Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-11-23
,rne ComwIttee,s report.


The committee find as the result OF their
investigation that all the analyses made in
the Department of Agriculture not Only con-
6rm the well-known TACT Of the presence OF
sugar in the Juices of the sorghum and maize
in notable quantity, bnt they aIso establish
the fact tina. the sorghum yields 10 its juice,
when taken at the proper stage OF develop
ment, about as much cane sugar as the best
sugar-cane of tropical regions. An examln-
alton of the analytical tables submitted to
them shows that the juices of sorghum in.
certain exceptional but not isolated cases
were remarkable for The amount of cane
sugar they contained. 1t is ascertained by
these analyses that as an average of them all
there were obtained 5S.57 per cent. of the
weight OF stripped stalks in juice. OF the
weight of this Juice 1918 per cent. was crys-
talizable cane sugar, and it was learned that
IL 80 per cent. of the weight of the juice
may be obtained IS sugar by the ordinary
processes of manufacture.
II also appears that three varieties of sor-
ghum gave over thirteen per cent. of sugar,
seven varieties twelve per cent. seven eleven
Fer cent, seven fen per cent. and seven nine per
cent of sugar; and that of the varieties of
maize grown in 1880 ten varieties gave over
nine pr cent. cane sugar, ten varieties ten
DER cent, nine varieties eleven per cent, nine
varieties twelve per cent, four varieties thir-
teen per cent, one variety fourteen per cent.
and one fifteen per cent. The committee
stale that in 1880 over 100000 acres of
land, or thirty eight per cent. of all the cul-
tiyated land Of the United States, were in
maize The amount OF sugar thus ap.
parently lost, calculated by the results OBJ
lained by the Department of Agriculture in
the last three years, is equal to the present
product OF the entire world. A remarkable
uniformity has been discovered in the sew
eral varieties OF sorghum as ugar-producing
plants when fully developed, but it has also
been learned that the different varieties vary
widely in The time required for their full
development, varying, as has been shown,
fully three months between the earlier and
later maturing varieties.
"No conclus:on," says the report, sestab-
lished by the work of the Department of
Agriculture, practically considered, is of
greater importance than the positive aacer-
iainment Of that period in the development
of the several varieties of sorghum when
the Juices contain the maximum Of cane
sugar. On this point there has existed DUR
ing the past twenty years or more the
greatest discrepancy in statement, and the
general opinion prevailing has been very
wide of the truth, ases ablished by all these
experiments"
The Investigations of the department
prove 10 the entire satisfaction of the COM
mittee that after the cutting of the cane it
SHOULD be Immediately worked up" for the
production of sugar. The results submitted
to the committee also indicate that the ex-
clusion from the matured cane of all imms-
ture cane is OF the greatest Importance if the
manufacture of sugar is contemplated, and
show the importance of an even crop with
no suckers in its manufacture for sugar.
The committee also find that "prompt work.
ing of the cane as soon as cut is always safe,
aud any delay is fraught with unavoidable
risk OF loss" This conclusion is established
as well by the work of DIR. Goessman as by
that of the Department OF Agriculture.
The statements submitted by the department
also show that sugar has been made from
sorghum and cornstalks. at will be seen
from the reports of the past three years of
the Department of Agriculture, as we'll as
from wide range of experience elsewhere,
that sugar in large quantities has been shown
10 be present in the juices of sorghum, and
maize also, which is of the first import ance
from the economical side. High. grade
marketable sugar III considerable quantity
has been successfully made from sorghum
juice, comparing favorably with sugar
from the true sugar cane or sugar beet"
The committee have also found that the
hydrometer and ripe seed sre sufficient to in
dictate the proper time for working up the
crop. 1t is shown, moreover, by the investi-
CATION at the department that the idea that
the effect OF rain would be manifest in the
diluted juice, and that conversely prolonged
drouth would result in a concentration aud
diminulion of the juice, is utterly unfounded
and Incorrect. L. has been shown that when
fully matured the sorghum stands even hard
frosts without deiriment, but if immature
the effect is most disastrous.
With regard 20 the manufacture of sugar
from sorghum, the experiments OF the de-
partment have shown that the statement of
DIR. Geessman, that Gin sight of these facts
it will be quite generally conceded that the
sugar production from syrup like the above
must remain a mere incidental feature in the
amber-cane industry in our section of the
country" is entirely unfounded, and that the
relative loss of sucrose in the syrup was
only five per cent. of the present in the juice,
instead of being, as Dr.. Goessman found,
30.S5 per cent; and was no more than usual
with sugar cane juice-a fact of the utmost
importance TO the farmer as well as 10 the
manufacturer. With regard 10 the so-called
gum, a product of the manufacture, the
committee say that in the purging of sor-
ghum and cornstalk sugar it happens very
often that this operation is of unusual diff
Guilty owing 10 the presence of certain
gummy substance, and this practical diff
Guilty has been by some so magni6ed that the
econ 5mical production of sugar from these
two plants has been confidently declared i'm
possible. In the experience of those in
Washington, as we'll AS that of many other
observers, this peculiar substance has been
found to be present in quantity SO small as
to offer little, If any, resistance TO complete
purging in the ordinary centrifugal. 1t APP
pears to be formed by transformation OF
other constituents of the juice in the process
of syrup production.
The committee recommend still fur
ther investigation into the effect of fertilizers
upon the growth OF the sorghum and maiz',
variety of soil best adapted 10 the produc-
ton Of sugar in these plants, the methods OF
DELEGATION, and the processes of manufacture
and use OF lime and some other alkaline
agent. The committee express the opinion
that the fruits of the encouraging "policy OF
the government toward the sorghum indus
try are already beginning to show them
selyee in the decided success which has at
tended the production of sugar from sor-
ghum on a commercial scale in the few cases
IN which the rules snd good practice evolv-
ed, especially by the researches made at the
laboratory of the Department of Agriculture,
have been intelligently followed. Sufficient
ly full returns from the crop of 1882 have
already come to hand to convince US that the
industry will probably be commercial sue
cess" The report concludes with sugges-
ton that the "sugar-producing industries of
the whole country, both that of the tropical
cane at the South and the sorghum over
far wider area, will be vastly benefited by
further Investigations similsr to those that
have already been submitted to them"
The conclusion arrived at by the depart
ment in the laboratory and mill as its special
contribution to the sorghum industry, and
the conclusions obIaiued elsewhere, are in the
opinion of the committee as follows:
First-Cane should be worked up as soon as cut.
Second-That suckers should not be allowed in
the crop.
Third-Thst the exclusion of all immature cane
Is Of the GREATEST imnortance n the manufacture