Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1911 — Sugar From Dahlias. [ARTICLE]

Sugar From Dahlias.

Although the dahlia is grown solely for its beautiful flowers it is not impossible that one day it may be cultivated for the production of sugar. In its tubers, and also in the roots of chicory, there is from 8 to 11 per cent, of the stareh called inulln, the only raw material from which levulose, the little known fruit sugar, can be- produced economically in considerable quantities. At present the cost of production la so great that levuloae sells for a dollar a pound. Levulose is not only sweeter than ordinary sugar, but it is safe food for diabetics. Am a matter of fact it was as food product that the dahlia flrst was brought out of Mexico. It was thought that cattle would eat the tubers, but they refused point blank. So the dahlia sot Into the flower garden.