The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1882-11-30
SWEETNESS.


front rapidly, and may soon take q
prominent place in our commercial
transactions. Well. it has had a long
pull, and has cut but sorry figure, con.
sideriDg the attention il has had. All
will be glad il what is now claimed for
it turns out to be a realization. Il has
made SO many failures that people viii
be little slow in concluding that real
place of the produce Of the southern
cane, has or can be made from sorghum
This country is paying the West Indies
and South America something lIkl
$780, 600, 600 year for sugar, and The
sum is said TO be all the time increasing
These countries do not buy 20 pei
cent of this amount from US, and We
have to make out the remainder in gold
or ship our corn, Deef, petroleum, hour
lard, and other products 10 Europe
sell them, and take out a hundred mil
lions and send il To the West Indies and
South America to pay for She sugaI
over and above what we raise. II il
the heaviest single drain of all our for.
eign wants How 10 STOP this drain
upon our resources has been a question
that has bothered economists and peo-
pie generally. II has frequently from
tune u. time, been announce,i ihal
somebody had solved the problem By
some discovery that overeame all diff
cuIties in the way of making good sugar
and mol,sses from sorghum. Kansas
has contributed her full share of these
discoveries, but still the public have
gone on purchasing the f:.reign sugars
The frat experiments were made with
beet sugar, and enthusiasts believed
the millennium had come, but while
beets succeeded in some parts
of Europe they totally fail
Ell in America. Occasionally
you could hear that bets were doing
the work sure, in some distant part OF
the country. But when one attempted
to find the place where good sugar had
been made from them, it was like the
milk-sickness, just over In the
next county. Twenty or lhir-
ty years ago sorghum was intro
duccd. the seeds were widely distrib-
uicd, and The farmers got up buou. on
sorghum syrup. The boom did mol
last long. A miserable syrup WAS pro
duced. but there was something in the
juice which prevented capitalization
and the manufacture abandoned
Within the past three or Jour years re,
neIed efforts have been made, and at last
Profs. Scoville and Weber. of the Him.
dis State Industrial University, have
solved the problem Of manufacturing
sugar from sorghum. That is, they be.
lieve they have. Everybody hopes they
have struck it," and that sorghum will
become one OF our kings. along with
hogs. cattle, corn, wheat. cation and
"bossisn,,'' the latter being one of our
newest ami most prosperous Industries.
The Chicago Tribune well remarks
that The possibilities opened up by
the professors discoveries are we'll
nigh limiilcss Sorghum can be plant
ed over as wide an area as corn. 1t can
be raised upon the same kind of soil, in
about the same time, in an even greater
quantity OF tonnage, and in numerous
varieties 1t can be grown in Louisiana
and -MinnesoIa and midway between
them. Illinois offers N splendid field
for its cultivation. The figures
show that the product of
$50 acres worked by the company which
has been carrying out the professors
processes tor this year is 1875 900 pounds
of sugar and %, 500 gallons of molasses,
having value of about $4,000, or an
average of $40 10 the acre. In other
words, they have succeeded in raising
half a ton OF sugar and about half u ton oi
molasses, or a ton of saccharine matter
to the acre, at the profit already shown
which is much larger than the :,r0fil
from corn, and more than the land itsell
is worth Even if it should fall tn two
thirds il would still yield more than
other products. and the lower the price
should fall tue greater would he the
demand. When the American peopl,
raise their own sugar, and can export it
they will be nearly independent of til,
world, go fer as wants of this class ar,
concerned There now seems to he NJ
reason why they should not accomplish
this