Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-07-29

The Renewed cultivation OF S0r-
CHEM.
Recent improvements in the methods
Of preparing the juice of sorghum have
resulted, it is said, in obvisting all diff
Guilty in making from sorghum an abun-
dance of sugar of frst-rate quality which
will compare favorably with the best pro-
ducsd from sugar cane. Professor Collier, of
the Department of Agriculture, declares
this TO be the case and announces as the
result of full aud careful experiment that
the largest percentage of crystallizabe
sugar is to be had from the juice of dead
ripe, thoroughly matured plants. One of
the reasons for the comparative fail
ure Of the first efforts to introduce
the extensive cultivation OF sorghum
is said to have been the mistake in extract
ing the juice from green stalks. This
failure has been more apparent than real,
however, for The cultivation of sorghum
has been continuously carried on in many
parts of the country and there has been
steady and satisfactory improvement in
methods of manufacture. The difficulty
in the earlier attempts was not merely in
the crushing of the cane before it was
ripe but in the improper manipulation of
the juice after it was expressed. 1t is
even found that considerable amount of
sugar can be extracted from the stalks of
the common maize or Indian corn after
the corn has been gathered.
Professor Collier in a considerable num-
Der of trials with different samples of
sorghum from various localities, has OBJ
tanned as an average yield more than ton
of sugar to the acre, and in one instance
got three tons from an acre. In the very
interesting experiment of beet sugar Gull
ture now being made in our own State,
we believe the best that has been accom-
plished thus far has been to obtain 2 "a
tons from an acre. The Nation, which
gives considerable space in recent num-
Der to Prof. Golfers statements, regards
the outlook for sugar supply from sor-
ghum as greatly better than that for a
supply from the sugar beet. 1t says the
beets require rich ground, careful culture
and much labor, while their juice is con-
taminated with some substance which
renders brown sugar obtained from it
unfit to be eaten, and hence the
sugar has to be refined to a bril-
liant whiteness to make it palatable,
while the molasses incidentally obtaine
is useless except for purposes of distilla-
ton. Sorghum, on the other hand, is
well suited to our soil aud climate, will
grow wherever Indian corn will grow, and
needs no more attention. Its juice is free
from all offensive Impurities or disagreea.
be flavor, and hence both the brown
sugar and molasses obtained from it are
palatable and fit for domestic use, and
either can be made by any farmer by very
simple processes. Iu addition to all this
the plant yields large quantities of seed
rich in starch, which make excellent foot
for poultry, swine and cattle. We con
/ fess some surprise and doubt az to tn,
correctness of the unfavorable comparison
of the sugar beet with sorghum, for botl
t can be grown in Europe, and thsre tn
beet is evidently greatly preferred.
, Still, il all that Professor Collier claim
a concerning sorghum is true, it is of i'm
1 mense Importance to our people every
/. where, but to none of more importanc
. than to those of Delaware who know ho'
n to raise Ii dian corn better than any o.he
# crop, and who could turn to the cultivatio
Of sorghum with eass and find in its seed
Il material for fattenipg that poultry, IL
n annual cash receipts from which net tn
II Peninsula more than its much talke
1t OF peach crop. 1t is of in
ia portance, too, to the whole countr,
D. for we now import nearly or quite hui
l. dred millions of dollars worth OF sugi
n annually, and Professor Collier confident
n. prophesies that within five years all ii
,e sugar needed for use in the United Stat
will be produced by American farmer
and he considers it probable that with
,f ten years we shall export as much as '
now import. These sound like huge pr
IN dctions, but greater ones have been fl
ly filled and exceeded in our history mo
ly than once. The matter is certainly W,
lg worthy of attention.