The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-10-21
The Scriptures tell us not to do evil

The Scriptures tell us not to do evil
that good may come Of it. 1t often hap
pens that when wicked men do evil that
ell mot good may come Of il, Provi-
dCucc takes the matter in its own hands
and evolves good from The intended evil
The cereal, sorghum, was introduced
i"to this country from China with the
design 10 destroy the value Of one of the
industrial pursuits Of the South. 1t was
supposed by those who introduced it, and
recommended its cultivation, that it
would entirely snpplant the Sugdrcane
of Louisiana. and thereby render the
cultivation of sugar Improbable, ana Sla-
very harden. Philosopher Greeley,
The humane and Christian gentleman,
who thinks all the white inhabitants Of
the South should he murdered, that
The negroes may ENJOY their inner
i,ahcc, was the great promoter of the
a-Y,hum scheme. The Iftbone was
- iull Of il for several months that
room could be scarcely found tor any
thing else 1t was 10 be planted
everywhere, ior it would grow every
where The great Northwest was to
hr sorghum bed from the Lakes
to the junction of the Mississippi and
Ohio. III Missouri, it was to suppant
the cane; and there were to be sorghum
brakes in place of cane brakes. In
Iowa, Wisconsin, and all the unnamed
states made cut Of the Indian territories
>tnre We left the old concern, men,
horses, cattle and sheep were to live on
sorghum bread to sweeten their tea
with sorghum sugar; to feed their chill
drcn On sorghum molasses to sleep on
mattresses made of sorghum fodder; to
carry sorghum walking canes to church
on Sunday; and, finally, to have sor
9hun planted on their graves when they
were buried As the quaint old English
philosopher, Sir Thomas Browne, could
see nothing but quincunx in all the
arrangements of Nature for the growth
of the primeval forests, so the modern
Yankee philosopher believed that the
whole earth was made for the growth Of
sorghum and nothing else. He re
g1rded it as an instrument placed in
Yankee hands for the express purpose
Of enabling them to punish those whom
they thought fit to regard as their enc
uies lie had another scheme, at the
same time, for making hemp a substitute
for cotton and when the two should have
.Ine into full operation. he hoped to sever,
By their instrumentallty, the connec-
ton between the virtuous North and
the odious and wicked cotton and sugar
makers of the South. That connection.
by tho way, has risen in value in his eyes
within short period, for he is now will
ing to spill any quantity OF blood in
order to re establish it.
The connection in question is dis
solved, and the sugar cultivation is, for
the time, destroyed. In the meantime,
the introduction of the sorghum culture
has proved of infinite benefit to the
whole Southern country. Its culture is
almost as universal az that of Indian
corn. II has taken position as a stand
ing cereal with the other crops 1t will
never be dispensed with hereafter
livery farmer plants tit grows every
Where-it needs little attention-its
stalk affords excellent molasses and, we
hear, sugar too its fodder is most nu-
trItious for horses, hogs and cattle; it
makes excellent bread it keeps every
timing fat on a plantation and is,
upon the whole, the most invaluable
present ever made to man since the days
II the fabulous Ceres. The design and
the hopes of those who introduced it
have been completely defeated. Instead
OF being a curse, it has turned out to be
4 blessing