New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-20

Other than Mr. Browne himself. NoT 10 s~;.tenr.
tiemen had been his country but had Experimental
W .n n?nself both as a private ana pupic I,uVl'',
VI, - ,yas there no mention maue o' w""'oN,i
uai WY tho abstract Of a report upon the lnphee
he hao Containing most valuable ana scentiiIc re-
sno nv one of the most distinguished OF Ameri-
seasems;s He referred to Dr. Charles /. jackson
Of Boston. Dr. jackson had io9nd 'no1 .Ie np.ve
nssined large percentage of crystaIlLabie sugar.
W., wns this testimony withheld, II it were not that
desrs was entertained 10 iInPugn his character anu
destroy public confidence in the impheei TO prove
tha. sugar cOnid be made from imphee, ana that Oh
fair oualty he begged TO call their attention 10 the
samples Of sugar he held in his hand, when ne ma
made in Africa, and for which he had receiver 'he
silver medal. ,-h al
% see the sugar and his remarks were for lew mo-
ments suspended. Continuing, ne sau 'na' Tue mo.
tive had beer imputed TO him OF in, r pant
which he knew TO be worthless The press had, IN
acme cases attacked him in this manner out he had
reiraiI ed from making the slightest repy, except on
ono oue recent occasion. He spoke o the failure 10
eke sugar on Gov ahs srs gro,vn anu mn
800 Iond an rich in soluble mineral matter that
on one measured the yield had been lOS bushels
and on another 90 bushels Of sheled corn. If the
cane were grown on upands of moderate fertility he
felt the greatest confidence that it would be equally
if not more valuable than the sorgho. But We must
not confne our attention 30 closely to the sugar
bearing Of the two plants as to lose sight of another
most valuable product, that OF alcohol. The amount
Of alcohol used in the mechanic arts Is enormous.
Millions of bushels of grain are annually consumed by
the dstileries, and Of course Withdrawn from tue
reach of families. Now, if the imphee juice did not
give particle Of crystalzed sugar, only it could
be instrumental in saving from dlstyation the gram
which is row used for that purpose, every pm
Ianthropst should hail its introduction with hearty
congratulations. He had, only yesterday received
letters from correspondent in France, stating that
il had been found that every tun OF stalks gave
less than thirty gallons of alcohol at cost OF ten
shinss sterling per tuH. Supposing that we onygot
twenty tuns of stalks per acre tins would De no less
than 600 gallons of alcohol. The beet-root has been
known give, by LePa1s process aEo gdo, .ion ~
sorgho and mphee. lie read an extract from let
Ter received from distiler in New-York, showing
that Sorgho brandy would now bring VI per gallon
new or 81 50 TO 50 if it had age. In conclusion he
would present if agreeable to the members, letter
from Gov j. ii. Hammond, giving his opinion of the
comparative value of the two plants, arrived at after
studying the results of cultivation OF over one nun
dred acres of imphee. The members desiring him to
do so, he read the following letter:
REpcLIrFE Nov. 81, 1857.
DEARsN received to-day The Southern CutaO, for De-
cember Mons Vilmorin denounc
ing your mphee ia that appears TO me malicious; and
bis false regards the mphee growing
in this latitude deem due them and you give ties
tuony against them Your mphee came here too late to allow
and sosho but do not remember that in any attempts
%sSt ss wes baS SsU SG G Snd
produce juice believe smaller AZ to red
pesred all in more kind Of nphee and that had
pened long before we Ieshea it IN our operation M @ s1e
and was NOT a. much affected by year here As the
ter mari is Beane once and frequently IA to 10 Beaune From
my experience Of this year. should be unwilling to say INA. the
iupbee decidedly superior to the sosho but am eqaay IN
prepared that single variety ofmPhee 'ineor to the
try all Of hc again and again. before determine
hi. Experiment with pure seed Certainly the seed he sent to
This lat for mpas s. he sa @as al
informed have not, as you well know any interest N
81. r to 20 h sHv gn my yon psae in
and absolutely necessary publish it, shall probably put the
Substance oft in the next 6atrat0y II u.ryovn
On resuming his seat Mr. wray was, greeted by
loud applause.
had held it to be HE duty to protect the agricultsts
of the country from plant which, on Mr.. Wray,s
own statement, he believed to have been mixed with
dourah; that to do so he had used ms private lnln
ence in private correspondence and the Society could
judge whether he had not been authorized IN SO dong
He would make no remarks upon the supJect, Du
simply ask that report winch ne hei1 IN MS hal
might be read. 1t was letter from DIR. Asa Gray,
the botanist, to Prof. Henry of the Smithsonian In
stitution.
read. 1t gave the opinion OF DR.. Gray that the
imphee ana sorghO were but varieties OF the genus
andropogon and that they were cOngeners OF donal-
corn broom.c corn, &C. IMPLANTED together they would
be very likely to mix, and the result would be the
production Of hybrids.
Mr.. Browne stated that we had present with us the
eminent chemist and geOlogist who had been pre-
yiously referred to, and begged leave to Introduce
DIR. Charles Il. Jackson of Boston.
Prof. jackson stated that he had been employed by
the Patent. Office of the United States to make re-
searches into the nature of the sugar OF the sogho,
and had trumphantly established Its having large
percentage of true sugar and so strongly marked
was the property, that when the juice was boiled an
racHo il nearly all turned into sugar. lie had been
present at Il recent meeting of the Boston Society OF
Natural History, OF which he was humble member,
and hndh pard req a able
of the sorgho and mphee, made by Mr.. Sprague, the
botanical curator of the Society, upon a suite OF
specimens furnished to the Society by Mr. OlcOtt.
This report as had been stated by Mr. Wray, proved
the sorgho and imphee TO be cOngcners and likely to
exchange types. He had very attentivcly studied
the Chinese but not much the African, sugar cane
Year before last he had made sugar from sorgho grown
at the United States Arsenal at Watertown. The
past season had been so very cold and wet that no
sorgho he'd ripened in the vicinity of Boston, except
one lOt started in pots and transplanted. The un-
ripe ctDes, he found, did not contain crystallizabk
sugar In his State, molasses could be made from the
cane, in any seasOn-t mattered not that the canes
should be ripe The very preponderance of glucose,
or grape sugar, which immaturity caused, rendered
the juice more fit for the manufacture of alcohol; for
even if cane sugar were present 1t would have TO
pass into the condition of grape sugar before it could
be formed into alcohol. He had carefully computed
the profits of sorgho culture. Three hundred gallons
of strip average crop in Massaciiu-
sets. Mr.. Hyde, of Newton Centre, had sold his
srup at 81 per gallon, and he himself was well con-
WINGED of it, value. The nice of sorghoand imphee
would yield 9 per cent Of true cane sugar and per
cent additional of glucose Ii would give II per cent
Of alcohol-that is, proof spirits The alcohol was
peculiarly suitable for brandy-making because OF its
containing a peculiar and agreeable aroma. The
mere addition of burnt sugar to the spirits gave the
neh color OF brandy. Its value was specially evident
IN making burning fluid, and for mechanical purposes.
Se'entyhve per cent Of the alcohol made in MaSsa-
chuse.,s "'t year was used for these purposes The
production OF great quantities of seed was detrimental
n no stull