PART 111. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN CHEMISTRY IN THE SOUTH Foreword H. E. How, EolTon, Indlrstrial and Engineering Chemistry Increased chemical activity in the South has followed naturally the diversity of products resulting from an appreciation of natural resources, favorable climatic conditions, and a satisfactory labor supply which characterizes the southern states. The new industries which have sprung up in the South have been those which reach their highest development when chemistry is applied. These are also industries which offer the greatest opportunity for further development, directly in proportion to the emphasis placed upon research by them. The following discussions, prepared by specialists, afford examples of what chemistry, when given adequate support and opportunity, can accomplish in the southern states. They will also suggest further possible applications resulting in increased employment of labor and capital, with its resultant addition to the wealth of the region. The recent development of chemistry in the South has not been confined to the mere transplanting of chemical processes developed elsewhere to this virgin industrial soil. New things have been accomplished, examples of which are to be found in the naval stores industry, the electro-chemical industries centering in Anniston, Ala., the progress made in the utilization of various clay and mineral resources, the prospect of better papers from longleaf pine, utilization of the by-products of the cane-sugar industry, and the projects that have accompanied the increasing application of science and technology to natural gas and petroleum. We have not been accustomed for many years to looking a t southern resources through chemical eyes, but now that we have begun to do so, there is reason to expect increased activity. This is not expected to result in mushroom growth and immature development, but rather in those substantial additions to the equipment and productivity of communities which result from careful preliminary surveys, thorough-going research. and adequate tests on semi-commercial scales before full-sized plants are undertaken. This type of work will mean not only close cooperation between existing industries, consulting laboratories, and educational institutions, but the development, near the problem, of facilitiesrepresented by reference libraries and adequate research laboratories, which, in the environment of the problem, would seem to be the best method of finding a satisfactory solution with minimum effortand outlay. 2353
