The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1880-09-16
Farm and Household.
Prom the Baltimore American.
THE SUGAR INTERESTS.
WHAT THE AGRICULTURAL
BUREAU IS DOING.
DEVELOPING AGRICULTURAL
RESOURCES.

No one who has ever held the
Dosition Of Commissioner Of AgTicul-
ture at Washington has been subject
TO as much attempted ridicule as Mr..
Le Duo. who at present holds that
Office; but we think there are few
who have had the opportunity, as we
have. of observing the operations OF
that department Of the government
but will do the Commissioner the
Justice TO believe that no one has
evidenced a greater zeal than he to
develop the agricultural resources OF
tbe country for a home supply IN
those departments Of life which are
of dsilv necessity to the great mass
of our people. The pitful allowance
of a few thousand dollars per annum,
outside Of the expense Of printing the
annual reports, IS but as a drop IN
the bucket compared with the nil-
lions upon millions which are Lavish
ed upon every other department.
and has probably prevented his aDll-
itv of fully demonstrating the pracu-
cabiIity Of success in supplying our
selves with certain Of the necessaues
of life for which, in great degree
We are now dependent upon foreign
lands. and for which We are Obliged
to nav in the precious metals; as
-, -,,,v,tr;se from which we re-
ceive our tea and sugar and coffee,
we find in the very interesting report
lust published from the pen Of MIR.
EVarts, Secretary Of State, are eur
creditors. whilst those which receive
our agricultural products, as well as
our manufactures, are largely our
debtors. Two at least of the prod
ucts indicated, tea and sugar, Mr.
lie Due is experimenting with-the
first al the South, and the latter more
particularly at the West, although
there is no reason to doubt that, If
success can be obtained in securing
a supply of sugar from the source to /
which he IS particularly directing his
attention at this time, its production
could be made available in most OF
the other States as well as those OF
the West. Whilst at the North and
the Middle districts Of the country,
attention has been directed TO the
obtaining of sugar from the sugar
beet and the maple, at the West a
more general effort has been made
for its production from sorghum
whilst In Louisiana, as we have lately
shown, with capital and well directed
management, a supply could be OBJ
tanned from the old sOurce-the su-
gar cane-to meet the demands OF
the whole country. In addition to
these sources, however. the Commls-
sioner Of Agriculture has very largely
directed his attention to the fact that,
in an article which may almost be
considered as nearly worthless on the
farm-the corn stalk sugar can be
produced which, without deTactng
from its value as a cereal, can furnish
of itself a suficiency Of sweetness to
supply every cup of tea or coffee that
is drank in the land. Of course, It
is not to be expected that many
farmers will be induced to undertake
the work uutl the full realization
from his experiment has been ex-
perienced by the Commissioner and
those who are cooperating with him.
And we only call the attention OF our
readers to the subject at this time
for the purpose of introducing an eX-
tract from a letter Of Prof Steuart to /
the editor of the Rural World, show
the progress that is being made in
the development Of this industry.
After referring to former letters pub
ished in the Philadelphia Ledger
and the New York Tribune, the Pro
fessor details his subsequent efforts
as follows:
',After ascertaining the existence
in the Juice Of about twelve per cent. /
sugar; and after making careful analy-
sis TO determine the chemical char
acteristics Of the juice otherwise ; |
and after repeated failures to extract
the sugar by any Of the methods now
in use had demonstrated to me their
entire impracticability for that pur-
pose, and the reason Oft, I was led
to the discovery Of the process which !
bears my name. It was publicly
stated BY me that under various cir |
cumstances, more or less favorable, |
from 1900 to 1880 pounds Of good
sugar per acre of ground planted
could be obtained from the juice Of
the common corn stalks. Further
more, that the sugar was true cane
sugar; that it existed in the juice of
this plant in peculiar combination,
but in large quantity, from the time
the corn passed the Towering stage
until the stalks and ears were ripe,
and that the largest yield was when |
the ears were but partially mature.
These statements were reiterated by |
me at the St. Louis and Elmira sugar |
in 1873, and were re-
peated in various periodicals. Tests !
the most thorough and conclusive, |
made with scientific precision and |
at the same time in a simple and |
practical way, were made with the |
new process when these results be
came known, under the direction Of
the Commissioner Of Agriculture, in |
1873 and 1879, and by some private |
parties, and these fully corrobOTated |
the statements which had previous !
" made and also the results which
reached in reducing the crystalliza-
ton Of sorghum to a certainty by the |
same means.
''The fact recently published by
Prof Collier, Chemist of the Depart |
ment Of Agriculture, that he obtain |
ed in this way a double crop, 1900 /
pounds of sugar Of prime quality yand
90 -Busheles Of dry, ripe Dent corn,
per acre Of ground, ought to open
the eyes Of our Western people to an
interest in which they have hereto
fore been blind. He would have OBJ
tanned more sugar, but less corn,
earlier.
zone reason Of this neglect is the
attention which has deservedly been
given recently to sorghum. But as
the time is now at hand when this
matter can be verified, again call