SORGHUM AS A SOURCE OF SUGAR. 629 



manufacture of sugar from the sugar-cane, in this country, to a very- 

 limited area, and to especially favorable seasons. This fact is empha- 

 sized and proved by reference to statistics which show that the 

 amount of sugar produced in Louisiana in one year is frequently 

 nearly twice as great as that obtained the next season. 



Obviously, if it is desirable to produce our own sugar, the tropical 

 sugar-cane can not be regarded as the chief source of supply, and we 

 must place our dependence upon some plant better adapted to our 

 varied soils and limited rainfall. 



The sugar-beet has much to commend it ; it is successfully raised 

 in France, Germany, and Austria, and furnishes, at the present time, 

 thirty per cent of the sugar consumed by civilized nations. But the 

 sugar-beet requires special soil, special fertilizers, skillful cultivation, 

 and, above all, an abundance of rain, which must come at just the 

 right time to be of the greatest service. These conditions are well 

 understood in Europe, and the tracts of country where beets may be 

 profitably grown for sugar are known as " beet-sugar belts " upon the 

 agricultural maps. Investigation has shown that the American beet- 

 sugar belt is confined to a comparatively small portion of certain 

 Northern and Middle States. It is possible that an important fraction 

 of our sugar may yet be obtained from this source ; but it is doubtful 

 whether we should entertain hopes that this may ever be our chief 

 dependence. 



If, then, this country is to produce its own sugar, it is evident that 

 some plant must be selected which, in one or more varieties, is adapted 

 to our widely varied conditions. It must mature in the temperate 

 Northern States as well as in the more genial climate of Southern Cali- 

 fornia and the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. It must be 

 easily cultivated — a plant of rapid growth, which, when mature, does 

 not deteriorate until the season of severe frosts, thus insuring a long 

 "working period," in which it may be converted into marketable 

 sugar and molasses. Above all, it must furnish a juice rich in sugar, 

 while containing a minimum of impurities. 



It is claimed, by those who have given this sugar problem a very 

 considerable amount of study, that in the better varieties of sorghum 

 many or all of the above conditions are satisfied, and that, with intel- 

 ligent culture and manufacturing methods, this country may not only 

 produce all its own sugar, but may do its share toward supplying the 

 ever-increasing demand abroad. These claims, if well supported, are 

 deserving of careful study by all who desire to see the agricultural 

 and manufacturing resources of this country more fully developed 

 than at present. 



The sorghum-plant {Sorghion saccJiarattcm) belongs to the great 

 family of grasses ( Graminacece), and it may be termed a second-cousin 

 to the tropical sugar-cane {Saccharum officinarum) on the one hand, 

 and ordinary Indian corn [Zea mays) on the other. In some of its 



