Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-05-02
The sorghum Sugar Industry.

We are in receipt Of letter OF in
quiry from @. j ODoherty. Managing
Director Of the Dominion Sugar and
Syrup Company, of Ottawa, Canada,
asking for information relative to the
sorghum industry in Southern Califor-
MIA. We give answer to his questions in
the order in which they are given:
!. What is the time of planting sor-
ghum or corn,
Sorghum would probably be planted
at about the same time Of planting corn.
The latter can be planted at any time
from Apfi to June, or even July and
August. 1t is generally planted in April
and May. The corn districts are con-
fined to the mtis st lands that need no irri
cation, as the high mesa or dry lands
that need irrigation are generally higher
priced and the expense Of irrigation in
creases the cost OF production and small
er crops are raised.
2. When does sorghum or corn ma
ture or ripenl
The ripening Of sorghum would be
about the same as that of corn, and this
| HDuitl utDtutl On Vic tllilc VI
The time would extend from August to
late in the fall, extending over about
four months of time.
3. Will sorghum or corn grow sue
cessfully throughout the summer time
without irrigation?
Yes, on moist lands. The corn region
of California is confined to the moist
lands where water is to be found at from
two to ten feet from the surface. In
some sections like Los Neitos corn
is grown by irrigation, and it is done
successfully. This section is what is
known as semi-moist land. The
corn sections of Southern CAL
ifornia are to be found in the low
lands of Los Angeles and San Bernardo
no counties, such as FL Monte, Los
Nietos, Ballona, Gospel Swamp, Comp
ton and some minor places in the former
county, and in and around San Bernar-
dino, Chino and Rincon in the latter
county. There is no attempt made at
raising corn to any extent on the mesa
or table lands, as these lands are dry
and being suited to fruit culture they are
too high priced.
4th-Could the planting of sorghum
or corn be so regulated by earlier and
later planting as to extend the period of
its ripening over a long period, of say
four or five months.
Yes. This question is answered fully
above.
| Mr.. O'Doherty then says:
81 have machinery here for the work.
ing up of the cane, and If the conditions
were favorable would take out the most
valuable portions of 1t to your State. l
should require the cooperation of the
proprietors of some colony or the farm
ers in thickly settled neighborhood.
who would grow the cane and supply it
to the factory, the factory would manu-
facture it into sugar and syrup, and the
product divided one-half to the grower
the other half to the factory. These
are the usual conditions on the At
lantic side Of the mountains. Sorghum
yields here from one to two hun
dred gallons of very fine syrups
per acre or its equivalent in sugar
and molasses, about one-half of which in
the climate of California where it is very
much warmer the yield should be double
what it is here, and give large pro-
portion of sugar over molasses. 1t seems
to me that in the Southern portion of
the State if the supply of water is suffi-
cient there should be no trouble in grow
ing even the ribbon or sugar cane of the
South. Sorghum growing is not so profit
able as fruit, but it is equally and more
so than corn, wheat, etc. l see by the
statistics that considerable corn is grown
| in all the counties of the State except
| San DIEGO The ADVANTAGE of SORGHUM
growing over fruit is that it yields re-
turn inside of SIX months. 1t would at
all events be diversity of crops, which
is often desirable. = Ontario Fruit
GroWer.