STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. , 145 



from the early amber. The planters send for jugs and decan- 

 ters to be filled with specimens of the syrup and there is not a 

 single person who has seen it but has pronounced our syrup 

 superior for table purposes to any syrup they haA'^e in the South. 

 There is no comparison between it and their best specimens as 

 taken from their plantations. We have on exhibition the finest 

 specimens of syrup from anj^ State of the Union, made from 

 Amber Cane. The Sterling Sugar Works have on exhibition 

 some very fine specimens of sugar; they are lighter colored than 

 ours because they have been bleached. They are whiter but not 

 as good grain as ours. Their raw sugar is inferior to ours. They 

 have not exhibited their goods in so attractive a manner as Min- 

 nesota has done and it seems to be generally conceded by com- 

 mon consent that she has "taken the cake." And this assertion 

 is borne- out by the fact that after the most searching analysis, 

 and the strongest competition, Minnesota received the highest 

 awards for the best "raw" sugar, the best "full" syrup, and 

 the best barrels of any grade. 



I had photographs taken of our exhibits but could not get the 

 negatives printed in time to bring them with me. We will soon 

 have photographs here of the exhibits in this as well as in all the 

 other departments. 



While there I received an invitation to visit some of the sugar 

 plantations on the Lower Mississippi Eiver. I accepted the in- 

 vitation and spent two days on a trip which was of much inter- 

 est and I picked up a good many items of value. The best plan- 

 tation was that of Gov. Warmouth, which is located below New 

 Orleans. We went to Gen. Diamond's; that is the largest one. 

 The whole establishment is old and is in about the condition one 

 might expect it to be after forty years' wear and tear. At Gov. 

 Warmouth' s plantation the machinery is all new and he has kept 

 fully abreast with the times; he is turning out the very finest 

 quality of goods. 



I visited five different plantations and examined them very, 

 critically. I have specimens here of the sugar produced on the 

 governor's plantation. This is a specimen of sugar from one of 

 the refineries they have established in connection with their 

 works. It is a specimen of Louisiana sugar refined. Here is a 

 specimen as it came from the centrifugal; it is raw sugar without 

 refining. I have specimens of second and third quality of sugar. 

 This specimen of sugar I could have bought at four cents and a 

 half a pound on the plantation; this sugar, at two and a half 

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