HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 165 



bees tlian in growing sorghum. He speaks about going into bee 

 raising ''intelligently;" I know of a good many in our section 

 of country that must have gone into the business intelligently, 

 because they have had books and studied it up. They made a 

 success of it for awhile, but there is some doubt and uncertainty 

 about it, for in the spring now and then they will lose two-thirds 

 of the bees. 



Now, we have been in the sorghum business a number of 

 years and we have never lost a crop, never! There has been no 

 uncertainty about it, and this last year from one acre and a half 

 of ground we raised four hundred and forty gallons of nice sor- 

 ghum. I have a specimen of it here. This is home made, by 

 using an open pan, with nothing to clarify it — except a skim- 

 mer. I think it a very nice specimen. It is not made by steam 

 although we get up considerable steam in working it. (Laughter. ) 



Mr. Kenney. That is the finest crude syrup I ever put eyes 

 on. 



Prof. Porter. It was the woman in it! 



Mrs. Kennedy. There has never been a failure since we be- 

 gan; and when we are making the sorghum customers come after 

 it, and we can sell it at sixty cents a gallon; and when shipped 

 to a distance it brings forty cents, and they pay for the barrel. 

 Just the day I came down here we had an order from Big Stone 

 county, from a large firm there, and they stated they would take 

 all our crop. And it seems to me this is better than raising 

 bees. Just as soon as we get nicely started something happens 

 to take our bees off. Perhaps we are not "intelligent," but it 

 doesn't take so much intelligence to make syrup, so I think we 

 are just a little ahead. (Laughter.) 



Mr. Gilpatrick. And you don't get stung either. 



Mrs. Kennedy. Another thing I would like to say is this; 

 one trouble with the people in our part of the country who en- 

 gaged in the sorghum business was, so many went into it in the 

 first place that we found that everybody was "raising cane." 

 (Eenewed laughter.) They didn't go at it in an intelligent sort 

 of way, and they made stuff just as much worse than New Orleans 

 black-strap as you could imagine, and ot course everybody was 

 disgusted. But we are now making a success of it, using our 

 small pans; and if you will give us a little time we will prove to 

 you that sorghum is a success in Minnesota. (Applause.) 



Mr. Eidout. The outfit used by this lady only cost about two 

 hundred and fifty dollars. 



