Evening star., 1921-04-03
The Taste for Sugar.

NIHILE the knowledge of sugar
and its uses is no new thing
the almost universal use of sugar, and
especially of white sugar as human
food, is relatively new development,
and the tremendous growth of the
sugar-eating habit is one of the mar
vels of the years. The use of sugar in
the far east goes back> before the be-
ginning OF recorded history. The
cassie writers OF Greece nave made
the world acquainted with the use Of
sugar by the people OF India. 1t is
to the natives of india that credit is
given by the earliest writers now
known to the world for the discovery
OF the sweet juice of the cane, which
many Of the Greeks called bamboo"
According to Seneca. a honey-bear-
ing reed was to be found in India,
ana Theophrastes wrote that the peo-
pie OF India ate honey which they
obtained from the bamboo. Trans
lators make Pliny say that the sugar
of India was more renowned than the
sugar OF Arabia. Sugar in the earliest
days in Europe was not used to
sweeten food, nor was it looked on az
food itself. 1t was used to make
certain medicines more palatable, or
less unpalatable. and was itself con-
sidered medicine to which many
virtues were ascribed.
The Greeks and Romans esteemed
honey az a 'sweetmeat, and gave very
turies rolled by the taste for sugar
grew among the people of the far east
and those Of Arabia and Mesopotamia.
At the time Of the crusades. and be-
fore the drSt crusade. there were
crude sugar mills in operation in
Mesopotamia and Arabia.
The Crusaders acquired a taste for
sugar and carried the sweet stun
back to Europe with them. Its fame
spread fast and a trade in sugar
sprang UP between the countries OF
Europe and the sugar-producing
countries of the orient Venice was
for centuries the point of sugar dis
tribution for Europe. Venetian ships
brought in the sugar, and then in
rude, numbering caravans it started
Europe. The planting of sugar cane
was extended to Sicily. Madeira and
the Canaries. Sugar plantations were
set out in Portugal and the cuitiva-
tion Of cane was introduced by the
Portuguese into their colony Of Bra %
zil. Jesuit missionaries introduceds
cane growing and sugar making into
Santo Domingo, and to priests OF this
order the Introduction of sugar culr :
ture in Louisiana late in the seven
tssntn century aytainsS Is 10 most p,.nt.
and some hold 1t in large proportiono
The American Indians. before the n
coming Of the whites. were familiar
with sugary sap Of various maple =
trees and cooked this sap until, the
water being evaporated. the sugar
was all that remained in the stone,
jars. The extraction OF sugar from:
beets and the making OF excellent,
sirup from the starch OF corn are in :
dustries that have been developed 70
vast proportions. More than a Millions
tons Of corn sirup are produced in the :
United States annually. and this finds
use among confectioners. Gamers and
preservers and has a wide use as g.
table strip under various patented
names It has been written that
more than 1000 years ago the Japa-
nese made sugar from the starch of
barley, and it is also written that
during the Napoleonic era when SUI
gar was desperately needed in France
it was made from the starch OF pota-
toes.