Production of butylene glycol. Dr. George E. Ward turns a valve in one of the experimental fermentation vats in which corn is being converted into butylene glycol at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Peoria, Illinois. This is part of the laboratory work that led to the development of a fermentation process for converting corn and other grains into butylene glycol on a semi-commercial scale. Butylene glycol can be used in making anti-freeze for automobiles and in the production of commercial solvents for various manufacturing purposes. Department scientists have succeeded on a laboratory scale in turning butylene glycol into butadiene, from which synthetic rubber can be made. Now they are trying to do it on a semi-commercial scale