vice ; and it is to be hoped that these trials will end 

 there, and that further attempts will be abandoned. 



The More Recent Sorghum Investigations of 1880. 



It was presumable that the more recent investi- 

 gations would bring to light new ideas and methods. 

 In reference to these, we would say that the 

 experiments made during the month of October 

 were by no means successful, as declared by the 

 practical sugar chemist. An explanation of this was, 

 the hurried erection of the mill, breaking of the 

 bagasse knife, and frost in the field rendering sorghum 

 samples worthless. Open pans were tried and aban- 

 doned ; evaporation in vacuum pans was the only 

 remedy, and sugar in very small quantities was made. 

 The remaining syrup was sent to the Wilmington Beet 

 Sugar Factory, where several hundred additional 

 pounds of sugar were extracted. This was worth 

 about five cents per pound instead of eight cents, as 

 obtained from the beet in Delaware ; it had a green- 

 ish color and a disagreeable taste, judging from sam- 

 ples that we saw and tasted. On the other hand, 

 white sugar may be made from the beet direct. In 

 the same preliminary report, published in February, 

 1 88 1, an account is given of one hundred experi- 

 ments made in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Con- 

 necticut, Rhode Island, Dakotah Territory, Georgia, 

 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

 Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, 

 New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South 

 Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West 

 Virginia, Wisconsin, and only in one case a pound of 

 sugar was made, and this was in Missouri. We would 

 say, however, that one thoughtful planter estimates 

 the value per pound if the sugar had been made. 



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