51 



It is a matter of congratulation that the work which the Department 

 has instituted has been found of such value as to incite private enter- 

 prise to undertake similar experiments in a soil and climate entirely 

 different from those which form the environments of the Department's 

 work in Kansas. The great object of Mr. Thompson's endeavors is, if 

 possible, to evolve a sugar-producing plant which may supplement the 

 sugar season with sugar cane in Louisiana. As is well known, by rea- 

 son of the severity of the climate in Louisiana, the sugar season is of 

 limited duration. Sixty days at most are all that can be counted for 

 general work with sugar cane without recourse to wiudrowing or some 

 other expedient for preserving the cane from the action of the frost. 

 As a result of this inclemency of the weather, the expensive machinery 

 for sugar-making must lie idle for eight or nine months of the year. It 

 has been Mr. Thompson's idea that if a sugar plant could be produced 

 which would enable the machinery of the factory to be set in operation, 

 say in September instead of the 1st of November, two months could be 

 added to the manufacturing season, and consequently the profit of 

 sugar manufacturing increased to that degree. Mr. Thompson has 

 therefore carried on at his own expense extensive cultural experiments 

 in sorghum on the same general lines indicated in the Sterling work for 

 the past three years with the most gratifying results, as will be seen 

 from his report which follows. 



The general results of Mr. Thompson's experiments have shown that 

 so far as the climate and soil of Louisiana are concerned there are six 

 varieties which give promise of excellent results. Arranged in the 

 order of their excellence as determined by his experiments these varie- 

 ties are: Colnian, Collier, Planter's Friend, Link's Hybrid, Early 

 Orange, and Ubehlana. These results are very similar to those obtained 

 by the Department in Kansas, with the exception of the variety Ubeh- 

 laria, which seems to be very inferior to the others for sugar-making 

 purposes in Kansas. From an inspection of the tables it will be seen 

 that the minimum percentage of sucrose in the juice of the best single 

 canes of the different varieties is of the most satisfactory quantity, far 

 exceeding that reached by the sugar cane of the same locality. It must 

 not be inferred from this, however, that the sorghum is superior to the 

 sugar cane as a sugar -producing plant. The very fact that Mr. Thomp- 

 son does not use sorghum as a source of sugar shows that he is yet far 

 from being convinced that it can take the place of sugar cane as a 

 profitable source of sugar in Louisiana. It is only when the sorghum 

 cane is manufactured by the process of diffusion and the sirup subse- 

 quently treated with alcohol, that the yield per ton of merchantable 

 sugar can be expected to approach or exceed that of the sugar cane of 

 Louisiana. 



AT MEDICINE LODGE. 



The cultural work at Medicine Lodge was not directed toward im- 

 provement by seed selection, but to the study of general agricultural 



