816 APPENDIX. 
will probably excel in the production of sugar, while the sorgho, par- 
ticularly in the provinces of the west and northwest of France, will gain 
decidedly upon it in the yield of alcohol. 
As a sugar producing plant, the sorgho will offer as a recommenda- 
tion, the ease of its culture and treatment of its sap. Its raw product 
is probably greater than the sugar cane in countries such as Louisiana, 
where the latter is known as an annual plant. Like the cane, it fur- 
nishes in its leaves and tops an abundance of excellent green fodder. 
Finally, its molasses, similar to that from the cane, may be used in the 
manufacture of rum, and the residuum for a similar but inferior liquor. 
The great difficulties to be met are, the preservation of the stalks, and 
especially the short season suitable for its manufacture. But beyond 
these geographical limits which have been heretofore indicated, the 
warmth of climate willl allow of successive plantings. I am told by 
Mr. Wray, of whom previous mention has been made, that in the 
vicinity of Natal, the Zulu-Kaffirs keep the stalks sound for a long 
time by pitting them, as there the ground is warm and moist. 
We have just seen that for the manufacture of alcohol the sorgho 
had the advantage of large proportions of uncrystallizable sugar, which 
in sugar making is entirely lost. Another advantage is the purity of 
its sap, which accounts for the fact that the alcohol made from it, as 
also brandy of first quality, is sufficiently pure for immediate use. 
Alcohol, distilled but once, and that imperfectly, which I obtained 
with very incomplete laboratory apparatus, was absolutely deprived 
of all foreign flavors, and even my finest liquors, ranging from forty to 
fifty per cent., have quite an agreeable taste, similar to our noyau, and 
would doubtless be useful to take precedence over the similar products 
of the beet. When pure, their taste is infinitely less coarse and dis- 
agreeable than that of rum ; after becoming old they would be very 
superior. 
Ihave said above, that, besides alcohol and sugar, the sap of the 
sugar sorgho might furnish a drink similar to cider. In an article in- 
serted in the “ Moniteur,” November 13, 1854, I essayed to draw 
attention to the advantages to be obtained from the manufacture of 
these fermented drinks. This question is still entirely new, and on 
