HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



213 



SOP 



The evergreen species are not considered worth 

 the attention they demand. 



Sophronitis. From sophrona, modest; referring 

 to the pretty little flowers of the original spe- 

 cies. Linn. Gynandria-Monandria. Nat. Ord. 

 OrchidacecK. 



Pretty little epiphytes, having a creeping 

 stem, which should be attached to a block of 

 wood, on which the root soon securely fastens 

 itself. The leaves are sessile and comparatively 

 small, while the flowers, especially those of 8. 

 grundifiora, are large and very handsome, of a 

 rich orange-red, marked with darker bars. 

 The plants should have the treatment of the 

 smaller kinds of Cuttleya, and are well deserving 

 adoption. The four species included in this 

 genus are natives of Brazil. Introduced in 1827. 



Sorghum. From Sorghi, its Indian name. Linn. 

 Poli/gamia-Monoecia. Nat. Ord. Graminacece. 



A genus of strong-growing, reed-like grasses, 

 chiefly represented in this country by 8. saccha- 

 ratum, our well-known Broom Corn, a native of 

 India, from whence it was introduced into Eu- 

 rope in 1759. The introduction of Broom Corn 

 into this country as an agricultural product is 

 attributed to Dr. Franklin. He is said to have 

 accidentally seen an imported whisk of corn in 

 the possession of a lady of Philadelphia, and 

 while examining it as a curiosity, found a seed, 

 which he planted, and from that single seed has 

 sprung this important article of agriculture and 

 manufacture in the United States. This spe- 

 cies is grown almost exclusively for the manu- 

 facture of brooms; the seed is, however, valued 

 highly for feeding to sheep, cattle, and fowls. 

 The seed crop is a precarious one, often com- 

 pletely failing, being injured by the frost before 

 it is ripe. The crop is usually harvested before 

 the seed is fairly ripe; hence there is consider- 

 able loss in that way. The seed-crop is, how- 

 ever, only a secondary matter, and the profit that 

 accrues from the seed is regarded an extra divi- 

 dend on the profits of the farm. 8. sucre is the Chi- 

 nese Sugar Cane, or Imphee, a species introduced 

 into the United States from France in 1856, and 

 distributed by the Patent Office Department at 

 Washington, but more extensively by an enter- 

 prising publisher in New York as a premium to 

 his subscribers throughout the United States, 

 for the purpose of growing the plant for the 

 manufacture of sugar in our Northern States, 

 which its advocates said could be done more 

 profitably than sugar was produced at the 

 South from the ordinary cane. The Abolition- 

 ists at the North, who could not conscientiously 

 use the products of slave labor, were particularly 

 active in introducing Sorghum, and were greatly 

 disappointed when they found that the labor of 

 the slave was not to be lessened by the with- 

 drawal from the South of one of its most profit- 

 able industries. 8. vulyare, another species, is 

 the grand Millet of Arabia, known here as 

 Durra, and has been introduced into the United 

 States, Southern Europe, China, and the West 

 Indies, where it is extensively grown and much 

 esteemed as food for laborers, and is called in 

 the latter country Negro Guinea Corn. It is also 

 grown extensively as a forage plant. 8. halepense 

 is naturalized in the Southern States, where it 

 is known as Guinea Grass or Cuba Grass. 8. 

 cernuum is also grown there, and is known as 

 Drooping Sorghum and Pampas Rice. All the 

 species are grown in the same manner as our 

 common field corn. The cultivation of Sorghum 

 for the production of sugar and syrup has re- 



SOR 



ceived a good deal of attention within a few 

 years past, and many experiments have been 

 made, and continue to be made, with various 

 kinds of Sorghum, to ascertain not only their 

 adaptability to particular soils and locality, but 

 their sugar-producing capacity. The "Report 

 of the Department of Agriculture " for last year 

 contains a very interesting and instructive re- 

 port from the chemist of the department, giving 

 the results not only of the yield per acre of the 

 four leading kinds of Sorghum, as grown on the 

 experimental grounds, but also the quantity of 

 sugar and syrup extracted from each kind. The 

 report is accompanied by many very useful tables. 

 Believing the matter of this report to be valuable 

 to those interested in the culture of Sorghum, 

 we have condensed a portion of it, and herewith 

 present it: "During the past season (1879) 

 there have been made several series of investi- 

 gations for the purpose of determining the de- 

 velopment of sugar in the juices of several vari- 

 eties of Sorghum, Maize, and Pearl Millet. These 

 investigations appear to demonstrate that there 

 exists little difference between the various kinds 

 of Sorghum as sugar-producing plants; and, 

 what is quite a surprising result, each of them 

 is, at a certain period of its development, nearly, 

 if not quite, as rich in sugar as the very best 

 of Sugar-cane. It is a matter, also, of extreme 

 practical importance that this maximum content 

 of sugar is maintained for a long period, and af- 

 fords sufficient time to work up a large crop. 

 Another result of these investigations has been 

 to satisfactorily explain the cause of repeated 

 failure in the production of sugar during the 

 past quarter of a century, and to give the as- 

 surance that, in the future, such failure need 

 not attend this industry. For the purpose of 

 making clear the above points, the results ob- 

 tained in the laboratory and in out-of-door ex- 

 periments are appended. The varieties of Sor- 

 ghum grown and subjected to continuous inves- 

 tigation during the season were Early Amber, 

 White Liberian, Chinese, and Honduras, and the 

 Pearl Millet. Besides the above there were 

 made very many examinations of other speci- 

 mens of Sorghums and Corn-stalks; all the re- 

 sults of which only confirmed the general prin- 

 ciple above stated, viz., the practical equality 

 and great value of every variety of this plant. 

 The Early Amber Sorghum is the favorite vari- 

 ety with planters in Minnesota and the North- 

 west. What is now called the Minnesota Early 

 Amber cane is claimed as an improvement upon 

 the Early Amber varieties grown formerly in 

 different parts of Minnesota, by Hon. Seth M. 

 Kenny and Mr. C. F. Miller of that State. Act- 

 ing on the theory that cane in a high latitude 

 will degenerate if grown continuously from its 

 own seed, these gentlemen selected the finest 

 specimens of seed from their own crops, and 

 sent them to a southern latitude to be grown. 

 The seed product of this southern growth was 

 returned to Minnesota. By this alternation of 

 seed, and by other intelligent processes of cul- 

 ture, they have succeeded in establishing a new 

 and permanent variety, which they claim to be 

 more productive in weight of cane and to con- 

 tain a higher per cent, of saccharine matter than 

 any other grown in that State. This claim 

 needs to be substantiated by more careful and 

 extended observations before it can be said to 

 be fully established. Messrs. Kenny and Mil- 

 ler describe the Early Amber cane as presenting 

 'the characteristics of both Sorgho and Imphee.' 



