "agricultural distilleries" (land-wirthschaftliche Brennereien); these use as raw materials potatoes or grain grown on the owners' farms, or on the farms of one or more of the owners if the distillery belongs to a co-operative organisation. "Material distilleries" (material-Brennereien) form the third class; they are the very small concerns which use fruits, berries, wine lees, and the marcs of grapes for their raw materials. By far the greater proportion of the spirit made in Germany is produced by the second group - the "agricultural" distilleries.

In the interests of agriculture, the production of alcohol from potatoes has all along been fostered by the State. The residual product from the distillation is valuable as a feeding stuff and fertiliser, and the agrarian interests have urged that without the distilling industry as ancillary to their agricultural operations large tracts of light soils in the eastern provinces could not profitably be cultivated. The situation is now, however, becoming complicated by the threatened competition of alcohol from calcium carbide, wood waste, and sulphite liquors.

The subjoined abstract of a United States publication gives a useful resume of the steps taken to foster the industry.

Abstract of U.S.A. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin

No. 182. Professional Paper. - " Agricultural Alcohol:

Studies of its Manufacture in Germany"

By E, Kremers, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1916.

1. Introduction. - Up to 1840, the alcohol industry in Germany was based on the use of cereals, and was developed mainly in the towns. With the expansion of. the cultivation of potatoes - which give a larger yield of starch per acre than cereals - the distillation of alcohol became largely an agricultural industry. The agricultural significance of this development is as follows: -

(a) All the ingredients taken by the potatoes from the soil are returned to the soil.

(b) The spent mash is an important feed for cattle.

(c) The introduction of potatoes into the rotation of crops has made possible larger yields of cereals.

(d) The farmer has been able to convert the unstable potato crop into a stable product which may be held as a surplus stock for several years.

2. Mash capacity taxes, 1820 and 1868. - Up to 1820, the tax was levied on the still; this was replaced in Prussia and other North German States by a mash-capacity tax. In 1868 this tax was extended to all States in the North German Federation.

3. Taxes on the finished products, 1887. - In 1887, a tax was levied on the finished product, when disposed of, in addition to the mash-capacity tax. The second tax was higher than the first, and was graduated according to the quantity of spirit produced. A certain amount (Kontingent) supposed to equal the consumption for beverage purposes was taxed at the rate of 2s. Id. per gallon. The surplus ( Ueberkontingent) was taxed at the rate of 2s. 11d. per gallon. Alcohol used for industrial purposes was not affected by this legislation, since the tax paid was refunded (see below). After this Act came into force denatured alcohol became as free as any other commercial commodity, and its price was lowered. The result was that the quantity of industrial alcohol used was about doubled in one year.