74 



NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



an ounce of seed each, were sent to the southern portions of the Territory 

 for distribution, and a pound or more to the vicinity of Fort Riley. Other 

 parcels were sent to Atchison and to Lawrence. Beginning- with 1857, 

 sorghum sirup has been a product among the farmers of Shawnee 

 County- continuously, to this time. 



Mr. Giles stated that he had not been informed of any other instance 

 of the growth of sugar cane In Kansas in 1856, and he thought it prob- 

 able that the few hours devoted by him to its culture, and the subse- 

 quent distribution of seed by him, may have been the true beginning 

 of tbe industry in Kansas. 



The issue of the Kansas Herald of Freedom of December 27, 1856, 

 contains as far as I know, the first editorial article on this subject ever 

 written and published in Kansas. This article smacks of politics a 

 little, and makes a criticism of the sugar tariff, and of slaveholding. 

 ''We pay," the editor says, ''for sugar now from 16 to 22 cents per 

 pound ; for molasses from $1 to $1.20 per gallon. In order to keep up 

 the Louisiana sugar planters, we have to pay a duty of 30 per cent, 

 ad valorem on all imported sugar. The expenses of sweetening a fam- 

 ily has really become a very considerable item in housekeeping. The 

 prospects of getting it cheaper are not very flattering, if we depend 

 upon our Southern planters to produce it. Their annual crop has 

 dwindled from 470,000 hogsheads per annum to 120,000, nearly three- 

 quarters less than it was ten years ago. This is a strong argument for 

 the repeal of the tariff, which would no doubt be done, were it not for 

 the interest of the slaveholder to retain it. But we have the tariff, and 

 it will probably be retained for their benefit. This may in the end be 

 fortunate for the country, for it will stimulate very considerably the 

 cultivatiou of the Chinese sugar cane. This is destined, at no distant 

 day, to be one of the staple productions of Kansas, and perhaps of all 

 the Middle States." And here the editor remarks, in reference to 

 Kansas, what twenty-seven years of cultivation since has well demon- 

 strated, certainly so as applying what he said to the climate of Kansas. 

 " The soil of Kansas," he says, "is remarkably adapted to the favor- 

 able growth of this plant. The spontaneous vegetation indicates a 

 warm alkaline soil, free from acids, and well calculated to secrete sac- 

 charine, in plants favorable to elaborate it. This is seen in the superior 

 sweetness of our sugar beets, watermelons, and sweet potatoes. The 

 climate is also favorable ; it being warm and dry." 



And the next spring, 1857, the cultivation of sorghum was no doubt 

 well begun in Kansas. In the issue of the Herald of Freedom of April 

 11, 1857, the editor says, in a paragraph under the head of "New arti- 

 cles of agriculture," as if there had been known to him no cultivation 

 of sorghum in Kansas before that time: "Several persons are going 

 into the sugar business this season sufficiently large to test the value 

 of the new sugar plant. Caution is necessary at first in order that per- 

 sons may not lose too much by failure. Experience is necessary." 



