1863.] 243 LEmerson. 



Having remained long enough at Natal to ascertain the particular 

 habits of his fifteen varieties, to each of which he has given its Kaffir 

 name, and also to make sugar from them all, he left for Europe to 

 prosecute further experiments, and introduce to the notice of the 

 civilized world, the vast importance of his Imphee plants for sugar- 

 making. He had patches of these planted in England, France, and 

 Belgium. Since then, the culture has been extended by his efforts 

 to Turkey, Egypt, the West Indies, Brazil, and other distant coun- 

 tries. In the United States, some have preferred the Chinese, others 

 the African cane. Whilst the Imphee may be well adapted to cer- 

 tain localities, there can, I think, be little doubt of the superior value 

 of the Chinese Sorghum for general cultivation in our Middle, West- 

 ern, and Northern States. 



Mr. Wray frankly tells us, that in looking into various botanical 

 works, he finds that attempts had been formerly made, by Signor 

 Arderino and others, to introduce varieties of this plant into Euro- 

 pean cultivation, for the purpose of making sugar, but from some 

 cause or other, all their efforts had proved unsuccessful. These fail- 

 ures he ascribes to want of knowledge of the kinds of Imphee best 

 adapted to the purpose, and want of skill to properly treat the juice. 



In the course of the discussion which ensued, Mr. Fralej 

 stated, on the authority of the Hon. Morris Davis, who was, 

 in connection with Mr. Lovering, among the first to experi- 

 ment on the Sorghum sugar manufacture, that the annual 

 production of Sorghum syrup in the United States is already 

 seventeen millions of gallons, equivalent to eighty-five millions 

 of pounds of sugar ; but the demand for the syrup is so great, 

 that it bars for the present the sugar manufacture. 



The recommendations of the Library Committee, postponed 

 from the last meeting, were then briefly discussed, and on 

 motion postponed to the next meeting. 



Pending nominations Nos. 481, 482, and new nomination 

 No. 483, were read. 



And the Society was adjourned. 



