The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-04
CANEGROWERS MEET
pREsrDENT ID. c. PURSE TALKS or
 COMING CONVENTION.
DistinEuished Men VIII Be Present at Mobile in February to Discuss an Important Southern
 Industry.

"A Chicago syndicate Is going to in- vest a million dollars In sugar-cane growing in South Alabama. The men who are behind the enterprise have ai- l ready had practical experience In cane growing. and this experience has been | so very satisfactory that they now pro pose to invest the enormous sum or million dollars in that industry. letter I received few days ago from | one of these gentlemen makes clear the purpose of the syndicate"
 This statement was made yesterday by Captain D. G. Purse of Savannah, Ga. the able to energetic head Of the Interstate Sugar Cane Growers Asso- citation. Captain Purse was on his way to his Georgia home, from Mobile. where he had been making arrange ments for the fourth annual convention which will be, he Is quite confident. I the most notable In the history of the | organization. The program will In | clude such distinguished men as Secre- ltary of Agriculture James Wilson, Governor w, D. Jelks of Alabama, Gov ernor N. B. Broward of Florida and Governor Newton Blanchard of Louisi-
 ana, as we'll as other distinguished thinkers and public men. It will be the second consecutive con- vention held in Alabama. Last years convention, it will be recalled, was held in the Commercial and Industrial As- | sociation rooms in Montgomery. Cap tain Purse said yesterday that Tampa
 was the logical place for the holding of the convention. and that city was anxious to entertain the cane growers.
 but that owing to the insistence of the
 cane growers of South Alabama and
 South Mississippi, it was decided that the convention should go to Mobile. He
 met with members of the Commercial Club of Mobile and with prominent citizens in his work of arranging for the convention. He was very much gratified over the interest," displayed in
 Mobile over the approaching conven- | tion. The people of the Gulf City. he said, were preparing to entertain the
 delegates to the convention with their
 accustomed hospitality.
 The business men of Mobile" said
 Captain Purse" were astonished when I began to talk to them of the profits
 made in cane growing. When I told them that there was no use in talking of cotton when men in South Alabama made $50, $70 and Ss0 an acre growing cane This movement which we have
 been pushing has met with a remark
 able success. The amount of acreage
 of cane in the States represented in the association have more than doubled in the four years in which the association
 has been in existence
 One of the most gratifying features
 of this new movement Is the way the market for cane syrup is steadily wid- ening. I have just returned from
 trip through Pennsylvania. found that the people there had already dis covered that they could not get pure maple syrup and that the spurious sub stitutes sold as maple syrup were harm full. At the same time they are begin ming to understand and appreciate the splendid qualities of pure cane syrup which they can get at the same price they pay for the fake maple syrup. In this way the market for cane syrup is widening throughout the North.
 At the next convention of the cane growers an important development in the cane growing industry will be dis cussed. This will be the recent bulle- tin issued by the Government. Bulletin No 93 This bulletin shows conclu- sive that cane syrup can be made by proper boiling without danger of crys- utilization on the one hand or fermen- tation on the other. Capitalization and fermentation have been the twin evils of syrup-making, and now the Government comes forward and estab- fishes the claim long made by experi- enced cane growers that both evils may be easily avoided"
 On the first day of the convention in
 Mobile, February ', Governor Jelks will welcome the delegates to Alabama. The principal speaker of the second day will be Secretary Wilson. The head of the National Agricultural De- partment will be presented to the con- vention by Governor Jelks. Governor
 N. B. Broward of Florida will read an
 important paper on 'The Possibility of
 Southern Florida Supplying the Sugar
 Demands of the United States" It Is
 expected that Governor Newton B
 Blanchard of Louisiana will present Governor Broward to the cane growers.
 Invitations have been sent to and ac-
 knowledged by Governor Terrell of Georgia, Governor Hayward of North
 Carolina and Governor Vardaman of Mississippi. It is hoped that their du-
 ties will permit them to attend the
 convention.
 In the high character of the speak
 CTS, in the quality of the addresses. the
 Mobile convention will excel any pre-
 vlously held by the association. The
 names given embrace only part of
 the splendid program. Other speakers will include Dr. Fl, w. Wiley, Chief of
 the Bureau of Chemistry of the De- { partment of Agriculture; DT. 5tubbs
 and Professor Blouing of Louisiana,
 Prof. w L. Hutchinson, Director of the
 E4 DarfrnAnt Station. Hon.