The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-15
TOO MANY GRADES OF SYRUP.
THAT'S WHAT HAS MADE THE IN
DUSTRY UNPROFITABLE.

facture and Consequent Failure OF
the Article to Keep Also Come In
for n Share of the BIame-FiItering
the Syrup Through Spanish Moss
VIII Keep ItPure and Sweet-NIaj.
Ryals Is Firmly Convinced That
Under Proper Conditions the In
dustry Can BE Made Profitable.
The agitation in the Morning News on
the subject of cane culture in Georgia has
brought forth comments, most of them ia
vorable, from sources innumerable. There
is a general recognition or the fact that
under proper conditions the raising of
cane for the manufacture of syrup or su-
gar can be made TO pay IN the state and
that only a degree of close attention to
planting, cultivating and caring for the
cane and an equal degree OF attention in
the subsequent processes of its manufac-
ture into syrup are necessary TO ensure
success.
Among those who have long been inter
ested in the subject and have striven to
bring it into the prominence to which ii Is
rightly entitled and which it should receive
NJ. Ryals. Maj. Ryals' studies have not
some beyond the production of syrup of a
high and uniform grade and he is not
conversant with the process for the manu-
facture of the crude sugar or its refine
ment. He is convinced that from the
Georgia cane a good article of syrup, that
would have commercial standing, can
be produced and that if the farmers pay
proper degree of attention to this crop
it will prove a profitable source of reve-
nue.
In an issue of the Morning News of
about three or four months ago." said
Mai. Ryais last night "there was an in
terview with me on this subject of cane
production and syrup manufacture in
which I expressed the same views, APP
proximately, as have recently appeared.
The trouble that the farmers have had in
marketing their product in The past has
been due to the fact that there We're no
recognized grades and that every farmer
in the state had his own ideas on the
subject of making syrup, that he would
not depart from and that often resulted
in the production of a very inferior arti-
c.e. No one can tell, even now, when he
orders a barrel of Georgia syrup what 1t
VI bti bG lth6 OF WuGlUtE II Will De SdIdD
in the market for which it is intended"
"A second obstacle to success lies in
the fact that the syrup Is so carelessly
manufactured that in many instances it
will not keep during the summer months
and the merchants are afraid of accumu-
lating a very large stock for the reason
that it will spoil on their hands and leave
them without any profit on their invest
ment. AS a consequence, they are only
willing 10 accept such quantities as they
are confident they can dispose of very
shortly after arrival, and are not willing
to keep on hand a stock sufficiently large
to enable them to fill orders of any magni-
tude from customers at a distance
I'm the interview to which / have al
ready alluded 1 described a process of fill
tration that would insure the syrup keep
ing during the summer months and, if
properly boiled, for an Indefinite period.
This process was the passage of the syrup
through a barrel or other receptacle filled
with Spanish moss which seemed from
some properties inherent in the moss and
that had not been discovered to free the
syrup absolutely from impurities of every
kind. I have tried this process myself on
my farm in Worth county and have
achieved a partial success. The syrup did
not keep absolutely sweet, but l ascribe
this partial failure to the fact that il was
not sufficiently boiled and not to any defect
4
if the syrup is boiled to the required tenn
perature and then filtered through the
moss several times that it will keep fresh
and sweet through the hottest summer
that we are ever likely 10 have"
1.-The trouble about the business is the
same trouble that is incident to any other
business that is carried on on small
scale and by parties many miles distant
from each other, each of whom possesses
an infallble secret for the production of
the particular article which he is convinc-
ed beyond the possibility of change is
better than any other. The consequence
is that no two syrups are of the same
grade and that no merchant can guaran-
tee to deliver any large quantity of syrup
of one grade unless he has 1t already in
his cellars and has tested it. There must
be some degree of uniformity If it is de-
sired 20 market any article on large
scale"
If the farmers could be educated up to
an appreciation Of this fact and would all
of them follow the same correct process
in the manufacture of their syrup, there
would be no difficulty in dsposiug of an
output very much larger than that now
produced With good syrup and syrup that
will keep a reasonable time after IL is
manufactured there is nothing else of the
same character in the market that could
stand against it. 1t is better and sweeter
and contains more saccharine matter than
any other syrup, and it could be sold a
a good price all over the country. As St
now is it can hardly be sold al any price,
even in the cities nearly adjacent to The
place Of manufacture"
On little more than half an acre of
land in Worth county, Mai Ryals raised
last season more than 400 gallons of syrup,
a WELD of approximately 800 gallons to the
acre. At any reasonable price that could
he obtained for the syrup this field ought
to prove a profitable investment. But
with the conditions as they now are there
Ia saarce any recognized market and most
of the product either goes begging or
has to be disposed Of at price that makes
the industry Improbable.
CITY BREVITIES.