The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1857-02-26

.,rHE cnINEsIs. .sUcAR-cANE.

1.-THE CHINESE s'sUGAR-CANE.
We. have received the following COM
.smunication from the Commissioner Of
Patents.
s.i,aoiaUSirEp STATES PATENT OFFrcE,
8 sss7sin February Sd, 1857.
Eslitor Ohio Farmer, i,
80 Sra This new plant seems to be des-
tined TO take 90 importantpesitiona among
our economical products. Its seeds were
ssept. some six years ago from the north
sef China, by NJ. de Montigny, to the
: Geographical Society Of Paris. From
cursory examination Of a small field of
1t, growing atVerrieres, in France, in the
sautumn of j A, Mn d. j. Browne, then
on mission from this office for collecting
agricultural information and products,
was led TO infer, that, from the peculiari-
ty Of the Innate in which twas growing,
and its resemblance in appearance and
hi bits to Indian corn, it would flourish in
any reg on wherever that plan: would
tbrive.e From this source, he obtained
some 200 pounds of the seed, which was
distributed in small packages, by this Of
fice, among the members of Congress,
with the view Of experimenting with it in
all parts Of the Union, and thereby ascer-
tanning its adoption to our soil and eli
mate. In numerous instances, the re-
suits proved highly satisfactory, as it at
tained height Of or 0 feet as far north
as ST. Paul, in Minnesota, and matured
its seeds at various points in Massachu-
sets, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois,
and other places further south. The fol-
lowing year, while in France, on simi-
lar mission as above, Mr.. Browne OBJ
tanned several bushels of the seed Of this
plant, grown from that reputed to have
been brought from South Africa, by Mr..
Leonard Wray, Of London, and which
has since proved to be Identical with that
obtained by this Office in 1854.
There appears to be a doubt among
many in Europe, as well as in this coun-
try, TO the true botanical name of this
plant. AZ, Louis Vilmorin, scientific
cultivator of. Paris, Professionally gave it
the name of HoJcus sacchorotus, which bad
previously been applied to the common
broom corn, if not the other species, or at
least varieties, Of some allied plant. He
alsoa conjecturod thatgiita might be the
Sorqhum vulgare, { (Andropogon sorghum
Of others. and though that it might com
prehend variety of it, as well as Andro-
pogon, coffa, 6icotor, etc., of Kunth Mr..
Wray, who has devoted much time and
attention to the cultivation of this plant,
with the, view of extracting sugar from
its Juice, at Cape Natal and other places,
states that,fin the south east part of CAT
fraria, there are at, least fifteen varieties
ofit.ssome ofthem growing to height of
IGOR 5 feet, with stems as thick as those
efStbe sugar cane, { Sacckdrum offciina.
rzna ~. ViImorip, also, says that, in a
collection ofseeds sent to the Museum of
Material History at Paris, in l84O, by M.
d. Abadie, there were thirty kinds of sor-
ghum, among the growth of which he
particularly recognized several plants
having stems of asaccharine flavor. -
Others are of the opinion that the COM
mon broom corn Holeus socchgotus, J
the chocolate or Guinea corn, { (Sorghana
valga,e. and the Chinese sugar cane,
(Soyghua Sacchdratum, all of which, con-
tanning more or less ssccharine matter,
belonging to the same species, but are va
riations caused by difference of soil and
climate, or by a disposition to sport, after
the manner Of Indian corn and other
plants under cultivation. The Chinese
sugarcane, however, differs from the
others, in containing far larger proper
tioh of juice, and consequently is more
valuable for fodder and other economical
uses hi sst 5aeai3s if7 sa. in,8
In l766, a plant analogous to the one
in Question. was experimental upon at
Florence, in Italy. by Pietro Arduino,
for the extraction of sugar; yet it must
have been of different variety, as he
describes its seeds as ofa clear brown G.
lor, while those of the Chinese sugar
cane are OF a shining Jet black, and in ap-
pearance identical with those of Sorghum
yalgate, of the old collections.
DESCRIPTION AND HABIT OF GROWTH.
The Chinese sugar cane, when cult.
yated on ordinary land, in the United
States. somewhat after the manner O
broom-corn, grows from a height Of from
8to 16 feet, while in Europe it dcee no
attain much more than half of its altitude
Its stems are straight and smooth, otter
coveredwith a white bloom, or down
having leaves somewhat flexulous, fallin.
over and greatly resembling in appear
ance those ot Indian corn, but more ele
CANT in form. When cultivated in hills
ATr.fx. .,.z La - In q