Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Report on the Production of Beet Sugar as an Agricultural Enterprise in Massachusetts, 1870
Our production of the sorghum plant, although spreading steadily in some portions of the country, has not yet received that attention in those localities, which, on account of a warm and long season, are particularly qualified to reap the full bene fit of its cultivation. In a paper presented to the New York State Agricultural Society at their annual meeting in 1861, and printed in their annual report of that year, I stated the results of a chemical investigation carried out by me in 1857, concern ing the fitness of the sorghum cane for the manufacture of sugar and of superior sirups. These statements have been confirmed, as far as its yield of a good quality of sirup is con cerned; but the manufacture of sugar has not been tried to any extent, although there is no substantial reason why within some of the Southern States with their favorable climate, a part of its sugar might not be advantageously secured in crys tals. A proper defecation of the sorghum juice before its con centration would doubtless accomplish that result. In making these statements here, I do not intend to assert that most of our Northern, and particularly our N orth-western States can profit ably engage in the production of sorghum sugar. Localities liable to early frost and short seasons had better confine them selves, if at all engaged in sorghum cultivation, to the manufacture of sirups, for unripe cane is entirely unfit for the manufacture of crystallized su'gar. The Middle and some of the Southern States have apparently not sufficiently appreciated the value of this cr0p. Associations between neighboring farmers for the purpose of supporting one cane-mill in common, no doubt, would reap handsome profits. Quick working of the ripe cane is essential to success, for there is no practical way as yet pro posed, by which the sorghum cane may be preserved unchanged after it has attained its ripeness.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
