200 PLANT AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 
contain five per cent, available sugar from the whole crop, 
the future of the industry is a most promising one. 
Until the variations of the percentage of sucrose in the 
juice can be controlled, sorghum cannot be considered a profit¬ 
able crop for sugar production. 
It is purely a question of more scientific agriculture. As far 
as the processes are concerned, the problem of extracting 
the sugar from the cane has been solved. 
To insure the financial success it will be important to se¬ 
lect a suitable situation of climate and soil. Before embarking 
upon a large money outlay, the scientific representative of a 
company should experimentally grow, under trial conditions, 
sorghum cane in the localities where it is proposed to start 
the industry. 
On a broad scale the northern, and southern limits have 
been already defined. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit is the iso¬ 
therm 1 for the best sorghum sugar production for June, July, 
and August; but cane for syrup will grow north of that line. 
At a comparatively small expenditure the question of cli¬ 
mate for special localities and other conditions could be tested 
by a chemical analysis of the plant, whose juices respond as 
quickly to favorable or adverse conditions as the mercury to 
heat and cold. 
Dr. Wiley 2 recently, in his annual address as President of 
the Washington Chemical Society, said: “The hope of sor¬ 
ghum is not in new methods and new machinery, it is in the 
skill and patience of the agronomist. Wise selection of seed, 
intensive culture, judicious fertilization — these are the factors 
that can make the sorghum sufficiently saccharifacient.” 
It seems to me that the refinements of plant analysis are 
destined to play an important part in this connection. Chemi¬ 
cal analysis of chosen seed would ensure a wise selection for 
planting. Analysis of the cane and juice would show the re¬ 
sults of experimental culture. For experiment, the proportional 
constituents of the soil may be varied, to determine if the 
proportion of chemical constituents of the cane, detrimental 
1 Bui. No. j, Chem. Div. Dept, oj Agr. 
2 “Our Sugar Supply.” 
