8 SORGHIBI. 



q. In a "Eeport on the manufacture of sugar, syi'up, and glucose, 

 from sorghum," by Professors Weber and Scovell,of the Illinois Indus- 

 trial University, 1881, p. 22, they say: 



The proper time to begin cutting the cane, is when the seed is in the harden- 

 ing doitgh. 



r. Vilmorin, of Paris, in the Journal cV Agriculture Pratique, February 

 17th, 1881, p. 230, says : 



The period during the development of the plant (sorghum) when the juice i3 

 purest and richest in sugar, is that which precedes the maturity of the seed. 

 It is at that point when the interior of the seed has the consistence of soft 

 dough, easily crushed under the finger-nail, that the plant should be cut and 

 pressed. 



Provipt u'orhnrj of the Sorghum after cutting. 



a. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, in his report (Annual Report, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, 1857, p. 192), says: 



The uncrystallizable sugar forms rapidly after the cane is fully ripe and re- 

 centlj' cut. 



And again, as the result of his examinations, he says; 



Hence, it is evident that no time is to be lost, after cutting, in expressing the 

 juice. 



h. D, M. Cook, Mansfield, Ohio (Annual Report, Department of 

 Agriculture, 1861, p. 311), says: 



Let the cane fully ripen, if possible. If the cane is fully ripe, it may be 

 worked into syrup and sugar with advantage, as fast as it is cut up; but if the 

 juice is not perfectly matured, it should be allowed to "season" a few days 

 (bj' having the cane cut up, bound in bundles, and shocked under a barn or 

 shed for a few days). 



c. In an article on "Sorghum culture and Sugar making," by I. A. 

 Hedges (Annual Report, Department of Agriculture, 1861, p. 297), 

 he says : 



After the canes have been topped, stripped, cut up, and tied in bundles, they 

 may be set up in the open air, or, more preferably, under shelter, and kept for 

 some weeks. Such keeping improves the juice, not only in flavor, but also in 

 saccharine richness, from 1 to 3 degrees B. This improvement takes place 

 upon the same principle, and from similar causes, which determine the sweet- 

 ening of acid fruit after pulling, viz., the change of gum and starch into sugar. 



d. J. H. Smith, Quincy, 111. (Annual Report, Department of Agri- 

 culture, 1862, p. 134), says: 



The cane should be cut and brought to the mill and crushed on the same 

 day; and the topping of the cane, and the stripping of the leaves from t'le 

 stalks, should proceed no faster than it is cut and brougiit to the mill, if the very 

 •best results are desired, and all danger of souring is to be avoided. * * * 

 It is much better, therefore, not to give the cane any rest, after being stripped 

 and topped, till the juice is expressed and run into sj-rup. * * When the 



