The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-04
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

| sihOAo anu iater Io eaten a WnlII or syrup.
 Syrup making on the farm is always a time looked forward to by, the chil- dren, and even the grown-ups are on , tip-toe about it, for it means that every thing and everybody on the place must have a hand in it, both old and young and white and black.
 Many time in the years put in going up and down Alabama during the fall to attend the associations, have I stopped by the roadside to watch the busy work CTS and get a dipper of cane juice. I have seen it served in season at some of the soda founts in south Alabama, but it lacks something of the tang when quaffed out in the open air.
 Sugar cane has been known for cen turies ID Asia and Europe, and 1t is prob able that the Axtecs, that wise old race, made a sort Of sugar from corn before the conquest of their country by the made any success in sugar making from corn, but have to be content with glu- cose. a liquid sugar~made from corn starch and used for confectionery and preserves and for mixing with molasses-
 Sugar cane is a specie of grass, and with sorghum is related to Indian corn, and even broom corn. All of these plants bear a close resemblance to each other, are all secrete more or less sugar in their fruit or sap. The saccharine element is found to a greater or less extent in all fruit and vegetable juices, particularly those of the tropics, but the cost of pro- duction is so great as to render It of no commercial value
 I will not now speak of the sugar beet or of maple syrup, but win confne my self to sugar cane, which is the richest of the sugar-producing grasses, and has been grown as a source of sugar supply longer than any of the others. I will also skip over its production in Java Cuba, Hawaii. the Philippines and else where, and speak only of it's production and culture in the United States, as it
 
 present, and promises to play a part in national politics.
 The cane now in use was imported from San Domingo by the Jesuits in 1751 The early settlers found no native plant in Louisiana from which sugar could be obtained although sugar cane was in troduced in it in the year stated above, but it was not successfully cultivated until 1795. It now. however produces the greater part of the sugar crop of the United States, the lowlands of the flood plains and the delta of the Mississippi r1vcr being especially adapted to this crop. It is true that Texas is increasing her output each season.
 I wish, however, to stress the syrcp end of sugar cane in this story, and much can be written around the sugar side of it. The food value of syrup when used in moderate quantities is undoubted, for any ore knows that after syrup making Tot only the children, but even the grown people, fatten up on the farms. A keen observer says it is mo- ticeable that white people of the south, who naturally take to syrup as more er less steady diet have good clear com plexicno with general good health.
 close examination of the daily food of the negro farm hand or ctorrer, which consists largely of cornmeal, mo lasses and a small portion of fat baccr, witr necessary liquids, makes one of the best working diets in the world for in this comi nation of syrup with orher foods 4at' the necessary ingredients for furnishing erergy and musculsr tissue are found. It's fat producer, according to experiments made by the state board Of health of Louisiana in 1907 one sub jcct who consurhed a pound of molasses day for 20 days showed an increase of 10 pounds in weight. The sickness of the mules on the Louisiana sugar plan tations, where molasses is fed to stock, is good indication of it's value as a stock food
 N think have shown that if there is a scarcity of sugar it is good idea for health's sake to switch to syrup, for 1t will clear up the complexion of the women and add avoirdupois to the men, for it is well known that aif starch foods before being assimilated have to be con verted into sugar by@the digestive juices. From this we can readily see the ad vantage that molasses holds over such starch products. such as potatoes. corn, etc.
 Not only this, but extensive experi- ments have been made on the products of the sugar cane means of nour- ishment during excessive amounts of muscular work. all of which have shown that they are well adapted to furnish energy and heat required. In every case the users of molasses and sugar had greater endurance and could stand more hard work than those who were deprived of the diet. and owing to their rapid ab- sorption by the body, these foods better fl. a laborer for his work upon the com pletion of meal In the discussion of the value of food depends upon the amount of energy into which 1t is capable of being converted by the body says M Shilstone. a noted southern chemist In a number of die tary studies made in this country it was found that s per cent of the food con