48 



proximate $0,000 in value. TTenco tlie total expenses wonkl approxi- 

 mate $17,000, leaving, with per ceut cane, a margin of $4,000; this 

 margin is too small to oifset possible losses, which may be caused either 

 by accidents or by tiuctuatious in markets. With 13 per cent cane, ex- 

 penses could l)e j)aid if sugar fell to 3 cents per pound and molasses to 

 13 cents i^er gallon. 



THE farmer's standpoint. 



" The farmer is called upon to furnish 3,500 tons of sorghum, the juice 

 of which must contain not less than 9 per cent of sugar. This croj) is 

 to be delivered at the rate of 50 tons daily. Eipe cane can be taken to 

 the sugar-house on and after the 20th of August; the last load should 

 be delivered before the 1st of November. 



"Three thousand five hundred tons of rich cane can not be grown 

 on less than 250 acres, and this land mnst be so close to the sugar-house 

 that hauling expenses need not exceed 50 cents per ton. In order to 

 provide against deterioration of cane, excessive labor in checking weeds, 

 the dei)redations of insects, etc., rotation is as necessary with sorghum 

 as with Indian corn. 



" No one variety of cane can be relied upon to keep a sugar-house in 

 crude stock for seventy days." 



Early maturing varieties should be used for the first part of the season, 

 white-seeded varieties for the middle, and late varieties for the last part. 

 The varieties now in use need improving. 



" From two standpoints, therefore, viz., that of the farmer and that of 

 the chemist, the interest centers on the development of varieties, and it 

 is firmly believed that the possibilities of a profitable domestic sugar 

 industi'y turn on this point." 



" B}^ making business-like charges against the crop for rent of land, 

 for fertilizers, for labor, hauling, etc., it will be evident that an expendi- 

 ture of about $30 per acre will oftentimes be reached in securing a full 

 crop of cane and delivering it at the sugar-house. Fifteen tons per acre 

 should be, therefore, the minimum yield in order to make a profit pos- 

 sible. 



"Boughly summarized, the farmer's problem is: 



" (1) To secure varieties which will allow him to deliver 3,500 tons of 

 cane at the rate of 50 tons dail}'. 



" (2) To raise sorghum with not less than 9 per cent of sugar and G6 

 degrees purity at the rate of 15 tons per acre, and at an expense not ex- 

 ceeding $2 ])er ton. 



" Men who are familiar with the sorghum sugar industry in the East 

 feel that if further improvement is possible in the machinery it must 

 be in a better arrangement of parts, by which a still more marked 

 saving of labor can be secured. 



"In thechemistry of the industry the field is far broader, for the sugar- 

 house should be prepared to make white sugar fit for direct consump- 



