NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



27 



By comparing the analyses of these beets with those from Oswego, 

 the great superiority of the latter is at once manifest. 



York, Pa., seems to be too far south for successful culture of the 

 sugar beet. 



In the attempts which have been made in the United States to estab- 

 lish the sugar-beet industr^^, the cause of failure has generally been in- 

 ability to obtain sufficient beets. There is little doubt but that quite a 

 wide territory can be found in our most northern States in which both 

 soil and climate are fav^orable to a development of the beet sugar indus- 

 try. The experience of Europe for nearly a century is at our disposal. 

 The Department of Agricultur e would do a great work for the jSTorthern 

 farmers by determining experimentally the best localities for the culture 

 of the sugar beet. 



FURTHER STUDY OF THE SORGHUM INDUSTRY. 



It is readily seen from these figures that the importance of sorghum 

 sugar from a commercial view is altogether in its possibilities and not 

 in its actual magnitude. The predictions made a few years ago b^' 

 many honest enthusiasts, that in five years (the time has already ex- 

 pired) our country would make its own sugar, are yet far from being 

 fulfilled. 



The fact must be admitted that the present production of sorghum 

 ^sugar is not a ver}^ encouraging one for thirty years of endeav^or. But 

 there is one encouraging aspect of this statement, viz, that nearly all 

 the progress in sugar- making has taken place during the past three 

 years. A careful study of the results obtained, and which can be re- 

 lied upon as exact, during the last few years, will lead to some inter- 

 esting deductions. These of course may be modified by subsequent ex- 

 perience, but they appear to be justified by the x>resent condition of the 

 industry. 



GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 



SMALL MILLS. 



The prevalent idea that each farmer will become his own sugar-maker 

 I do not hesitate to pronounce erroneous. For nearly thirty years such 

 experiments have been carried on by farmers throughout the middle 

 and northern parts of the country and yet no permanent success has 

 attended them. 



In many cases even the sirups made in this small way are far from 

 being palatable. They often contain the acids and other impurities of 

 the juice, and have an acrid, unpleasant taste. 



The successful manufacture of sorghum sugar presents greater diffi- 

 culties than the working of the sugar beet. In this there is only one 

 sugar, viz, sucrose, and its separation is not hindered and even pre- 

 vented by large quantities of its uncrystallizable kindred. Three- 

 quarters of a century have placed the manufacture of beet sugar on a 

 paying basis, but have not brought it to its limits of perfection. 



