introduced, however, was of an African origin, and 

 to him is, in part, justly due the foolish experi- 

 ments going on ever since. The seeds were dis- 

 tributed by the Patent Office. From the early intro- 

 duction down to the present day numerous books and 

 articles have been written on this subject ; promises 

 without number have been made, but we know of no 

 case where these were fulfilled. The French feared 

 that when it was first talked of it would compete with 

 the sugar beet, but subsequent research proved 

 there was no occasion for alarm. Experiments, how- 

 ever, in the southern part of Europe were, and are 

 still, extremely promising; but the same cannot be 

 said of the northern attempts ; and it has been con- 

 cluded that nothing is to be expected of sorghum 

 north of Lisbon. The subject has long since been 

 abandoned in France, and the only traces of it 

 are for alcohol manufacture. It seems strange that 

 we Americans were not willing to avail ourselves 

 of what these people have done, but must continue 

 nearly in the same paths, as we have been doing, 

 with negative results, for more than thirty years. 

 We would say that the name sorghum is a mere 

 disguise, for the reason that it is nothing more nor 

 less than a sub-variety of sugar cane, which may 

 explain why it is that the reader and the investigator 

 have so frequently been misled. In consequence of the 

 continual crossing but two principal varieties remain, 

 the Chinese and the African types. 



Crystallization of Sorghum Sugar. 



Will this sugar crystallize in a reasonable time ? 

 We can positively say that it will not, in con- 

 sequence of the impurities the juices contain; a 



9 



