The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-09-13
THE COMING SUGAR KING.
Fine White Sugar Made From Common
Sorghum Cane.
From the Weekly Nt4us and Courier.

august o, toe Oulteu Othtes Sou1
er of Agriculture, the Hon. Norman j.
Coleman delivered the following address
on the subject of the manufacture of sor.
ghum into syrup and sugar:
Mr.. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Our people are the largest sugar consum
ing people in the world. By the last re.
port on the subject it is ascertained that
we consume 50 pounds of sugar per
capita, throughout the United States, TAX
ing all purposes for which sugar is used
which is about twenty-five per cent.
more than the next largest consum.
ing people use, that is, the English
people. We are paying out annually to
the laborers of other nations over one
hundred millions of dollars of our hard
earned money, which hope to be able to
show you Can be distributed among our
own people by the home production Of
sugar. While We are paying out at this
time one hundred millions of dollars
year, yet our growth of population is go.
ing on, the consumption is annually in.
creasing, and in twenty or twenty-five
years from now, at the least, we shall be
paying, unless there is a change, two
hundred millions of dollars to the people
of other nations. Have you eyer consid-
cred the drain upon your resources caused
by taking this vast amount of money
from your pockets and seuding it to enrich
other nations? Its question worthy
of the profound consideration of the
statesmen of America. We hear good
deal about our great national debt; but
that, gentlemen, is a mere bagatelle in
comparison with the drain caused by the
purchase of our sugar supply, which has
become one of the necessities of life.
Our public debt is due mainly to our ewn
people. When itispaid the money again
goes into circulation and the country is not
exhausted of this blood almost vital to it's
life.
PROUD OF BEING A FARMER.
am proud to be called one of that
CLASH who are engaged in cultivating the
soil, and generally feel at home in such
meetings as this because I was born upon
a farm and my whole life has been devo-
ted to the elevation of the farmer and to
the development ofour great agricultural
interests, [Applause. We farmers all
know that there is no plant more at home
among us than the sorghum plant. AS l.
have travelled on my way from Washing
ton have seen numerous patches of it
growing with great vigor and freedom. I
dare say wherever it is grown in this or
surrounding countries or States it is one
of your most VIGOROUS producing plants.
You know as we'll as do that rich and
healthy SYRUP has been produced from it
ever since it was introduced some thirty
years ago, the Chinese sugar cane. At
that time I commenced it's cultivation,
receiving my frat supply of seed from the
patent Office. I,nade syrup from it, and
to my surprise at times would find per.
haps one third or one fourth of q barrel
of crystals in the bottom of my syrup
barrel. I then commenced studying the
productions of sugar, and have from that
time to this given it my careful consider
alton.
SUGAR CAN BE MADE AT HOME.
I concluded then that if this sugar
would crystalize when no effort was made
to produce that result, all-the sugar need.
ed in our country might in time be pro.
duced at home. had noted the cultiva.
tiou Of sugar beets You probably know
that more than half the sugar now
consumed by the civilized world is made
from beets. You probably recollect that
] Napoleon offered bounty for its produc-
tion. Although the first beets used for
sugar showed unly about per cent of
ssccbarine matter, enterprisipg sugar
manufacturers, encouraged by the kind.
ness and bounty ofthe Government, have
improved it from year to year until it
now shows about 8 per cent of saccha.
rine matter, result accomplished by
I careful and scientific cultivation.
i argued that the same improvements
could be made in sorghum culture. The
first advance in that direction was the in.
PRODUCTION of what is now called "amber
|'cane.'' Mr.. John S.. Keys, of Indiana,
brought home some seed obtained while
on visit to Paris. He planted it aud
succeeded in raising one stalk. Itripened
earlier he found upon examination that
its juice was richer in saccharine matter ;
and from that stalk of cane has been pro
/ dnced the earlier amber variety, which is
now to be found on nearly every farm
where sorghum is cultivated. Being 60
early, it was taken to Minnesota and was
there cultivated. The syrup was Of a 6ue
amber color. 1t WAS found to crystalize
readily, and you will recollect that a
good deal of sugar was produced from the
amber cane. A great many barrels of
sugar have been made from it. My
friends here, Senators Butler and voorhees,,
will probably recollect that barrel OF
that sugar was sent to President Hayes
at the time that he was in Washington.
This gave great boom to the production
of sugar.
ACTUAL EXPERIMENTS.
/ 1t went so far, finally, that large man.
ufacturing establishment was erected at
Champaign, ILL.,, and some go, 900 or70, 900
pounds of most excellent sugar vas pro>
duced. But it was produced by what is
called the .'old roller mill process" which
failed to extract all of the eaccharine con.
tents of the cane, 40 pounds only ofsugar
being produced to the ton Of caue. The
price Of sugar was then very low, for