REPORTS OF SPECIAL AGENTS ON THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



ivruont CTION. 



Hy (i. I,. Si-KNCKi:, rl,i,f ,,f Si/ijar I.ulinnttori/. 



is probably not :i State, Territory, nor possession of tin- I'nitcd 

 States, with the exception of Alaska, in which sirup, or a >emi>oli<l 

 product, formed of a mixture of sugar and sirup, is not manufactured. 

 In the Northern sirup industry this product is obtained from sorghum 

 cane and the sap of the maple tree. In the South both sor^hu in and 

 sugar cane are used in sirup manufacture. An additional source of 

 sirup is mai/e or Indian corn, from which large <juantities of glucose 

 are made. This branch of the sirup industry and maple sirup will not 

 be considered in this bulletin. 



The extent of the sirup industry is indicated by the following data 

 from Bulletin No. 237, Agriculture, Twelfth Census: 



Of the total area devoted to sugar cane, exclusive of Hawaii, the South Atlantic 

 division contained 47, L'-!:} acres, or 12.2 per cent, of which 55.2 percent was in ( ieorgia, 

 and the South Central division :;:;<>, 7i:> acres, or 87.8 per cent of the total, of which 

 Louisiana contributed SI. 5 percent. There were 50 acres reported from Ari/ona in 

 tin- Western division. The increase in area since 18S9 in the South Atlantic division 

 was 43.6 per cent, and in the South Central division 40..'] per cent. 



The above figures indicate that comparatively little cane is grown for 

 sirup making except in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi, 

 since the cane in Louisiana and Texas is almost exclusively employed 

 in sugar manufacture. 



The increase in the South Atlantic division of 43.6 percent is largely 

 due to the expansion of the industry in Georgia. The Census report 

 cited gives the total number of gallons of sirup produced as 12,293, <>:'>:_>. 

 the greater part of which was consumed as table sirup. A consider- 

 able quantity of sirup is produced in Louisiana and sold to the sugar 

 factories. There are no data in the Census report to show whet he r 

 this sirup is excluded from the returns for table sirup, but in any 

 event these figures indicate the present magnitude of the cane-simp 

 industry. The Census report gives the following additional data in 

 regard to sorghum sirup: 



In 1899, 446,621 farmers produced from 293,152 acres 1, 911,040 tons of sorghum 

 cane. Of this they sold 291,703 tons and from the remaining product manufactured 

 16,972,783 gallons of sirup. 



Of the total area devoted to sorghum, the North Atlantic division reported li'H 

 acres and the South Atlantic 54,152 acres, or 18.5 per cent of the whole, of which 

 Georgia and North Carolina together contributed 69.4 per cent. 



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