SOHCIIUM. 



701 



RTIV uniformity longer in tho names attached to 

 them. Ho regard- the sub-variety known, but 

 improperly, a- the Ot,ihfit<in, and which has 

 lately lu-eii brought into some prominence, as 

 undoubtedly an imphee ; and tho so-called 



'in cano as probably a derivative also 



l ho same cla<s of plants. 

 In the year 1801, tho sorgho cultivated in tho 

 'lorthorn parts of Franco had, in many cases, 

 so tar degenerated that, the seed from the two 



scarcely distinguishable, it was very diffi- 

 cult even to procure seed which could be relied 

 on to 1 1 rod nee tho genuine cane. Indeed it was 

 early found that tho Chinese cane could not 

 compete as a source of sugar with the beet; 

 and the former was still raised mainly'for its 

 furnishing a purer and cheaper alcohol than 

 the latter. In the south of France the cane had 

 not been cultivated on a scale largo enough to de- 

 termine its value. In England both the sorgho 

 and impheo have been tried ; and while tho 

 plants thrive, they afford but very little sugar. 

 In tho West Indies these canes have not been 

 found equal to the varieties of saccharum pre- 

 viously cultivated there. 



Among the circumstances, however, which 

 have strongly recommended these plants in tho 

 United States, are those of the wide range of 

 latitude (from the extreme southern limits of the 

 country to as high as 41, or farther north) over 

 which they are, when genuine, capable either 

 of furnishing a bountiful feed-crop or of ma- 

 turing a saccharine juice, and of their compara- 

 tive hardihood, greater than that of maize, both 

 as against a free, rough cultivation, and against 

 drought and tho lighter frosts of early autumn. 

 Considering tho wide transfer undergone in 

 locality and conditions, much modification was, 

 perhaps, to be looked for ; but here also in 

 many cases this has gone, with both the sorgho 

 and the imphee, to the point of a partial or 

 complete degeneration. In the first place, a too 

 frequent cultivation of the different varieties 

 near to each other has led to an exchange or 

 fusion of characteristics, with perhaps a gain, 

 and more commonly a loss, in saccharine rich- 



or, their growth near to the broom-corn 

 and common millets has still further resulted in 

 what is almost universally accepted as a hy- 

 bridization, and, in this cn?o, with a necessary 

 deterioration or loss of value. The actual de- 

 generation of tho canes, in the second place, 

 occurring either as a consequence of such inter- 

 mixture or possibly of other causes, has been 

 found to affect from single stalks to an entire 

 field, or to supervene gradually from year to 

 year, showing itself sometimes in a great over- 

 growth, with perhaps long and brooin-like pani- 

 cle, and sometimes in "blight," the pith turning 

 red, dry, and non-saccharine. 



Such facts sufficiently press the importance 

 of care in the selection of seed for planting, and, 

 where practicable, of avoiding proximity to 

 crops susceptible of intermixture. Tho Report 

 of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1864, 

 in fact, while stating that the introduction of 



tho sorghum and imphee has already been worth 

 millions of dollars to the country, and mention- 

 ing the fact of the largo quantities of sugar and 

 of syrup already m.inufactured from those canes, 

 adds that an ugent had at that time been sent 

 to China to purchase fresh seed of tho sorgho, 

 and to ascertain minutely the method of ugar- 

 making there practised: and that it was hoped 

 a supply of the seed would bo obtained in time 

 for planting in 1865. 



The same report further adds, that the sub- 

 ject of cultivation of tho beet for sugar is at- 

 tracting attention in the Western States, some 

 cultivators in Illinois having already engaged in 

 this with promise of success. And although 

 the readily imaginable difficulties, in the outset, 

 of cultivating in the sorghums an unknown 

 plant, and of engaging in the unguided experi- 

 ment of manufacturing its juices, have already, 

 through the perseverance and ingenuity brought 

 to bear on this industry, been largely overcome, 

 yet there have been those who have anticipated 

 that the sorghum culture may yet end in this 

 country, as in France, in a resource for feed, 

 for alcohol, etc., while a resort is ultimately 

 had to the beet for sugar. This view, indeed, 

 and which is hero recorded in no sense as indi- 

 cating disparagement or despair of the sorghum, 

 may still be a mistaken one ; and it is a practi- 

 cal question of the highest importance, whether, 

 since the sorghum juices, like those of the beet, 

 are very much more highly charged and clog- 

 ged with organic and other impurities than are 

 those of the tropical cane, rendering their puri- 

 fication at best a nice and difficult matter, much 

 might not be gained in this country by adopt- 

 ing, in reference to the former the European 

 practice with the beet, separating the business 

 of cultivation from that of manufacture, and 

 conductingthe latter on an extensive and system- 

 atic scale. 



Cultivation. Authorities are still not agreed 

 as to which variety of sorghum. is to be pre- 

 ferred; and on this point, doubtless, much de- 

 pends on climate, soil, and situation. Some 

 analyses and trials have assigned to the Chinese 

 cane tho larger percentage of sngar ; but Mr. 

 Isaac A. Hedges, of Dayton, Ohio, himself 

 largely engaged in the cultivation, regards this 

 cane as the most liable to deteriorating inter- 

 mixture with the broom-corn, to prostration by 

 winds, followed by a crooked growth, and to 

 production of large gummy joints, injuring the 

 quality of tho juice ; and tho African cane, on 

 the contrary, as the more vigorous and uniform 

 in stalk, seldom falling, having tho richer and 

 more limpid juice, and as tho only sort which, 

 in case of overgrowth from too rich a soil, may 

 still increase its total product of sugar. 



The canes are benefited by a considerable 

 richness of soil ; and where requisite, the laud 

 may bo freely supplied with lime, plaster, and 

 well-rotted (excluding fresh stable) manures. 

 The canes being liable to suffer from a wet, 

 spring, a warm, somewhat light ant] porous 

 soil, as a rich sandy loam, is to bo preferred ; 



