The Indiana State sentinel., 1883-08-29
Sorghum
Philadelphia Record. 7

Sorghum is rapidly growing into favor IN
the West. AID this season witnessed quite
large ART a devoted TO IL in this section. IL
PCS essss several advantages other than yield
ing sugar, as the fodder from il keeps bsEter
than that of corn, not drying and crumbiing
So readily. The seed is very valuable also
being excellent Tor poultry as we'll AS for fat-
tening stCcs, and the yie.d On good soil l.
very heavy Although the agricultural de
palimeDt has been ridicnled for It's expsn-
sive expe imsnf~ at making sugar from sjr-
gbun yet Il fos.trcd and encouraged the
production Of sugar with such peIsistenc.
ttst be or vii x of this plant as q source
from which to procure sugar has been firmly
established in the Northern States, the final
/ ,esult Of which will no doubt be oar lnds-
pt tnGence OF Cuba and other tropical co,n-
uies for our SugsTsupply, not excepting even
Lnuisiaus.
During ihe war the Southern States grew
lsIee crops Of sorghum, from which sirnp
sas nS6e OF 81 excellent quality, but III
arr of crysializiUg il ~ss net kno4n at tha
! time, bat with recent discoveries and i'm
rovtd systems Of crushing snd evapOratng
there is no longer any d fficulty in the way.
/ Tie MinutsOla Amber has been successfully
grOs wherever IN can be produced, end
/ so extensive hes sorghum growing became
/ Z at < GcOse is destined 10 become an unim-
/ 10 t1Dt cCmpeti or. Unlike corn, in some
r,<pects, however, sorghum is specially
adapted TO light sandy soils, withstsnds
| drought much better and can be grown
/ clt ser and more compactly. The best results
are obtained when the crop is put in the
| ground early. ard f.r making sugar the
stalks should be cut sBd worked up the same
day, or within twenty-four hours; bat il is
/ b 81 to cooperate, and thus save time, labor
| and expense in manufacture. which is the
/ plan adopted in many places.
Although the production Of sugar from
sorghum has been established there are many
experiments being tried in different locali-
ties-for much is to be discovered yet that
will be OF valuable assistance. During the
conversion of the Juice into sugar rapid
chemical changes take place, and experience
is required in order TO be successful; but san
guine growers and manufacturers are conf
dent CT overcoming all obstacles in q few
more seasons and the industry will then be
! one Of the most iH portant in the country.
According TO the reports of the Agricul-
/ tural Department, cane sugar in sorghum is
Z sSsC ciated with one tenth OF its weight of
grape sugar (glucose), and not far from one
fifth its weight of solids not sugar, such as
ash, gum, albumeD, wax, and few other
substances, but the cane sugar varies from ii
to 1G per cent. OF the expressed juice. The
product of seed is equal to from
two TO four bushels per ton OF cane
About 40 per cent, of the Juice is lost in the
begasse (refuseh but the same proportion
is lost IN the Juice of the tropical cane,
though it is believed that investigation will
result in discovering method Of saving one
half OF this less. The begasse is used for
making paper. and, treated az fertilizer, re-
turns portion OF that which was taken from
the coil II is also used with advantage as
fuel where that article Is scarce. Even the
scum and sediment are used in some manner,
no portion Of the cane being wasted.
AS yet capital and improved machinery ara
necessary in making sugar from sorghum,
and the methods of manufacture differ; but
individuals can manufacture sirup with bCf
lit,le expense. The difficulty is in crystallIz-
ing the sugar, for until that tskes place the
result is only sirup. Leaving out sugar.
farmers can easily and cheapIy grow
sorghum, either for siIup or fodder, aud,
with the yield of seed, will no doubt fad i.
as profitable as any other crop on the farm.
Experiments In Feeding Pigs.
Nebraska Farmer.l
Last spring, at the lows Agricultural Col
leee, wes- tried an experiment which dev5l-
oped some points OF interest. Six shoats
we're fed in two lots, one lot receiving only
sbelled corn, fifteen pounds per day, the
other the same weight of corn meal moist
ton for four weeks two pounds were taken
from each ration and the place supplied With
the same weight of oil meal. When whole
corn and corn meal were fed alone the cost
of pork per pound was 1 cents and 1-l0
| cents; when the oil meal was added the cost
wss reduced TO cents and is cents in the
corresponding lots. Corn is here valued a.
80 cents, corn meal at AZ cents per bushel,
and oil meal ii cents per pound. Ii was
observed that the pigs would eat their mess
Of moistened meal in eight minutes, whila il
took the others twenty-five minutes to eat
the shelled corn. In the experiment, with
pork at Sc 50, corn meal fed TO pigs returns1
81 per bushel and whole corn 81 cents.
This experiment points in the same direc-
ton as the one reported some weeks ago. that
about feeding ensilsge to fsttening steers. II
will be remembered that in this case the
steers that were fed ensilage gained sixty
four pounds more than those fed hay. It is
not to be inferred that this increased result
is due to greater nutritive value OF ensilage,
but rather that the succulent ensilsge had
the effect OF increasing the digestibility of the
corn fed with it. 1t is well-known fact that
two animals will sometimes eat the same
smount Of grain, and the will gain IN
flesh aud the other not. Ia certain c0ndi-
tions OF the digestive organs the DO yer to as
s'miiate nutr1ment is SO impaired that no
more is used than Just what is sufficient to
keep up the ordinary operations OF life. II
se. ms highly probable that the increased
gain in the pigs fed small quantity of oil
meal with their corn was due 70 the superior
digestibility OF the mixture over corn or corn
meal alone.
HOusthsld Hints
HINTS on wAsHIEe.-If you put soda in
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