The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-23
Corn Sugar and sorghum.

Some years ago an ingenious gentle
man appeared among that shrewd and
enterprising class of our fellow-citizens
with a process for turning the starch of
corn into crystalline sugar. This he
claimed to be fully equal to the yield of
the cane or the beet-root and cheaper
than either. Dazzled by the eloquence
of this person and giving too ready
credence to the specimens" and other
''proOfsn that he offered, q number OF
prominent sugar men took stock hber-
ally in the scheme, and, what was worse,
paid for it. A timely warning in the
Journal Of Commerce exposed the pre-
tensions of the inventor and nipped a
most lucrative speculation in the bud.
We pointed out the improbability-or,
as confident chemists would say, the
impossibility-of the discovery of any
method by which the amorphous, CON-
pact, jujube-paste-like substance OF a
sweet nature made from the starch OF
corn or potato could be transformed
into the true, purely saccharine crystals
obtained from the juice of the sugar
cane, the beet, and the maple tree. The
difficulties of the metamorphOsis are IN
herent in the nature of things and are
believed by the highest authorities to be
insurmountable This opinion is not
absolutely conclusive; bat it should
suffice to make men shy of investing in
any attempts to work the wonder. There
will be time enough for business men to
put money in such projects after they
have been demonstrated to an impair
tial commission of chemists. While the
Spectator, in the case under notice,
could not perform a miracle, he did
succeed in producing from corn an artl-
Gle of sirup, and the deluded sugar re.
fners and brokers hoped for some time
that this part of the process would " LEI
them out even" The sirup was clear
and fine looking, but had less than hall
the saccharine properties of common
molasses, sugar-house, maple, or any
other variety. 1t was mostly water, and
that element is not cheap at the price
paid for it in this compound. The corn
strip pleased neither the palate nor the
pocket; and, what was still worse, il
would not keep, as it soured soon after
delivery, and its manufacture was soon
abandoned in despair. We will not
PREJUDICE the repetition of the expert
ment-in which the processes may be
simpler and less eXpensive-inI Indiana
but, whatever the success of the new
operation may be, there is no likelihood
that it will make any impression on the
market for cane mOlasses and sirups
Unless the cane crop should fail, that
will doubtless continue to be the mair
dependence for the sugar and molasseS
products of this country. The sub
stitutes have feebly competed with il
for a time, and have now quite passed
away. Great things were once expect
ed of sorghum. Northern and Western
farmers at one time went into its cult
walton madly. Misinformation with re-
gard to its properties seemed to be uni,
versal. The Government innocently
lent itself 10 the illusion, and encour.
aged the people everywhere to raise the
new staple, supplying seeds to all ap
plicaDJs. Sorghum turned out worth
less for sugar manufacture, as only q
small proportion of the saccharine sub
stance is capable of capitalization. Ii
is still raised to some extent for the
Weld in molasses, which is inferior tc
the product of the cane. 1t is made by
farmers chiefly for their OWE use and is
not an article of commerce. A variety
of the beet gives crystalline sugar equa
| to that of the cane, and it is an import
ant crop in parts of Europe where cane
sugar is expensive and labor is cheap
In this country the cultivation of the
sugar beet has not been found so profit
able. 1t is carried on to limited de
gree in the West and Northwest, and il
is a growing interest in California; bu
it has never disturbed and probably
never will disturb, in this country, tn,
supremacy of the sugar cane as tht
great natural source of sweets.-N. Y
Journal Of Commerce.