SORGHO IN THE SOUTH. 845 
HISTORY OF THE SORGHO IN THE SOUTHERN 
STATES. 
BY D. REDMOND, 
Associate Editor of the “Southern Cultivator.” 
[The following valuable communication from D. Redmond, Esq., 
was not received in time for insertion in the body of this work, which 
accounts for its appearing in the Appendix.] 
In the winter of 1854-5, I obtained, per mail, through a seed im- 
porting house in Boston, two ounces of what was then denominated 
“ Chinese Sugar Cane, or Holcus saccharatus.” Iam not aware that 
any of this seed had been distributed from the Patent Office in this 
neighborhood, up to that time; nor had I then any other evidence 
of its value than the newspaper advertisement which induced me to 
send for it. JI have since learned, however, that the Patent Office 
distributed a small quantity of seed in the spring of 1854; and that, 
prior even to that time, the plant had been tested to a limited extent 
by a few gentlemen in the vicinity of New Orleans. Nothing satis- 
factory, however, was known of the plant here at that time; and 
wishing to have it thoroughly tested, I sent small samples, per letter, 
to various agricultural and horticultural friends in Georgia, and the 
adjoining states, requesting them to communicate to me the result 
of their experiments with it. For myself, I merely planted seven or 
-eight hills, in rather poor ground, in my garden, and watched its 
growth with considerable interest. At first I was disappointed, and 
quite ready to rank it among the many humbugs of the day, as it 
came up very weakly, like grass or Egyptian millet, and grew off 
quite slowly. In a few wecks, however, it began to shoot upward 
with great rapidity, and in less than three months attained the height 
of ten feet, with large and well-filled heads of seed. When these 
seeds were nearly ripe, I incidentally cut one of the stalks, peeled off 
the hard outer husk, and was quite surprised to find a solid pith or 
core, of about three fourths of an inch in diameter, crisp, brittle, and 
Ls* 
