196 SOEGHUM. 



CONCLUSION. 



Sumviarij oj Besulis alreadjf obtained at ilie Department oj Agriculture, in 

 Washington, D. C, in the Production of Sugar and Molasses from Sor- 

 ghum and the Stalks oj Maize. 



The committee find, as the result of their investigation, bj' all the data which 

 have come before them, as well as those obtained by the Department of Agri- 

 culture during the years from 1878 to 1882, both inclusive, and those derived 

 from other parties in different sections of the United States, that the following 

 points are established by an amount of investigation in the laboratorJ^ and of 

 practical experience in the field and factory, which have rarely been devoted 

 to the solution of any industrial problem. 



The more important and well established results are here enumerated, and 

 are followed by a statement of certain practical and scientific points which still 

 remain for future inquiry. 



A. — OF THE POINTS ALREADY SETTLED. 



1. The Presence of Sugar in the Juices of Sorghum and Maize Stalks. 



From records examined by this committee, it appears that, during the three 

 years prior to 1882, there have been made, at the Department of Agriculture, 

 almost four thousand five hundred chemical analyses of the juices of about 

 forty varieties of sorghum, and of twelve varieties of maize. These analyses 

 have shown the constitution of the juices of each variety at the successive 

 stages in the development of the growing plant. They not only confirm the 

 well known fact of the presence of sugar in the juices of these plants in nota- 

 ble quantity, but thej' also establish, beyond cavil, what seems surprising to 

 those who have not examined the facts, that the sorghum, particularly, holds in 

 its juices, when taken at the proper stage of development, about as much cane 

 sugar as the best sugar-cane of tropical regions. 



An examination of the analytical tables in the reports of Dr. Collier, synop- 

 ses of which follow, will show that the juices of sorghum, in certain exceptional 

 but not isolated cases, were remarkable for the amount of cane sugar they con- 

 tained, viz: 



Of true crystallizable sugar in the juice — 



Per cent. 



5 analyses of 5 varieties pave over.. 19 



as analyses of 17 varieties save over IS 



79 analyses of 2.3 varieties gave over 17 



152 analyses of 30 varieties gave over lb ■ 



As compared with the juices of sugar-cane, which gave, by analysis, under 

 15 per cent of sugar, these results are unexpected and surprising. 



But the average results obtained during long periods of working, and from 

 different varieties, are of more value to the practical farmer than any excep- 

 tional instances. 



The average results obtained from 122 analyse? of 35 difi'erent varieties of sor- 

 ghum, and during a working period of one or another of the above varieties of 

 at least three months in the latitude of Washington, are as follows: 



