16 SOKGHUM. 



there were speakers, it was at last settled, by the passage of a resolu- 

 tion, that such and such and such a soil was the best adapted for the 

 growth of sorghum. Than this, nothing could be more unwise, more 

 unscientific, or more utterly foolish. As well might the convention 

 have resolved that a solar eclipse should take place the next week or 

 the next month. Accumulated facts, and not resolutions, are impera- 

 tively demanded. A leading agricultural w'riter, not long ago, de- 

 clared, that " the conversion of amber cane (one of the varieties of sor- 

 ghum) into crystallized sugar of standard excellence, in paying quanti- 

 ties, and with a fair margin of profits to all concerned, is a result not only 

 never yet reached, but made simpJij impossible by the force of natural laws." 

 Strong words, indeed ; and yet, wathin three months of the time the above 

 was written, there was produced, Avithin 300 miles of this paragrapher, 

 notwithstanding the forces of nature he had so confidently declared as in 

 opposition, 160 tons of excellent sugar, at good profits, mainly from the 

 very variety he had named as being incapable of yielding sugar. This 

 new industry has very much conservatism of such sort to contend with. 

 It has, also, beyond doubt, many practical problems yet to solve ; but 

 this may be confidently asserted, that, thus far, there has nothing pre- 

 sented itself which has long stood in the way of an advance, which, 

 during the past three years, has been most remarkable. 



As with the beet sugar industry, many experiments have proved fail- 

 ures; and many persons have been found, as then, who, from the first, 

 have declared that the manufacture of sugar from sorghum was a com- 

 mercial impossibility. But, in spite of adverse criticisms, partial fail- 

 ures, and the opposition of interested parties, the beet sugar industry in 

 Europe has been, and to-day is, one of the greatest industries of that 

 country; and, as we have seen, provides, at a profit more or less great, 

 fully two-fifths the sugar of the world. It must not be, however, sup- 

 posed, that all the practical questions which may arise shall prove as 

 of easy and speedy solution as those, the solution of Avhioh have suf- 

 ficed to place the sorghum sugar industry fairly upou a basis of profit. 



The development of any new industry of great magnitude, and in- 

 volviog so many conditions conspiring to help or hinder its greatest 

 success, is sure to bring to light many important questions bearing 

 upon the cheapening and simplification of manufacturing processes, 

 the many questions concerning the cultivation and management of 

 the crop, Avhich the results of only a series of years of observation and 

 experiment can bring to a reliable conclusion. 



That it is a wise and enlightened policy for this government, whether 

 state or national, to encourage in every legitimate way the thorough 

 investigations of these great economic questions, which have so much 



