214 PLANT AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 
The value of all imported sugars and molas¬ 
ses for the year ending June 30, 1885_ $76,738,719.00 
For the year ending June 30, 1884, . 103,884,275.00 
The total value 1 of domestic sugars and mo¬ 
lasses amounted to ... 43,037,409.03 
The amount of money sent out of the coun¬ 
try during the last year to meet the de¬ 
mands of sugar consumption, was. 2 135,000,000.00 
If it is admitted that the prosperity of a country is shown by 
its advance in agriculture, the onward march should be en¬ 
couraged by every means in our power. 3 To establish an 
indigenous sugar industry would add to this prosperity. An 
idea may be obtained, from the above statistics, to what mag¬ 
nitude the industry must reach before it can supply to the 
people this necessary article of food. 
The President of the Chemical Society of Washington, in 
his annual address, 4 presented, under four headings, the 
possible solution of the sugar problem. The general conclu¬ 
sions reached were in favor of the establishment of a domestic 
industry. 
The wide range of territory and the varied climate of our 
country render it particularly fitted for sugar production. 
The maple and sugar beet can be grown on our lands in the 
North. The best range of latitude for the beet in America 
is from 38° to 44 0 . 5 The sugar-cane plantations of the South 
will contribute their share, and the great middle belt of our 
vast country may be given to sorghum crops. On a broad 
scale the northern and southern limits of this belt have been 
already defined. 
The isotherm 6 is 70° Fahrenheit for the best sorghum sugar 
production for June, July, and August; but cane for syrup 
1 Bui. No. 5, Chem. Div. Dept, of Agr. 
2 Bui. No. 2, Chem. Soc. of Washington , p. 16. 
3 “Plant Analysis as an Applied Science.” Franklin Institute Journal. 
4 “Our Sugar Supply,” by H. W. Wiley. From Bui. No. 2, Chem. Soc. of 
Washington , 1887. 
5 Observations on the Beet Root Sugar and Sugar Beet Culture , as adapted 
to the United States , Chicago, 1863, p. 13. 
6 Bui. No. 3, Chem. Div. Dept, of Agr. 
