COMPARISON OF SORGHUMS FEOM DIFFERENT COUNTIUES, 101 



(B.) Glumes purplish. 



White Liberian. 



Head slender, erect, or goose-necked ; branches appressed, 



pointed. 

 Glumes large, smooth, shining, acute at both ends, often 



not covering the seed. Infertile ones often very 



prominent and purplish gra}'. 

 Seed large, long, and similar to the Amber, but hilum 



more prominent. 

 Synon. Sugar-cane (Barger). 



COMPARISON" OF SORGHUMS GROWN FROM SEED RECEI\^D FROM 

 CHINA, NATAL, INDIA, AND FROM THE UNITED STATES. 



These several varieties were grown upou the same plot of ground, in 

 Washington, D. C, in the year 1882, and the results obtained are, 

 therefore, comparable. 



The number of analyses made of each group, the average weight of 

 stripped stalks, the percentage of juice expressed, and the average per- 

 centages of sucrose, solids not sucrose (including glucose), and availa- 

 ble sugar, in the juices, are given, for several stages of development. 



The poor quality of the Chinese varieties is seen in the light weio:ht 

 of the stalks, the small percentage of juice expressed (though the 

 same mill was used in all the experiments recorded — a total of 984), 

 and in the lower percentage of sucrose and available sugar. 



It is, however, to be remembered, that these Chinese seeds were 

 obtained from about Peking, while the original Chinese sorghum seed 

 imported into France by M. de Montigny, according to Dr. Williams, 

 was grown upon the island Tsung-ming, whicli lies at the mouth of the 

 Yang-tse-kiang river, some 700 miles south of Peking. It is not im- 

 probable that this warmer region had developed a variety richer in 

 sugar than those of Northern China, where, as Dr. Williams says, the 

 uses of the plant for grain and fuel may have developed qualities, dur- 

 ing the centuries of its cultivation, fitting it for such purposes, but at 

 the expense of its sugar content. 



Comparison of 14 Chinese sorghums, 26 African, 3 Indian, and 20 

 American : 



Percentage of Sucrose in Juice. 



Chinese. African. Indian. American. 



Seed in milk 6.90 8.72 8.07 8.91 



Seed in dough 8.2.S 9.-19 10.36 11.53 ' 



Seed, hard 8.93 10.20 9.52 11.57 , 



Sucker seed in milk 9..57 10.83 12.03 12.01 



Sucker seed in dough 9.61 12.24 11.85 12.80 



Average 8.C5 10.30 10.37 11.36 



