Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1876-03-03
An Important Discovery.
SUGAR AND NoLAssEs FROM INDIAN
CORN.

No American product is SO universal 10
all parts of the Republic as indian corn.
Ii grows luxuriant!y in every State ana
Territory, in almost every soil and section
aud its yield is so vast that the whole OF IL
cannot be marketed, ,.and al times it has
been burned for fuel. lmnense quantities
sre shipped to Europe, and still their al
WAYS remains surplus, although every
expedient is tried to utilize it by feeding
il TO live stock, and using it for the manu-
facturs of spirits. Under such circumstan'
ces it is matter Of general interest 10
know that discovery made by German
chemist that moiasses can he prontaoe
made from corn, has been successfully ap-
nliej ir Iowa. aud bids fair TO lay the
foundations of a sreat industry. The
corn used was the common crop, such as
is fed to live stock, and the product was
excellent mola sses. The information On
the subject was first published as q com
municatiOn in the Christian Instructor,
where il was read by the managers OF
Western sugar mill, and by them the pro :
cess was tried and found to work to charm
The farmers in the neighborhood oi the
mill took their corn thither and sold It,.
So that the operation was on the same
hasis a, the cheese and butter factories and
! the canning establishments.
This crop is better for the manuiactur-
ers of molasses than the sorghum or INN
ese sugar cane, and is understood and
available everywhere. Small mills can ol
course be had for the use of farmers, who
want to make their molasses themselves.
But the preferable plan is 20 have the
mills operated on large scale as selerate
| interests, like the canning works. That
the syrup can be made to granulate Tor su
gar would seem only to require skill and
experience in the operator. Maple sugar
though of a dark brown color in store, de-
r;yes that hue from the rude processes o
boiling usually used iu the open air, and
we have reliable testimony from Western
Pennsylvania that. by careful boiling IN d
kitchen, the syrup produces light and
very clear and beautiful sugar. Hence we
infer that in the manufacture Of molasses
from bee.s, sorghum or Indian corn, 1t /;
OF desirable that the rude processes O
manufacture on "A small scale be encoura
ged. rs the article produced would be low
priced and inferior.
We desire TO call especial attention K
this subject now, because of the boundles'
supple of corn in the United States.
any new aud general use like this for j
could be extensively domesticated, The
crop would at once derive an additiona
value from it, and it would pay the farmer
much better than at present. The cultlVt
ton of corn is under stood everywhere IL
America. while That of sugar beet is not
All that seems to be wanted is the genera
establishment Of separate concerns to oul
I'D the corn and make molasses from 1t
and if the business could once be hrml.
rooted, the results might be inmensel.
valuable. In this connection we need on
lv refer to the extent to which sugar
made in France, Germany, Holland, Aus
tria and Russia from the sugar beet, ant
to the large amount of money thus save'
10 those countries that would otherwls
have to be paid out for foreign sugar an
molasses. The successful application
the separate factory system to the produc
ton of butter and cheese shows that tn
principle is capable of great results wne
applied generally TO the manufacture OF 81
: gar and molasses from Iudian corn, the RI
suits may exceed anything at presen
dreamed Of 1t should have had an imm'
: date trial in every corn-growing distric
and if rendered permanent it will develo
q demand for capital and machinery, an
give great new element TO American con
merce. Philadelphia North american.