THE MANUFACTURE OF SYRUP FROM CANE. 



The manufacture of syrup for home use or local consump- 

 tion has been carried on upon a small scale in southern and 

 middle Alabama for many years, and in many of the villages 

 and towns of this section, home made cane or sorghum 

 syrup is found upon the market during the fall and early 

 winter months. 



Even during the period of the year referred to, however, 

 the home made product only partially supplies the demand 

 for this article, while during the spring and summer months 

 the syru]3 of home manufacture is not to be obtained at all, 

 and the demand is supplied by syrup from the outside 

 markets. 



These imported syrups are frequently adulterated with 

 corn glucose or else have been obtained by reboiling syrups 

 and molasses which have undergone partial fermentation, 

 while in still other cases the syrups consist of low grade 

 and originally dark colored products which have been 

 bleached or brightened by chemical processes. 



That a portion of the local demand for syrups through- 

 out such a large section of the State can be successfully 

 supplied during a small portion of the year, is already an 

 established fact, and with an increased cultivation of cane 

 and an improvement in the present crude methods of manu- 

 facture, it is not too much to say that within a compara- 

 tively short period, the demand for syrup for the greater 

 portion of the State, throughout the entire year, can be sat- 

 isfactorily filled with a product of high quality, manufac- 

 tured within the borders of the State. The composition of 

 cane produced on hill lands in this State, as indicated by 

 analyses made during a number of seasons, exhibits a 

 marked superiority as regards saccharine content when 

 compared with the cane grown upon the alluvial lands in 



