Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-05-08
SUGAR.

many commodities which tend great I
y to the we'll being of it's population, n
and among these scarcely any will be G
ound of moro benefit and value than t
sugar. This useful article was known f
and cultivated in China two thousand ,
yoars before tho inhabitants of our S
part Of tho world became acquainted
with It, Tho records of tho earlier I
nations Of antiquity contain no notice
Of it; but the "swcct calamus" and i
"swcet cane" mentioned in tho Old ,
Testament arc supposed to mean tho
sugar cano; Jeromiah speaks of the
"swcot cane from q far country"
which would socm to indicate that the
plant itself thon formed On article of
commoroe. Our word sugar is said to
be derived from tho Hebrew suchar,
which signifies drunkenness, probably
in reforonce to somo Intoxicating
juice that may havo boon made from
it.
Tho Crock physicians describe it as
q kind of honey found in reeds, and
in somo instances named it "lndian |
salt" beneficial in bowel complaints
and diseases of the ego.
Pliny states that sukkoron or sugar
was useful rs q physic, and good to be
held in tho mouth during fevors; 9th
or wrtors call it "honoy of canes,' or
"honcy made by tho hands Of mon."
Alexandcr's expedition to India
helped to mako tho article better
known; Ncarchus tho admiral in his
account Of tho productions Of tho
country, has "the reed that yields hon.
ey without hees.'
In the thirteenth century sugar be.
camc known in Arabia, and numerous
vcsscla wero employed in transport
ing tho sweot product. For time
the Indians keptthe preparation of it
secret, and the traders to their poets
were loft undist4rbed in their fanci.
full notions that it fell upon tho reeds
ss q rain of dust, or exuded from them
AZ gum.
The Crusaders were another means
of introducing sugar to Europe; Al
bert Agnensis, one of the historians
of those various enterprises, relates
that "the Crusaders found sweet hon
eyed reeds, in great quantity, in the
meadows about Tripoli, Lyria, which
reeds were called Zucra. These the
people (the Crusaders army sucked
=, , and were much pleased with the sweet
tasto Of them, with which thoy coult
scarcely be satisfied. This plant ii
cultivated With great labor. of the
= husbaudmcn every year. At the time
>. of harvest they bruise it when ripe il
~ mortars, and set by tho strained juice
!" in vessels, till it ls conoretod in form
= of snow, or white salt. This, wher
scraped, they mix with bread, or rul
it with water and take it as pottage
and it is to them more wholesome AM
>, pleasing than the honey of bees. Th'
!" people who were engaged IN the siege
= Of Albaria, Maria, and Archas, an
10 suffered dreadful hunger, were muc
> refreshed hereby" He records ais
:" that some of the soldiers capture
IL, eleven camols laden with sugar, thu
,, showing that it had become an impo
~ tant article of trade.
i Tho celebrated Venetian travolle
. Marco Polo, who visited China an
~ Iudia, about 1860, may be regarded {
o among tho first TO convey correct liz
70 formation on tho subject; this led
," a further increase and extension
0n tho trade, which spread into sever
eo parts of Africa. In 1900 sugar wi
81 cultivated in the islands Of tho Nc
C. terranoan; thero arc still plantatio1
IS of it in Sicily, and in Spain and Pc
@e tugal. From these countries the cal
was carried to Madeira, and to Il
ae' West Indies and America. The ea
no licst and most abundant supplies car
Tor from st. Domingo or Hayti, as it
'eu now called; so groat, indeed, was t
* quantity imported into Spain frc
o' this island that tho Emperor Char
en- en- V. built the magnificent palaces
'ns Toledo and Madrid with the port dr
ast from that one source alone. Tho g
o' gar cano was introduced into Lou
oD, ana by the Josnils early in the l.
81 century. When England took Jam
- CO from tho Spaniards in 1856, tn
'ck were but three plantations on the
'f'n land; these wero, however,, soon
proved and the number inoreas I'D
a. The growers in Barbados were IN
10 successful in competing with tho
'ueh tuguese they produced a better q
Gay ity Of sugar ct lower cost. In l
70 there were not fewer than six hund
rue, vessels, of one hundred and fifty
OF each, employed in the Barbados 81
p. trade. .r
- Ssgar was ars* used In Anglzpd
s.- medicinal pasposes, and a. fes
hful Chauoer mentions Il % sxsre. Tov