170 THE CHINESE SUGAR CANE, 
transformation the weaker alcohols arising from the final 
distillations.” 
The methods for the production of vinegar are so 
simple, as to be familiar with almost every one of my 
readers, and it will, consequently, be useless to occupy 
much space in detailing them at length. I would simply 
recommend that the practice usually employed in treating 
the juice of apples, of the sugar maple, and the various 
other saccharine fluids commonly employed for the manu- 
facture of vinegar, be applied to the juices of the sorgho 
and imphee as they come from the mill. 
Sicard says that he has been in the custom of making 
vinegar of the knots of the cane stalks, and of adding to 
them such canes as were more or less spoiled. His pro- 
cess is extremely simple, and is as follows: 
‘ Bruise the pieces in the mill, put them in contact with 
a sufficient quantity of water to cover them a few inches, 
let them ferment then all alone until the liquid has ac- 
quired the qualities desired for good vinegar. It is in- 
dispensable to draw this vinegar off once or twice, with a 
view to removing from it all foreign substances.” He 
says that his vinegar is of a yellowish white color, and of 
avery agreeable acidity. He has sometimes allowed the 
knots to ferment before covering them with water, and in 
this way has obtamed a vinegar very deeply colored. 
For the purpose of making vinegar, he has likewise made 
use of the cider or piquette of the sorgho, by adding to it 
a slight quantity of tartaric acid. He says vinegar can 
likewise be obtained by putting into a barrel the residue 
of canes from which the juice has been extracted for the 
manufacture either of sugar or alcohol. In this case he 
