The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1885-05-09

pearing to be identical with any O
the numerous varieties cultivated il
the United States; and it is to be re
membered that none of these varie
ties has ever been cultivated in eithe
of these countries for any purpos,
other than the seed and such forage
as might be secured from the stalk
and blades. Indeed ii is probabl.
true that for The past thousand years tn,
seed of sorghum has furnished food i,
greater abundance for both man and
beast, than haue ,nheat and maize com
bined.
1t is admitted that the demands
upon climate and soil of the sorghum
as also the details of cultivation, are
practically identical with those o.
maize, although it is a matter of mo-
ment that the sorghum, provided
only it secures good start in the
early portion of the season, is capa.
BILE of outstanding not only, but
even fourishing during a drouth
which would prove fatal to maize
The chemical composition of sor-
ghum seed shows it to be practically
identical with maize; and for the
and for the purpose of food, or fat
tening, for the production of alcohol,
glucose or starch, the one may be
substituted for the other, and there
is no reason for any difference in
their commercial value. Grown as
Indian corn is grown, for the seed
alone, sorghum is crop of equal
value with corn, and we are prepared
to believe that upon a plantation
properly located with regard to the
mill and with economy i'm manage
ment, the seed will pay the entire ex-
pense of cultivation of crop and the
delivery of the cane at the mill, as
one of our largest sorghum planters
has assured me.
1t will be seen from tables which
| present that the average amount OF
available sugar present in the juice,
actually expressed, from a crop ac-
tually grown, equaled 1860 pounds
per acre, while the amount of availa-
bic sugar actually present in the
crop, on the superstition of 80 per
cent of juice, was an average of 1853
pounds per acre. These certainly
are astonishing results, and, since
they have been published, there have
been, in certain quarters, persistent
and continuous efforts to cast dis
credit upon them, despite the fact
that committee of the National
Academy of Sciences Jour highest
scientific authority had unanimously
indorsed the methods by which these
results had been obtained as being
among the best known to science
The New York Tribune, in detailing
the average results obtained in 1880,
remarks: The above are certainly
amazing results, indicating that the
economical production of our sugar
supply is something which can be
confidently expected in the near
future, and, as is further said, these
results confirm in a striking manner
the conclusions announced by DIR.
Collier, aud effectually dispose of the
persistent assertions in certain quar-
ters that nobody ever got such re-
suits as DR.. Collier
The bagasse from sorghum con-
tains not only large amount of
sugar, but other valuable food con-
stituentes, and it is. as it comes from
the mill, in mechanical condition,
admirably adapted for the silo and
for eating. 1t appears from aver
ages of large number of ANALYSIS,
that the actual money value of ba-
gasse for food is almost exactly double
that of ordinary ensilage, and since
many of our farmers are engaged in
preparing and feeding ensilage, it is
worth while for them to consider the
value for this purpose of the bagasse
of the sorghum mills, at present used
as fuel or for the manure heap. The
bagasse, from which the sugar has
been thus removed, was afterward
submitted to the ordinary process for |
the preparation of paper pulp. and
sample was made, which, upon being
submitted to one Of our largest pa
per manufacturers, was pronounced
to be of excellent quality. aud worth |
four and half cents per pound. A
ton of cane would yield at least |
ninety pounds of such pulp. so that, |
with an average of ten tons to the |
acre, there might be made an amount |
Of pulp worth $40 So 1t is to be |
that each step in the pro-
cess to which the cane is subjected,
increases its value for the production
Of pulp. and as there is nothing in |
the treatment which forbids its econ
omical employment upon hundreds
Of tons of exhausted bagasse. there
IS reason to believe that ultimately