The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-11-01
Anderspn gntelli9eneer.
Great Possibilities.

ern science is teaching many lessons III
economy, and modern invention bids
fair to create repeated economical sur.
prises. In Spain we arc told that after
the juice is extracted from the grapes,
for wine manufacture, the mass is sub
ject to hydraulic pressure the residium
of which is converted into brandy. The
skins Of the grapes are fed TO hogs.
Those animals rapidly fattcn upon what
would appear to be mere trash
Experiments in sorghum culture have
been carried on TO such on extent that
the Agricultural Department reports
upon tho probability of furnishing from
this source alone all the sugar needed for
home consumption. The difficulty Of
crystalzing the syrup of sorghum cane
into sugar has been overcome, and before
another decade, the United States may
save ono hundred million dollars nnnu.
ally by removing the necessity of sac
charne importation.
The seed of sorghum is said to be one
Of the best kinds Of food for ta,tcning
hogs. Professor Dodge is Of the opinion
that this can be made a!ma3t rs useful to
Americans as the bamboo is to Chinese.
We find the following condensation Of
the report OF the Agricultural Depart
msnt in the Boston GtG'c:
There is no part Of the plant and no
part Of the refuse produced in the max
of the sugar but can be put to some use.
The seed is equal to oats and other grain,
as stock food, aud its value, when the
sorghum is raised in quantity, goes far
toward defraying the cost of cultivating
the crop. The seed product is from
twenty to thirty bushels per acre, and its
value in some localities has been estima.
tod at " fivo IA huuhal ffho
leaves and the crushed refuse of the cane
stalks, technically known as begassc arc
found to make excellent fodder, having a
feeling value twice as great rs ensilage.
Or the bGgasse can be lcachcd, and 10
entirely exhausted Of its sugar and the
remaining refuse used for fuel or for the
manufacture Of paper pulp. Pulp ;hus
made was pronounced by All excellent
paper maker to be worth four and half
cents per pound. Or, with the addition
OF qucklime, the begassc is found to
make an excellent compost. The refuse
in the boiling Of the juice has it's uses
also. The first skimmings make Il good
fertilizer, and the 81 cond have al impor
tanL use in the making of vinegar. All
this leaves only the leaves Of the plant
nnaccounted for. If some experiment
ing genius could find II use for them,
sorghum cane would deserve to be known
pre.eminently as the Useful Plant. The
yield of cane per acre varies from eight
to twenty tons, with n value of from
$3.50 to 81 per ton. The average yield
per acre is about 600 pounds. So that
the financial value Of the crop ITSELF
without taking the by products into con-
sideration, compares fnvoraby with that
of any other standard crops The indus.
haa hepn aI,ccnuaFtll,, corr;oH ~, oil
through the South and in most of the
Western States, even rs far North IA
Wisconsin. Although it has not yet
been developed to any considerable ex-
tent, these experiments by the Agricul-
tural Department, and its reports OF
others that have gone beyond the stage
OF experiment, indicate that there is n
great future in the United States for the
sorghum industry.
just as this revelation as to the posi-
bilities of sorghum bursts upon tho
world, New Orleans is all agog with the
discovery of II process called tho "Stron.
tinum," whereby every particle of Juice
can be extracted from cane and every
drop of molasscs converted into sugar
The process is thus explained "Stron,i.
mum has the strongest affinity for sugar.
Mixed with molasses it causes the imnc-
dinto deposit Of the saccharine matter
From this the strontinum can then be
separated by the use Of carbonc acid
gas, and utilized again without loss.
Thus, it will be seen, the process is T.
simple ans! inexpensive one, az the snmc
stronlinum can be used from week to
week and rs it is cheap and can he
procured in large quantities, there ought
70 be no difficulty in the use Of this
chemical" If this be reliable, and little
doubt is expressed, the value of the
Louisiana sugar crop is doubled by an
inexpensive chemical discovery.
We have, from time, alluded to the
Importance Of jutc culture in the South,
and shown that tho day dccorticating
machine could be invented, Il second
crop for this section, almost "a important
rs cotton, would become n permanent
institution. The Now Orleans papers
claim that practical trials of a machine
invented by Mr.. Frame Lun have
demonstrated the feasibility of preparing
the jute plant for manufacturing purpo-
ses. There will be improvements upon
tho l.uft machine, and very soon Mis-
sissppi, Louisiana and other States Of
the South will be raising jute and manu-
featuring it into fabrics.
MIR. g. Nlenelas, of Mississippi who
hoo oAoaEut JutC SuituIt lulU
and, moro than any other person, stimu.
lated the invention of n decorticatinr
machine for that fbrous plant, is n pro-
found believer in the ability of the South
to emancipate this country from the
Chinese and Japanese tea monopoly. He
has shown that the tea plant thrives in
this section, and that capital employed
In its proper manipulation would renp n
rich harvest. Great Britain has made
tea culture in India successful, and there
is no reason why 1t should not be eyentu- :
ally Southern staple. We believe that
bounty offered by the Government or
States would make tea culture at the
South just rs wonderful success az the
production Of salt in Michigan has
become. Mr. Menelas, in n recent pri.
vate letter to the editor of the Picayunc.
says: "That we shall produce tea in this
country, that we shall become indepcn-
dent Of oriental Asia and save our
country from paying It an annua! tribu,a
of $4,000, 900 to $50 ,OO0, 900, 1 have not
the slightest doubt"
Verify, we are on the eve of marvel
Gus developments In many ways. If
sorghum can be turned to such numerous
uses if sugar can be doubled in produce
ton; if jute shall approach cotton in
usefulness; and If tea is destined to
become Southern crop-what indie.
scribable changes are just ahead in
Southern agricultureP The resources Of
our Southern country have lain too long