, 1864-10-28
A--NtRTRWESTE TEBN SORGHUM
= CONVENTION
n;acn,sious on Various Kinds Of
~ Secs,

From ou1 OWL Correspondent

FIRST DAYS PROCEEDINGS
From ou1 own Correspondent
ROCKFORD, ILL.,, Oct. s6.
THE Northwestern Sorghum Convention
met a. the Court House in this city to day al
. o,c.oek, The attendance as yet is not very
1o1oc. The States Of Illinois, Wisconsin and
1oTa a1e represented. E. q. Seward, of Nc
H,nry county, Illinois, WAS elected teu2ora.
re Chairman, ind 8. v R Hickox, Of Chica,
20. Secretary. a committee appointed to
nominatc permanent officers Of the Conven.
tinn reported as fol1ows: -. P1esldent, DR..
:Jtrks. of McHenry; Secretaries, 8: Y. R.
H,ckox, Ct Chicago. ". ". Corbett, do,
an1 c. Y. Merdtfeldt, of WfnnebaEo.. Dr.;
jerks declired the position et President, and
In Lis PLACE. A committee was appointed to
report programme for the Convention, and
at1er short deliberation reported in part %
follows: For subjects OF discussion, lst;
care seed, its varieties, &c. I'd. Manner ol
cultivation. Sd. Machinery for ma1uiactur.
i1g sy1uD and sugar, 18th. manufacturing
into syrup and sugar. The first point was
discussed ct considerable length ey ae Messfs; :;
Latsha1 Of Stephenson county, kimball o.
Fulton, Skinner Of Madison, Wis. ; seWud
of Mcaenry, Powers OF Madison, WIS.
Blipn of Wfnnebago, Petit Of AcHenry
NOES OF Boone. and others. The discussion
lasted for nearly two hours and ELECTED
much valuable information from the expert
1neDts OF the gentlemen who took part in The
discussion. The Convention then adjourned
until tomorrow morning at O'Clock.
AFTERNOON 'sEss1oN.
3rny
procee dings, the Convention preceded tc
the discussion of the various Kinds Of sngal
cane eeed6.
Mr.. Latshaw, of Stephenson, did not be
lieye that the planting OF different kinds ot
eugar cane seed near each other would prove
injurious to the crop the first year, but the
second year be felt quite sureis would by.
Nil. Kimbail called attention to some sev.
,fbteen, varieties ot cane seed On the table,
which had been Forwarded to the Convention
By lii. Hadiey, of, LaSal1e, who was unable
hlmse1t to attead. Taeae seeds were accom-
panied by highly inte resting report OF the
experience of Mr. Hadley.
Iii. Frink, Of McHenry county, was will
ing to be pumped en- this subject Of seeds,
ard wanted to get all the information be
could out OF others. He thought It, quite
necessary to change seed, not With our neigh-
bore, Notwithstanding they may have OBJ
tained first rate crops. If not changed within
two or three years, Tue cane STALKS will
get, dr. and Plthy,: and yield but very
little JUICE. The degencracy Of the
In anewer to question, be said his field,
which produced the dry stock was not ma-
nu1ed.- He didn't recommend manuring. If
he appliedtauy st1mulant 1t would be oshse,
If the soil be q dry sandy, good manure
might prove beneficial On clay soil he was
sure that it did more harm than good. He
was y;ss for gestiDE eane ssed for the South; say
preferred the Chinese Sugar Cane to any
other. As to the different varieties, be did
not believe there were really but two-late
and early. He believed ItHphee to be- simply
q by t1id fom Chinese.
Dir. Emory, of Canton, Fulton county,
thought the seed first distributed By the
Pateht Office in 1854. was the best that could
be obtained; at least 1t was best tor bis 10.
cAllty. =;
Mr. Skinner, OF Madison, Wis ,sasd friend
OF bis raised two hundred gallons of syrup
TO the acre from seed obtained at the Patent
Offfce. If 1mpurity commence in seed 1t Will
increase very last. II pains Is taken to Keep
Eeed pure, he did net bslteve it would dete-
riorate.
Mr. Latshaw said bis experience WAS that
much OF the small cane proyed.to be almost
entirely drY-Would produce little OF no }uice,
The season had more to do with it than the
seed. The cane LAST year Was frozen two or
three times, and this degeue1ated it. If we
Keep the cane pure-alioW no hybfidizatlon-
It Wtl not degenerate. He had seed which
md Il was now perfectly IL eood caney ye elaa.
ted on prairie II Will not make good mo-
1atEes. he thought that II cane that Ind
been planted one year On prairie soil Was
planted the next on good clay soil the seed
would not be injured.
Mr. Seward, of McHcory, had planted
what he regarded a. pure 1mphee seed, and
found the seed, when he came to gather It,
much mixed. He believed the Otaheitan no II
In this country was simply hybrid, and that
We had no real Otaheitan seed in thts coQn-
try. Cane planted on clay soil Was much
better than that planted on prairie. He had
planted what Was called small cane, aud It
proved taiiure-averaging not more than
fifty gallons to the acre. Il rioened too early.
His belief Was that seed pllnted from year
to year wouldSbecoule inferior. Imphee, he
felt Eure, would nake more syrup than any
other kind. He was for getting seed at the
South. He had got sesd from distance, and
got a much bettery}eld. The Shaker seed in
particular be commanded.
al. Sherman eaid II We wanted to get good
reed we must go into fields where the seed
Was all pure
Mr. D. J. Powers was Of the opinion that
We did not know enough about seed-that
We were all in the fog, and 1t WAS Of the first
importance to obtain knowledge upon this
SUBJECT He thought the seed deteriorated
ity OF seed, and By taking special patLs With
it, keep 1t pure, aud it will never ueterlorate,
md BY 1t could always make an unquestiou-
able quality Of syrup. People are very apt
to take any seed comm 3nned to them, and
plant IT. y Wtthout care or consideration. We
r In Is 1S7af liver
this matter Of seed ia thoroughly under
stood. 1t was the duty Of our State aud
County Agricultural Associations to take
this matter In hand, appoint committees to
investigate. Investigate not only results In
this country, but In France and China. This
WIS most important branch Of Agricultural
economy, and should not be neglected.
Spe culators thrust their seeds upon ns, and
ne accept them, #fthout .knowi0g whether
they were good, bad or Indifferent They
almost Invariably deceive us. He did not be-
lleve good quality Of seed would deterlor-
ate In tits climate. We must be more care
ful What seed We select; otherwise ne shall
run down and cease. This result would bea
great 1Css to our country. He hoped, In
conclusion, that this convention Wonld give
this matter Of seed its closest consideration,
and TINT steps should be taken to memorial
Ice the United States Agricultural Bureau
upon the subject.
Mr. Blinn exhibited some seed, which he
called Nl.i.e 1mphee, upon which he hid
rs1ted 1G0 gallons Of syrup on GO rods Of
and. He bad planted the seed three years
in succession on lime stone ridge. The
syrup Was Of liz ht color and good flavor.
He lhad never seen any to compare with It.
He knew aevera)fgentle who had planted
md got good syrup every time. This year
IA particular 1t had been uncommonly good.
Dir. Petit, the President, exhibited some
seed, which he called yellow Imphee," but
Whtch proved to be the same as that exhibited
y the previous Epeaker, andacalled " White
[mphee." He planted q rods Of ground,
8ith one quart Of the seed, and the product
vas 501{ gnllona Of most excellent syrup.
Fhc cane was peculiar. 1t did not take more
han ba1f the power to crush 1t that it did
,ther kinda.
AIr. Moss, of Be1yidere, was a maaufac.
,uxr Of syrup He advocated the raieing Of
'arlJ as well IS late. The early was valua-
lie cane for our climate. As soon rs the
leeds become black, the cane should be man
1factured. The worst enemy Of the cine Ia
11oom corn. He could make as good syrup
rom the small cane as the large.
Mr.. Petit had always noticed that the
talk that wns dry and plthy grew up taller
han the rich and juicy He thought that II,
We
I'D not touch the taller and dry ones, there /
Tould be no difficulty about having good
ED.
MI. Noes raid the season ha1 much to do
Fith the seed. Take the sacharotneter, and
be seed last year was about five, while t:1s
bat OF the previous speaker-that the pfthy
talk grew higher, and the heads spang1ed
mt more, like broom com. He had laid
side the small sorghum. Did not think 1t F!