The Republican journal., 1881-07-28

Ihe following article from the Wash
Igton Star would Indicate jhat the cul-
Nation Of sorghum for sugar making $
", and is not likely to be Il success:
Oue of Commissioner LeDuc's expert
ucuts in connection with his sugar max
from sorghum has never been made
shown. This Wa4 the sailing and pack
uL AWAY uniu. ground Of the rciuse
talks ot sorghum. from which The juice
bad been pressed by the roller of the su-
-4r mill, for the purpose of making horse
.noL Not only was all of the available
.4ce allotted for experimental vegetable
-uWth soWu with sorghum seed. but
large tarln was rented in Virginia,
-rtrraI miles from this city, and about
.le hundred acres planted with this crop
-eseIul buildings We're erected on the line
o. b. street south, a steam boiler engine
..ld very expensive machinery set up, in
.lding Il mill for pressing the Juice from
4t stalks, boiling tanka,pumps, detecator,
eE3poratUr, mixer, centrifugal apparatus,
Nc The season proved to be a good
ne. and at the proper time the sorghum
"ds cut, the leaves stripped from the
talks, the latter made up into bundles
~ large us could we'll be handled, and
alr tfeorge W. Knox. the Unknown eX-
}ressman, had the contract for bringing
j!le product from the farm to the sugar
Mill in the Agricultural grounds.
The Commissioner had given out that
he would show that Il good merchantabc
dgdr could be made from sorghum, and
III 4 much cheaper rate than the staple
market article. If this could be done Of
COURSE Il revolution was threatened in the
ugar market, and the bulls and bears
Nould have t. fight il out. The chief val
e ol the sorghum heretofore had been
It's Weld OF saccarine matter, which had
been converted into molaSses of very
common kind, but its adaptability for su-
-jr had always been In doubt, and al
though numerous experiments had been
tried none had ever proved successful.
Ihis Commissioner LeDuc attributed
10 the defective process employed but
With the aid Of modern machinery and
The light Of recent scientific discoveries
there was no such thing as fail. The
rue results Of these experiments are
not known to the public, and probably
never will be, but no shock has ever
taken place in the sugar market.
The horse feed project it is thought
was merely incidental, but was good.
As the work progressed, the accumulation
IT the crushed sorghum stalks was sim
ply immense, and what to do with it was
i serious question. The commissioner
generously offered to give it away to poor
persons who kept cows or hogs for feed
Some of it was carted away for such pur-
pose, but it was soon found that the ami
mails would not eat it. Horses would nib
bic ut it little, and the happy thought
struck the commissioner that it could be
saved for horse feed, by sailing and pack
ing away; and by excluding the air on
The ''ensilagc PLAN" it could be success
fully cured and used by farmers during
the winter and spring months, in place Of
hay or short feed. After giving the sub
ject thoughtful consideration he directed
that pit be dug in the sorghum patch
near by the sugar works. This pit was
some 20 feet long by 10 or T. wide, about s
or 9 feet deep, paved and walled up its full
height with hard brick set in cement, and
covered with a rough board roof to keep
the rain out This formed sort Of tank
or reservoir, and into it the green crushed
sorghum stalks were packed in close and
alternate layers of sorghum stalks and
salt, the latter to keep It from termenta-
lion and at the same time give the feed
relishing seasoning. In this way the pit
WAS filled to within a foot or two Of the
top and then all was overlaid with earth
compacted to the depth of two or three feet
10 thoroughly exclude the atmosphere.
This was kept through last winter until
spring, when Il portion was uncovered
and the contents examined. A small
quantity was taken to the stable and put
before the horses, but after all this trou-
bic the ungrateful brutes rejected it, much
to the disgust of its protector. A sort of
strange odOr began to make itself known
IN that neighborhood, something like fer
nented swill, or mash from a distillery,
but no one was able to account for it.
Finding the feed was not relished by
horses, the commissioner gave direc-
IONS that one end of the pit he uncover
ed and the contents thrown out from the
bottom into the open air. This was done
and the Shiny stuff has been left there
since, with the pit open to emit the foul
odors. The horse feed experiment, like
mat OF the sugar, was not success, and