156 . ANNUAL REPORT 



market price would be up to the value of about seventy cents^ 

 the price of the best New Orleans. It would drive out these 

 cheap and adulterated articles. 



About ninety-nine out of every hundred will take a cheaper 

 article because it is a little cheaper without regard to the qual- 

 ity. They don't know what they are getting, whether the best 

 New Orleans honey drips, or whether it is more than half glu- 

 cose. They are after molasses and anything that is sweet answers 

 the purpose. When the dealer can sell a syrup at 25 to 30 cents 

 and make a larger profit than on Amber cane syrup at 45 cents, 

 he is going to keep the lower priced article. But the moment 

 you put the brand of '^ poison " on the glucose just that moment 

 Mrs. Jones andMrs. Browa says she is not going to buy that even 

 if it is a little cheaper. She takes the adulterated article now 

 and don't know the difference. 



I say it is to the advantage of this Amber Cane Association to 

 strike the note of warning so as to protect as far as possible the 

 innocent consumer. 



Now while I am on the floor I may take a few moments ta 

 speak about some phases of the Amber cane industry in the 

 state and I refer to the experimental department now. It be- 

 comes necessary to develop new varieties. We had no 

 sugar made from the varieties of sorghum cane first intro- 

 duced in this country; a few years ago Mr. Kenney and Mr. 

 Miller discovered a variety of cane that matured much earlier 

 and decidedly sweeter than was the common sorghum. And 

 from that accidental discovery came the Amber cane. And if 

 they could find a single head in a field that was of such great 

 value, why may we not be able to originate other varieties still 

 sweeter and earlier than Amber cane? There are some draw- 

 backs to the cultivation of this cane. The first is the uncertain- 

 ty of the seasons here. But there is no more uncertainty in the 

 cultivation of Amber cane, than in^ that of corn, or potatoes. It 

 is no more liable to suffer from this drawback than any other 

 industry we have. 



Now, it becomes necessary for our experiment stations to solve 

 this problem of hybridization, aad this last year we have been 

 testing a number of new varieties; forty-two have been under 

 cultivation. We were unfortunate in having a late spring and 

 early frosts; we could not get theseed in very early, so we could not 

 get the best results from early planting, but among the forty - 

 two varieties we found one as much earlier than the Early Am- 



