The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1901-06-15
interested to experiment in order to learn
the most simple and practical way of de-
veloping the discovered process.
Astonishing Possibilities.

veloping the discovered process.
Astonishing Possibilities.
There seems absolutely no doubt Of the
commercial value of Mr.. Kenney's discov-
cry. The sugar is there. 1t was pro-
duced by boiling, fermentation and sub
sequent boiling. The exact length OF boil
ing both in the first and second instances,
the right period of fermentation. and the
possible substitution of chemical treat
Iaent in place Of fermentation, remain to
be established by experiment What is
certain is that sugar can be produced in
this way and can be produced very cheap
ly. No expensive plant is needed, no
elaborate arrangements for treatment.
That much having been determined, the
horizon widens. For sorghum can be
raised anywhere where Indian corn will
grow. The difficulty with the sugar ques-
tion has always been that the sugar pro-
ducing plants would grow only under GER
tain conditions. which were found to exist
only in limited sections of the earth's
surface. Cane sugar could only be pro-
duced in tropical or subtropical regions in
a particular quality of soil and with a
certain degree of moisture. 1t is we'll
known that the limits of sugar cane pro-
duction are very closely defined. 1t is
the same with sugar beets. They can be
raised to advantage only in particular
soils and under certain climatic condi-
tions. Their range is wider than cane,
but still has limits.
But with sugar producing plant which
will grow through the whole corn belt Of
America as we'll as in all central Europe,
which is as easily raised as corn, and
which will yield as much sugar to the
acre as sugar cane or sugar beets, IT is
plain that the sugar question would be
solved. Such a solution means:
The death of the sugar trust
The removal of the sugar subject from
politics.
The complete abolition of foreign competi-
ton in the supply of the American sugar
market
A decrease in the value of cane sugar prop
critics.
The probable extinction of the beet sugar
industry
The opening Of new field for capital in
the manufacture of sorghum sugar.
Every Farmer a Sugar Raiser.
The most interesting feature of the dis
covery is its simplicity. Many farmers
are now raising sorghum, crushing the
cane and producing syrup in competition
with the syrup manufacturers. A crush
ing plant can be put in for a few hundred
dollars and is within the reach Of many
a farmer or group of farmers If moth
ing further is required except boiling
fermenting and boiling again, it is quite
easy to foresee the western farmer sup
plying himself with sugar as cheaply as
his Vermont brother lays in his annual
crop of maple sugar. Mr.. Owen prints
Mr. Kennedy's statement in to-day s
Farm, Stock and Home" and says edi-
torially Of the possibilities to the farmer:
If sorghum, an easily and cheaply grown
liant that is rich in sugar and that can be
grown wherever corn can be, can be made
into sugar without costly mill or other ap-
pliances, then sugar making becomes as
simple and easy as corn meal making, and
each farm home or community can produce
its own sugar and be free from the exaa-
tions of sugar trusts and the profits of middle
men. Sorghum sugar is as sweet, as finely
Favored and as capable of being refined as
the best or southern sugar cane product A
method Of cheaply granulating it is all that
is required to make It the cheapest and most
easily secured sugar in the world and it
now looks as if that method had been dis
covered.
The possible effects upon the beet sugar
industry are interesting to speculate upon.
1t is claimed that an acre of sorghum will
produce quite as much sugar as an acre
of sugar beets. But 1t costs from $25 to
$50 an acre to raise the beets, while Sc
or 81 will cover the cost of the sorghum.
beet sugar factory canot be erected on
an economical plan for less than $3.50, 900.
Sorghum mills suitable to handle the
product of large. neighborhood can be
put in for a few hundred dollars.
1t is, OF course, too soon to make ac-
curate predictions regarding the effects
of this discovery. The possibilities are
boundless. This country consumes over
100000 tons Of sugar annually, of which
perhaps three-fourth is imported The i'm
portation and distribution is controlled by
a trust. Home production would mean
! not only freedom from the trust but the
retention of millions of money in the
country.