THE CHINESE SUGAR-CANE. 9 



of any country. It is considered indispensable 

 by every one, and its use judged conducive to 

 health. According to the Patent Office report 

 of 1853-4, by the census returns of 1840, the 

 amount of cane-sugar made in the Union, that 

 year, was 119,995,104 pounds ; in 1850, 247,- 

 577,000 pounds, showing an increase of 127,- 

 581,896 pounds, besides 12,700,896 gallons of 

 molasses. The amount of cane and maple sugar 

 made in the United States in 1853-4 may be 

 estimated at 545,000,000 pounds, which at six 

 cents — - and it is worth much more than that — 

 would be worth $'32,700,000, besides 14,000,000 

 gallons of molasses and syrup, which, at 30 cents, 

 would be worth $4,200,000. A large part of 

 the sugar which is produced in this country 

 comes from Louisiana, as will be seen by the fol- 

 lowing returns for the years 1853-4, — one 

 year's product, — in all, 449,324 hogsheads, or 

 about 495,156,000 pounds. Thus, it wiU be 

 seen that Louisiana supplied much more than 

 was produced in the whole country in 1850. 

 But we see, by late returns, that the crop has 

 fallen off, so that in 1855 it was only 231,427 

 hogsheads, or but little more than half what it 

 was in 1853 ; and this probably is one great 



