Proceedings of tue Farmers' Club. 203 



produced. Here tlie quantity used is surprising. In answer to a 

 circular addressed to several thousand producers, I learned that the 

 average quantity consumed in families of six persons, where the syrup 

 is used as freely as other common products of the farm, is from fifty 

 to one hundred gallons per annum. A great portion of the answers 

 reported two barrels or eighty gallons. This illustrates the usefulness 

 in the human system of sorghum, and it proves that it is a wholesome 

 aliment, otherwise we should have some indications of rebellion from 

 that sensitive member of the corporeal union. The truth is sorghum 

 is a boon, to all that broad belt of country in which it can be grown, 

 of incalculable value. America, and particularly young America, 

 has a sweet tooth. Childhood clamors for sweets. But sugar in all 

 its commercial forms is expensive. It must be paid for with money ; 

 hence the great mass of farmers must use it sparingly. Here, how- 

 ever, is a sweet which can be produced at home, without any outlay, 

 except a little extra labor, and which can be indulged in without 

 stint. We now propose to produce sorghum for commerce, and allow 

 the cities and towns to enjoy it with us. But there is an odor afid 

 flavor about crude sorghum which town people and those not familiar 

 with it dislike, and we who have been raised upon it, and who con- 

 sume two barrels a year think we might worry down a little more if 

 the quality were considerably improved. Moreover, there is a want 

 of uniformity in the quality which makes it very inconvenient for 

 merchants to deal in it. We propose to remedy all this by the new 

 process of refining and deodorizing sorghum which I am to exhibit 

 and explain. By' this process, which can be managed by any 

 ordinary farmer, and which requires but a trifiing outlay for 

 apparatus and materials, refined sorghum syrup can be made 

 directly from the juice, nearly as good as the best sugar-house 

 syrup produced by bone-coal filters, vacuum pans, and all the 

 intricate and expensive appliances of a regular sugar refinerj^. 

 Before proceeding with the operation of refining, I will explain 

 the process, that yon may understand the nature of the reactions 

 which will be observed. The materials used are, first, the inso- 

 luble earthy sulphate of baryta; second, a highly silicious silicate of 

 soda (the alkaline commercial silicates are not appropriate), and 

 lastly common lime. The materials are added to the juice or diluted 

 syrup, and brought to the boiling point. At the boiling point, the 

 silica unites with the earthy salts which hold the albuminous matter 

 in solution, and with them and the added lime, forms* a complete 



