PREFACE. XI 



In sorghum, we have a plant botanically related to the 

 tropical sugar-cane, and resembling it in capacity for the pro- 

 duction of sugar, while it possesses the very important ad- 

 vantage that it is much more hardy, and, like Indian corn, 

 to which it is also related, may be easily and successfully cul- 

 tivated in nearl}^ every state of the Union. 



It is the author's belief, based upon the actual experience 

 of four seasons' constant experimentation, that the sorghum 

 plant is destined, sooner or later, to furnish not only all the 

 sugar needed in this country, but also a very considerable 

 proportion of that required by foreign nations. That these 

 are not the unwarranted opinions of an enthusiast, will ap- 

 pear from the report, upon this subject, by the special com- 

 mittee of the Xational Academy of Sciences, which is here 

 included. 



It is the fortune of most investigators, who are so daring 

 as to show, in advance, the great possibilities of some new 

 industry, to meet ridicule, and even hostility from those who 

 fail to comprehend the full import of the discoveries which 

 have been announced. The writer has not been spared this 

 infliction ; but, as an offset, he has already had the satisfac- 

 tion of witnessing the actual production of good sugar from 

 sorghum on a large scale, and at moderate cost. 



If, in part, as a result of his labors, the sorghum sugar in- 

 dustry shall ultimately be established in this country upon a 

 sound basis, any personal inconvenience will be amply com- 

 pensated by the great satisfaction attending the success of an 

 enterprise of such consequence. It is hoped that this book 

 may be of service to many who shall undertake the cultiva- 

 tion of sorghum and the manufacture of sugar, and that it 

 may also serve to extend an industry both promising and im- 

 portant, as a new source of national wealth. 



Washington, D. C, 3Iarch, 1884. 



