20 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



The tropical cane, while it is the richest of all, is practically limited 

 to an extremely small belt in the South. 



The maple and beet are best suited to high temperate latitudes, while 

 the sorghum seems destined to claim the middle temperate conditions 

 for its peculiar field. 



Certain varieties, like the Amber, reach maturity in an extremely 

 short period of growth, and it is possible that careful selection of seed 

 may extend the range over which the sorghum may be successfully 

 grown, and the belt of country may become a wide one. It should be 

 remembered, however, that this belt should be bordered by lines of 

 isotherinacy and not by parallels of latitude. 



In discussing the geographical limits of sorghum culture it has been 

 usual to say that they are the same as for maize. This is both true and 

 false — true in that the early varieties of sorghum will grow as far north 

 as our corn, and the late ones as far south ; false in the assumption that 

 the mere growing of sorghum is enough to insure success in making 

 sugar from it. Not only must there be time for growth but also for 

 manufacture. The effect of cold weather on sorghum cane may be 

 summarized as follows : 



(1.) A frost severe enough to kill the blades of immature cane will 

 spoil it for sugar-making. 



(2.) Such a frost on ripe cane will not do it any notable injury. 



(3.) A frost severe enough to congeal the water in the cells of the 

 cane will render it unfit for sugar-making immediately on the accession 

 of thawing weather. To determine the length of the working season, 

 therefore, is to know (1) the time of ripening of the cane, i. e., when the 

 seed is hard, and (2) the time when the first severe frost is likely to 

 take place. 



The shortest period of maturity is probably in the neighborhood of 

 100 days, and in the latitude of Chicago the working period which 

 could be depended on would not exceed six weeks, as early frosts are 

 possible in the middle of October. 



In length of working season the beet appears to have a great advan- 

 tage over sorghum. As is well known, the beet is harvested before any 

 freezing weather and put in silos. Here it is kept during the winter 

 months, or until it is sent to the mill. If the temperature of the silos 

 is kept low enough the beets will retain their sugar until the following 

 spring. Beet-sugar factories in Europe sometimes keep running until 

 March or April. 



The advantage of keeping the machinery in use for as long a time as 

 possible is one which will be keenly appreciated by every manufacturer. 

 The cost of a sugar-factory plant is very great. Machinery is injured 

 more by idleness than by use. The shortness of the working season, 

 therefore, becomes a difficulty the most serious to the success of tho 

 sorghum business. 



An experiment on the preservation of sorghum in silos showed that 

 cane buried on the 12th of November, 18S3, which contained about 9 

 per cent, of sucrose and 3 per cent, of other sugars, still retained on 

 January 14, 1884, 8.39 per cent, sucrose, with 2.36 per cent, of other 

 sugars. On February 27 there were present 7 per cent, and 3.13 per 

 cent., respectively, and on April 1, 5.89 and 3.72 per cent. The value 

 of these facts for the manufacturer can only be determined by a prac- 

 tical test on a large scale. If there is no means of preserving the cane 

 we are again driven to a selection of proper climatic conditions for quick 

 maturity and long working season. Cape May, K. J., seems to be a 

 favorable locality in these two respects, as proved by the experience of 



