The Kanzas news., 1857-09-26
The Kanzas News.
s.TURDAY,=..sEpTEaBER &c, 1857.
The Chinese Sugar Cane--Experiment
and Facts Worth Knowing.
From the Chicago Press

fFoin the O1tcd5O :
We have seen it stated that not less than
= hundred thousand acres have been devoted
to Chinese sugar cane IN this country the
present season. The experiment of manu-
tacturine sugar and molasses from 1t, there
fore. will be tried on scale sufficiently large
to determine the whole question OF Its value
for such purposes. There are fields of 1t IN
every State and Territory of the Union, and
from various quarters, both at the North
and the South, we hear that the crop Is ap-
preaching maturity, and that preparations
are being made to manufacture sugar. 1t
has been extensively planted in our own
State, and some specimens which have fallen
under our notice exhibit an extraordinary
growth A gentleman from Champaign
county left several thrifty stalks with us yes
terday from ten to twelve feet in height,
which were full of juice that to the taste was
As rich in saccharine matter as that of the
proper sugar cane, and of most delicious
flavor. We have not the least doubt that it
would weld a superior article of sugar. We
are also in possession of several stalks, fully
ten feet in height, from the garden of Mr..
H. o. Stone, on the lake shore.
But while the grand experiment of sugar
growing in the temperate latitudes approach
es its elimination, multitudes are still In
doubt whether pure. well-erystalized sugar
can be made from the juice of the Chinese
cane. For ourselves, the evidence in the
affirmative is entirely conclusive on this
point. Such is the verdict of the best French
chemists, whose testimony has been recent
" communicated to the Patent Office, and
will be given to the public in the forthcom-
ino report of the Commissioner. Some of
the results of those experiments have alrea-
DIV appeared In the Press, and others are
living before us now, from which we propose
10 gather few additional facts.
One class of chemists, among whom Is
DR.. Jackson, of Boston, have assumed, as
the result of their hasty experiments, that
only glucose, or grape sugar, could be made
from the juice of the sorghum; but more
careful and thorough investigations show
that the greater portion portion of its sac
charine matter is crystalizable. Nj. Herey,
of France, contends that no uncrystalizable
sugar pre-exists in the cane, and that
the formation of glucose sugar is only owing
to the action of the salts contained in the
liquid during the manufacturing process.
"Be this as it may" continues the report,
saccharine matter of the juice IS crystalisa-
bic, and may be obtained in the state OF
crystals, if, after boiling and fltering, the
clear fluid be quickly evaporated, the latter
operation being condition of absolute ne
cessity in sugar making, as, by slow boil
ing. at a temperature of gig degrees, or even
exposure for considerable time to tempe
rature below the boiling point, glucose may
be formed from the purest erystalized sugar
dissolved in water. On the contrary, if the
concentrated solution of sugar be heated be-
vond $50 degrees F., it uRdergoes altera-
ton, and is changed, at least in part, into
uncrystalizable sugar, or saccharine mucil-
age"
Mr.. Wray, of London, who is now in al
tendance upon the National Fair at Louis
vile, and who has perhaps more experiments
knowledge upon the subject than any Other
man in the world, is quoted as good author
ity by the Commissioner on the question o
crystalization, and we presume that the ex
periments which he is now making from day
to day viii be equally conclusive upon The
public mind. He has devoted yearsNto the
subject, pursuing his investigations In Afri
ca and France, as we'll as this country dur
ing the present season, and has obtained
patent for his process of sugar making IL
England.
Assuming, then, that superior sugar cal
be made from the juice of the sorghum,
Is hardly possible to exagerate its Importance
as an addition to the crops of the temperat
ATTITUDES. Its value was discovered at jus
the period when the culture of the suga
cane at the South had become a partial fail
ure, aud when also the general consumption
of sugar began to outrun production. Th
world demanded that by some means, if pos
sible, the supply should be increased, and il
response to that demand, as if by providen
tial arrangement, the country was supplie
with the seed of the Sorghum and the I'm
phee, from which We are to have our frs
harvest of free labor sugar. 1t is grea
event in the political economy of this coun
try, if not of the world. We pay out an
nually many millions of dollars for foreig
sugar, the crop Of Louisiana at best meetin
but fraction of the demand. Last year
was estimated that the nation consumed nc
less than zoe, 100000 pounds, and thi
amount, vast as it Is, must continually in
crease if a sufficient supply can be obtained
In this sugar cane we are now confden
We have the source of an almost unbounde
supply Il viii flourish everywhere In th
Union, and can be raised at the West as ca
SLY and cheaply as corn. Where, then
shall We fix the limit of its culture, save i
the demand for sugar and molasses? Th
Prairies of Illinois. besides growing all tn
breadstuffs they do now, might almost sup
ply the markets of the world with those al
ucies. We shall be content, however, fc
the next two or three years with enough {
each to meet the home demand. The bus
ness can be indefinitely extended thereaftel
From the Baltimore Sun, OF Aug 2lst-
Forsooth, if this novel experiment shoul
prove success in the direction to which
points. We shall soon he atla 10 estahIisi, th