Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-09-12
Sugar from the Chinese Cane Question
GENERALIZATION SfslIed.

Sugar from the Chinese sane-Qwestion
OF Disqualification Settled
] We have seen 1t stated that rot less than
hundred thousand acres have been Devoted
j to Chinese sugar CANE in this county lie
present season. The experiment of mapu-
featuring sugar ahd molasscs from it, there
fore, will be tried on a scale sufficiently large
to determine the whole question of its value
for such purposes. There are fields of it in
every State and Territory of the Union, aud
! FROM various quarters, both at the North and
! the South, We hear that tie crop is approach
ing maturity, and that preparations are be-
ing made to manufacture sugar. 1t has
been extensively planted in our own State,
and some specimens which have fallen un
der our notice exhibit an extraordinary
growth. A gentleman from Champaign coun-
ty left several thrifty stalks with us yestcr-
day from ten to twelve feet in height, which
were full of juice, that to the taste was as
rich in saccharne matter as that of the pro-
per sugar cane, and of most delicious favor.
We have not the least doubt that it would
yield a superior article of sugar. We are
also in possession of several stalks fully ten
! feet in height from the garden of Mr.. II. o..
Stone, on the lake shore.
But while the grand experiment Of sugar
growing in the temperate attitudes approach
es its elimination, multitudes are still in
doubt whether pure, we'll crystalized sugar
can be made from the juice Of the Chinese
sugar cane. For ourselves, the evidence
IN the affirmative is entirely conclusive on
this point Such is the verdict Of the hest
French chemists, whose testimony has been
recently communicated to the Patent Office,
and will be given to the public in the forth
coming report Of the Commissioner Some
Of the results O. those experiments have al
ready appeared in the press, and others are
lying before us now, from which we propose
to gather a few additional facts.
One class of chemists, among whom is
/ DR.. jackson of Boston, have assumed as
the result of the result Of their haatJ exper-
iments, that only glucose, Or grape sugar,
could be made from The juice Of the sor-
ghum but mere careful and thorough inves-
legations show thai the greater portion of it's
saecharine matter is crystalizable. NJ He-
i
fable sugar pre-exists in the cane, and that
the formation of glucose sugar sonly owing
to the action of tie suits contained IN the Il
quid during the manufacturing process. -
BE it as it may continues the report, lit
is certain that the greater portion of the sac.
charine matter Of the JUICE is crystalizahle,
and may be obtained in the state of crystals
if, after rapid boiling aud fltering, the clear
fluid be quickly evaporated, the latter ope-
ration :nqing condition of absolute necessi-
sty liz sugar making, as, by sloY boiling at a
Temperature of 2lG degrees, or even expos
ed for considerable time to temper allure
below the boiling point, glucose may be
formed from the purest crystalized sugar
/ dissolved! in water. On the contrary, if the
concentrated solution Of sugar be heated be-
yond $50 degrees F.. It updargoes altera-
ton, and is changed atleast in:part, into un-
crystalizable sugar, or saccharlIe .mueilage. !"
Mr.. Wray of London, who is now III at
tendance upon the National Fair at Louis
yi,is, and WHO has, perhaps, more expert
M ntal knowledge upon the subject than any
other man in the would, is quoted as coed
authority by the commissioner on the cues
ton of specialization, and we presume thai
the experiments which he is now making
from day to day viii be equally conclusive
upon the public mind lie has devoted
years to the subject, pursuing his inyestiga-
lions in Africa and France, as well as this
ooaatry during the present season, and has
obtained patent for his process of sugar
making in England.
Assuming, then, that superior sugar can
be made from the juice of the sorghum, il is
hardly possible to exaggeraie Its importance
as an addition to the crops Of the temperate
iatitIles Its value was discovered at just
tic. period when the culture Of the sugar
cane at the South had become partial fail
ure, and when also the general consumption
of sugar began to outrun production. The
world demanded that by some means, if pos
sible. the supply should be increased, and in
response to that demand, as if by Progidon-
tial arrangement, the country was supplied
with the seed of the Sorghum and the I'M
phee, from which we are to have our first
harvest Of free labor sug2r, ,It;s a great e.
vent in the political economy of our country,
If net of the world. We pay out annually
many millions of dollars for foreign sugar,
NE crop of Louisiana at best meeting but
fraction of the demand. Last year it was
estimated that the nation consumed not ,ess
than 700 600. 600 pounds, and this amount,
vast as it is, must continually increase if
supply can be obtained. In the Chinese SUI
gar cane we are nov co1hdent~we have the
source of an almost unbounded supply. It
viii flourish everywhere in the Union, and
can be raised at the West as easily and
choaply as corn. Where, then, shall we fix
. The limits Of its culture save in the demand
Tor sugar and molasses? The praircs of Il
linois, besides growing ali the breadstuHfs
they do now, might almost supply tue mar
kets of the world with those articles We
shall he content, however, for the next two
or three years, with enough of each to meet
the home demand The business car be in
definitely extended thereafter. Il Chicago
Press.
Vermont Electi0H.