64 SORGHUM. 



by such aid. The methods of extracting sugar from these two great sources 

 are very unlike, and each was developed along with scientific investigation in- 

 stituted for each special plant. Sorghum still needs this. The work so nobly 

 begun and successfallj- pursued by the Agricultural Department, is still incom- 

 plete and unfinished. To use an agricultural simile, the crop has been sown, 

 but the harvest has not been reaped. 



Agriculturally, the sorghum question is solved so far as it can be, until sci- 

 ence now does her share. That the crop may be widely and economically 

 grown, containing a satisfactory amount of cane sugar, is sufficiently proved. 

 All the problem remaining unsolved relates to the extraction of sugar. In view 

 of the magnitude of the interests involved, the results already obtained, and 

 the wide attention the matter is now receiving, we feel that there are most en- 

 couraging indications of practical success. 



INTRODUCTION OF SORGHUM INTO THE UNITED STATES. 



In 1850, M. de Moutigny, the French consul at Shanghai, China, 

 sent to the Geographical Society of Paris a lot of plants and seeds 

 from China, and among them sorghum seed grown upon the island of 

 Tsung-miug, at the mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang river. 



It is said that but one seed germinated, and that from the single 

 head 800 seeds were obtained, which were bought by the firm of Vil- 

 morin, Andrieux & Co., of Paris, at one franc each. 



In 1853, Wm. K. Prince, of Flushing, Long Island, N. Y., imported 

 from France the black seed variety of Chinese sorghum into the United 

 States of America, and in 1854 a few pounds of this seed was distrib- 

 uted. 



In 1855, a large hogshead of the seed was disposed of in small 

 quantities throughout the country. 



The first lot of sorghum seed sent out by the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment at Washington! was in 1856, and, about this same time. Orange 

 Judd distributed to the subscribers of the American Agriculturist 

 25,000 packages of this seed. 



In 1857, Leonard Wray, an English merchant, brought from Natal, 

 South Africa, 16 varieties of sorghum seed, which were sent to 

 South Carolina and Georgia and grown there. 



To these African varieties the general name Imphees was given, 

 while to the variety from China the name Chinese Sugar-Caue was 

 given. 



In 1840, M. d'Abadie sent to the Museum at Paris the seed of 30 

 kinds of sorghum from Abyssinia, and it is said of several of 

 these, that the stalks had a sweet juice. But whether any of 

 these seeds were planted, does not appear to be a matter of record, 

 and the cultivation of sorghum during these later years appears to 



