Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-01-16
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE

When our report closed yesterday, the Society
was being addressed by MIR. Leonard Wray, an
English Sugar Planter from Cafraria on the COM
parative merits of the Sorgho Sucre, or Chinese
Sugar Plant, and the Imphee Sugar Cane of Africa.
MIR. Wray said he had experimental with
eighteen different kinds of the imphee plant of
various degrees Of richness, and containing diff
ferent proportions of saccharine matter The
sorgho was a wrong name for the Chinese suoar
cane The real Chinese sugar cane was a very
different thing. The sorg no was the millet-not
the regular Chinese cane. Of course there were
many different varieties, but the difference was
not sumclent TO warrant a different name I'm
estimating the value of the different plants there
were many circumstances to be taken into con-
sideration liz man can cultivate sorgho, and
produce large quantities of grain at the same time
that he is making his sugar, his syrup, and his
on his estate
He exhibited specimens of the Imphee seed
bread, and produce wonderfully, sometimes as
high as go bushels per acre. Any thing of this
KIND was more valuable than than corn for bread,
and on plantations where many negroes are en-
ployed, there was no calculating its value At
the same time, while growing the seed the plant
er was growing his sugar too. The speaker had
compared the sorgho and the imphee I'm point of
saecharine, and had found the balance largely in
favor Of the imphee.
ltwas an unfortunate thing that the seed i'm
ported by the U b Patent Office was mixed with
the common broom corn, and the Arabic dura or
quinia corn. He had seen this so-called Chinese
cane produced i'm this mixed form on several
southern Plantations; at the same time, the Chi
nese cane was true to itself, and would not mix
with or produce new varieties He did believe
that 1t would degenerate, but il would not pro-
duce new varieties but 20 back to its primitive
state. Sugar cane would not produce rhubarb
because il did not come from rhubarb.
Air. WTay here proposed to read 4 letter In
which the United States Patent Office and this
Society had been Used to dePreciate the value of
the imphee plant. Several gentlemen opposed
the reading OF the letter in this meeting, aS it
might be- OF personal nature.
DIR. Higgins of Md. moved that anv paper
which might lead TO the calculation of the ma
ture and qualities of this imphee plant. be read
to the meeting; he was sustained by various
members. and the motion was adopted.
MIR. Wray stated that he was az delicate about
personal matters as any other gentleman, but he
had been informed while in Boston that the sub
Ject OF the imphee was TO be discussed and a YER
diet pronounced upon il at this meeting in his
absence; he had deemed il a matter of self-de-
fence To come here and defend his interests and
he had been requested by the ex-President Of the
Society to come here.
The letter was read by Mr.. wrav, and was in
substance a request to seed merchants not to pur-
chase the imphee seed until the action of the
tnlted States Agricultural Society be had upon
II The letter was signed by Mr.. Brown, of the
Patent Office Mr.. W. deemed it but fair that
the truth should be told, and told to a body of
gentlemen comprising the agricultural interests
OF tue whole country. The speaker produced
different specimens of sugar made from the Chi
nesr plant and the impbse, and also showed
medal Of silver which he had received from the
Imperial Society of Paris for sugar prod uced
from the imphee cane, with r rench newspaper
In which the award of the medal was made men,
ton Of
In regard TO experiments with the imphse cane
in this country, he said it had not vet been ex-
Per1mented with properly here. IL had been
planted IN soil too rich, and i'm making strip no
care had been taken to neutTalize the acid i'm the
juice by the Use of lime and consequently the
slrup would not keep The plant had been grown
this last year in the western part of Canada,
where Tor a greater portion of the morning the
lands were covered with a dense fog The wear
before last gentleman in Canada West planted
some Of the sorgho, and il was eaten down by his
cattle who had broken into the sOrg no enclosure
and, despite all these drawbacks, the plants then
grew to height of ten feet before the fro>ts
came and most dSSuredy would have produr
rPened seed but for the reasons stated. Mr. w
fhoug ht that the next season would be likely to
demonstrate the problem * to whether the sor-
ghO or the imphee could be successfully cultiva-
ted In the Canadas and New England. Ii would
grow IN the valley of the Mississippi and pro-
duce as inxuriantly as on the banks of its own
native 90 Nile"
He had been speaking of this plant simply as
sugar producer thus far, but another and equal
ly Interesting point of view was to be ken into
consideration and that was in point of prod uciny
alcoholic spirits Every ton of would pro-
duce large quantity OF alcohol Of the finest
quantity. The cane could be grown at the ex-
Pense OF 50 50 per ton, and the Chinese sorpbo
would produce say 20 tons of cane to the acre
Vic acre oi Dcct root ndu Drcn known to Give
40 gallons Of Is. over proof alcohol and the
sorghO would overrun that in almost every case
Perhaps In this point of view the vast value Of
the plant was TO be considered as equal to its
sugar producing qualities Several attacks had
been made to DECORATE from the importance of
the imphee cane through the medium OF the pub
lie press The Southern Cultivator in its last
December number, contained articles of this
character, which although he had himself con-
sldered OF too little importance TO notice had
been answered by ADLER men than himself He
Al flss rlsfv isfto xxybi .h n
received from Governor Hammond, Of South
Carolina, in relation TO the attacks made upon
the imPhee in the Cultivator, as follows
RADCLIFFE. 18th November 1857
DEAR SIR: l received to- day the Southern Cul-
tivdtor for December. Ii contains two letters
from Mons Vilmorin, denoancing your imphee
In a manner that appears To me malicious; and a.
j know his statements false as regards the
imphee growing in this Latitude, deem il due
10 them aud TO you to give my testimony against
them. fonr imphee came here too late to allow
perfectly satisfactory comparison To br insiitu-
ted between that and sorgho; but do not remem-
Der that in any attempts we made to compare
them, the results were IN favor Of sorgho Ger
family, most Of the varieties Of the imphe- have a
larger stalk, and produce more Juice; none I be-
iieve, are smaller. As to - red rot >" which so
severely affected the sorgho do not think il ap-
Pearrd at all in more than enc kind of imphre
and that had riPened long before we reached II in
cur operations. ] am sure the mphee is not more
subject TO the 'iTed ro' than the sorg no. and wa,
not much affected by il this year here AS tn
! saw the saechaTometeT mark II Vaume once and
frequently IL to IL Vaume. From my experience
Of this year, should be unwilling to say that the
imphee is decidedly superior to the sorg no. but
am equally unPrepared to say that any single va
IIety Of inIphee is inferior to the soryho
shall Try all Of them, again and again. before
i determine which Is the very best As you say
Mons. Vilmorin Obtained no imphee seed from
you, am inclined to think he has not made his
experiments with pure seed Certainly the seed
he sent TO this country last Spring for imphee at
SO per bushel Was thorOu. hly mixed with dou-
rah, and one pare that he sent $ win vornapa
was all dOurdh, ds | AIN informed. have not
you we'll know, any interest in the sale of i'm
Phee seed, or anything made from inphee; and
you are well aware Of my aversion to having nv
name in the papers, but you can show this letter
10 any one you please. and, II absolutely necessa-
ny, publish il. ] shall probably put the sub
stance OF IL in the next Cultiyator
Yours, very truly, J IL. HAMMOND.
l. Wray, Esq.
Mr.. Wray here made some more remarks upon
the comparative merits OF the different yarirti-s
OF the impher and the sorgho sucre and then
closed. thanking the Society for the Kindness and
patience with which they tad listened to his re-