240 SORGHUM. 



M. Louis Vilmorin on Sorghum. 

 M. Louis Vilmorin, of Paris, the well-known seedsman, in 1854, 

 published in the Bon Jardinier Almanac for 1855, pages 41-53, an ar- 

 ticle on Sorgho sucre of much interest, from which it appears that sor- 

 ghum \vas grown as a sugar plant at Florence, in 1766, by Pictro Ar- 

 duino, and also that M. d'Abadie sent to the Museum in Paris from 

 Abyssinia a collection of seeds coulaining thirty varieties of sorghum, 

 some plants of which attracted attention from the sugary flavor of 

 their stems. M. Vilmorin calls attention, especially, to the fact, 

 that while the seeds of sorgho from the new importation of Montigny 

 from China, in 1851 (see Dr. Williams' notes on the Chinese sorghum, 

 p. 53), were black, and apparently identical with those of the old col- 

 lections, the seeds of the Florentine plants were described as of a clear- 

 brown color, correspoudiug to well-recognized differences in the sugar 

 soi'ghum. 



I have not extracted anj- sugar from sorglium ; I have only made some deter- 

 minations by means of the saccharometer, and verified them generally by 

 means of evaporation and a treatment with alcohol. 



The following are the results presenting the proportion of sugar existing in 



the juice from plants gathered at Verrieres: 



Per centum. 



October 13t.h, 1853 10.04 



November 2Sth, 1853 13 08 



November 2Sth. 1853, second experiment 14 .06 



October loth. 18,")4 (without inversion) 10.14 



November 15th, 1854, crystallizable sugar, 11% per cent; uncrystallizable sugar, 



4>4 per cent 16.00 



Our calculations, on the basis given above, would show that the returns of one 

 hectare of sorghum would be as follows : 



Stalks and leaves kilograms . 77,270 



Net stalks do .... 49,300 



Juice, at .55 per cent to the weight of stalks (271 hectoliters) liters.. 27,115 



Sugar, at 8 per cent to the juice kilograms.. 2,iri9 



Absolute alcohol, at 6 . 3 per cent to the juice liters . . 1,708 



The analogous returns from the beets would be as follows: 



Roots, weight to the hectare kilograms . 45,0f)0 



Juice, at SO per cent to the weight of roots do.. .. 36,000 



Sugar, at 6 per cent to the juice do .. 2,160 



Absolute alcohol, at 3 per cent to the beets liters.. 1,350 



The 8 per cent sugar on which I have calculated the yield of sorgho will, per- 

 haps, be considered as too low; but it should not be forgotten that it refers to 

 the crystallizable sugar that can actually be extracted, and I do not, therefore, 

 believe my estimate too low. If I were to make a comparison between the 

 "sorgho" and the "sugar-cane" in a more southerly climate, I have no doubt 

 that the figure representing the product in sugar would rise to a far higher 

 value; but I lack the data required for such a comparison. 



After examining the chances of the industrial culture of sorgho, and the con- 

 siderations that may lead to the adoption of this plant, I have only to furnish 



