Sorghum

SORGHUM. The importance which the cul tivation of Sorghum has assumed as a crop in the West, within the last ten years, and more particu larly within the last six years, through improved processes in its manufacture, by which a fair amount of crystallizable sugar may be produced, ranging from seventy to ninety per cent. of the mush sugar in concentrated syrup, has caused many to again undertake this industry, who from twenty to twenty-five years ago gave up the manufacture as unprofitable, as carried on with the crude apparatus then at hand. When. the same capital and appliances are given to the production of sugar from sorghum in the North, and especially in the AVest, as are applied to sugar cane in the South, and to the manufacture of beet sugar in Europe, there is no reason why it should not enable the West to add immensely to her productive capacity, and in fact give the world as cheap sugar as she now does cheap grain. That the time is near at hand when the intelli gent use of large capital will be so employed, and remuneratively, there is no doubt, and first from the fact that the climate and soil of the West are admirably adapted to the crop, and second, me chanical talent is now actively engaged in pro ducing economical apparatus for condensing, as chemical talent is in cheaply neutralizing the acid qualities, and separating impurities from the juice. It is not necessary here to go into a long historical account of sorghum, and its varie ties. It is now nearly forty years since sorghum was introduced from France to the United States, and disseminated as a crop that might be profit ably worked into syrup. We believe the first seed was brought to New York in 1853, and sent out. In 1856 the writer received a small package from a friend, planted it in Cook county, Illinois, and made a kind of syrup by crushing it between crude rollers, and boiling down in a five pail kettle. The next year and the succeeding years it began to be disseminated all over the then set tled portions of the AA-est In 1857 Mr. Leonard Wray brought to New York several varieties of Impliee, which he had procured from Natal, South Africa. This, it was confidently said, would produce sugar. It did not with the crude apparatus and the imperfect knowledge of the chemical requirements then known. Neverthe less, the sugar was there, and has since been brought out of it. The failures and losses have not been nearly so great as those attending the introduction and manufacture of beet sugar in Europe. Yet Europe now furnishes one-third the crystallizable sugar produced on the earth, and the beet crop has revolutionized the agri culture of the countries producing it, and added fully twenty-five per cent. to the product in other crops. How? By the clean cultivation of the beets required, by feeding the refuse -6° cattle, and, by the manure made. Let us see how this indus try has figured in the past. From the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1876, we find that the aggregate of syrup reported from the census of 1860 was 6,749,123 gallons. The first State in production was Iowa. It reported 1,211,512 gallons, followed by 881,049 in Indiana, 806,589 in Illinois, 796,111 in Missouri, 779,076in Ohio, and 706,663 in Tennessee. For the census of 1870 tbe aggregate was 16,050,089 gallons. Indiana reported 2,026,212; Ohio, 2,023,427; Illi nois, 1,960,473; followed in the order of decrease by Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, and West Virginia. Iowa, the tirst in production in 18o9, but the seventh in 1869, returned 1,218,636 zallons, an advance only of 7,124. But the State census of 1867 gives for 1865 an area of 21,452 acres, producing 1,436,605 gallons; and for 1867, 25,796 acres, producing 2,094,557 gallons. The .State census for 1875 gives, for 1874, 15,768 acres, yielding 1,386,908 gallons. The definite statistics for the State of Ohio, annually pub lished since 1861, afford a fair illustration of the gradual advance in production up to about 1866 and the subsequent gradual decline throughout the section between the Ohio and the Missouri, and including Missouri. The production in Ohio for the years named was as follows: and from this time while the corn is in perfec tion for eating green, sugar corn is in the best state for producing crystallizable sugar. At such time Stowell's Evergreen gave a specific gravity of 10.60; showed 11.34 of crystallizable In the Ohio valley there has been a tendency to decrease the area of sorghum since 1869, while there has been a marked increase in the South and west of the Missouri. For fourteen years, ending with 1875, the average product of syrup in Ohio has been 2,054,605 gallons, a little more tha.n the crop of 1869; the average area is 25,868 acres, .and the yield 79.4 gallons of syrup and 1.39 pounds of sugar per acre. As an illustration of the increase in new Western States, the product, in 1875.in Kansas is reported as 2,542,512 gallons; in 1869, by the census returns, 449,409 gallons. The crop of 1875 was produced on 23,026 acres; average per acre, 110 gallons. Georgia reported the same year 15,905 acres, yielding seventy-three gallons per acre, or 1,161,065 gallons, averaging sixty-six cents per gallon, and estimated to cost twenty-eight cents per gallon. A larger quan tity of syrup is extracted as experience is acquired and processes improved. As an esti mate for twenty-one years since the introduc tion of sorghum, 11,000,000 gallons of syrup per annum might approximate the product. At an average value of sixty-five cents, (it is less now,) the value of the annual product would be $7,150,000. The sugar of the sorghum is a small item, yet in fourteen years, in Ohio alone, it amounts to 506,000 pounds. Including sugar and forage, the annual value must be not less than $8,000,000, and the aggregate value $168,000,000 since its introduction by the Depart ment of Agriculture. Within the last few years much has been written upon corn as a sugar plant. That its juice is rich in saccharine, and that it could be made into syrup has long been known. That it contains notable quantities of crystal sugar has lately been demonstrated. That it can do more than add something to the length of the sugar making season—being earlier in ripening—is hardly probable. That sugar making from corn, where the ears, when in milk, may be utilized for canning and drying, may be made profitable there is no doubt, and fortu nately, at the time the corn is in the early milk, sugar, and 1.56 of uncrystallizable sugar. Eight rowed yellow corn gave respectively 10.60, 11.42 and 1.65. These results were, we suppose, obtained by means of the polariscope, an instru ment for testing saccharine juices. In the practi ,eal working, even where the best appliances are used, including a vacuum pan, some loss ensues, with any saccharine juices, including the beet and sugar cane. If rive per cent. of crystal sugar can be obtained it will pay. Six per cent. will leave a handsome profit and seven per cent, give large returns for the capital invested. From what has been accomplished in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and especially Min nesota, and without the best appliances, this product would seem to be fairly attained; with more perfect apparatus better results would seem to lie in the future. All sugar plants seem to suffer from an excess of nitrogen in the soil. This was especially found to be the case in tbe manufacture of beet sugar in Illinois. A soil rich in the elements of fertility was selected, one capable of producing from seventy to one hun dred bushels of corn per acre in good seasons. Its strong nitrogenous qualities destroyed, by reduciug, the out come of sugar. Nitrogenous manures, therefore, should be avoided. The best soils are those deep, rich, well drained, cal careous soils—the wheat producing, rolling prairies, and the loess soils of our rivers and bot toms, are excellent. The range of production for sorghum is anywhere where the Dent corn of the West will ripen, 1VIinnesota being the north ern limit. Where manure is necessary, those ter), 5.825(). Thus showing nearly eighty-nine parts of sugar, and over five and one-half parts of glucose in 100. In Minnesota the yield of sugar is from five to six pounds from one gallon weighing thirteen and one-quarter pounds, and the yield varies from 125 to 150 gallons of syrup per acre. The following table prepared by Mr. L. L. Stewart, of Pennsylvania, for the Department of Agriculture, will show the com position of several varieties of sorghum juice. It will not he necessary in this article to go over the ground of preparation, g-rinding, defecating, evaporating and finishing the juice for crystal lization. It would fill a large volurne, and year by year improvements are being made that must be taken advantage of. Mr. Stewart, who has given much thought and attention, as a chemist, to saccharine juices, especially corn, says, in regard to crystallization, that, sorghum syrup should be reduced to a density that, after a lapse of from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, when kept in a warm room, it will become an almost solid mass of sugar. It requires then a special mode of treatment, the crystals being fine and held together by only a small quantity of molasses. When in this condition, the mass is to be thrown into a large tub or mixing-vessel, and a small quantity, (about one-tenth of its volume) of a fair, thin syrup, prepared from sorghum abounding in the phosphates should be used— superphosphate of lime, bone dust, etc. Lirne and gypsum would also be indicated. The vari ties of cane used generally in the West have been Chinese, Liberian, and white and red Imphee. The Liberian and white Imphee have been favor ites in the West from their power of standing heavy winds without much prostration, but they are late in maturing. The Chinese is most pro ductive. The Amber cane of late years has proved most successful. It is early, productive in sugar, and seems well adapted to tbe soil of the West. Whatever the variety, early planting on well drained soil, say immediately preceding corn planting, careful attention while young with deep cultivation early iu the season and shallow cultivation later is essentially necessary to the hest success, since as the plants gain strength they acquire a mass of superficial roots, neces sary to the production of sugar. The Chemist of the Department of Agriculture, in 1877, ana lyzed a sample of Early Amber sugar cane from Minnesota, given as follows: Cane sugar (sac -charose) 88.8934; grape sugar (glucose) 5.6100; water, (by drying at 110 Centigrade thermome juice of a density of say about 30° Baume, when cold, is to be poured upon it and thoroughly incorporated in it, by means of a wooden stirrer. This will bring it to a semi-fluid state, if the roorn in which the operation has been performed has been kept heated. The syrup dilutes the uncrystallized sugar sufficiently to render it rnobile, and does not dissolve the cane sugar. The mass may then be drained in a centrifugal, the inner drum of which is very clearly but min utely perforated and running at the highest rate of speed. A number of linen and coarse muslin sacks are provided, of any convenient size, hut their length should be about two and one-half times their width, say twenty by fifty inches; each sack is to be about one-third filled with this sugary mixture, folded once on itself in the middle, and flattened by placing it upon a table upon a sheet-iron plate with rounded corners, a little larger on every side than the partially flattened half of the sack and its contents, the loose half heing folded under. The open end of the sack may be folded twice .if necessary, The plate and sack are then to be placed within a frame on the bed of a powerful screw-press, and a series of such sacks and interleaved plates laid neatly one upon another, being turned in oppo site directions, and subjected to pressure grad ually applied, at first, to avoid rupture of the sacks, and afterwards with sufficient power to remove all. the syrup and leave the sugar nearly dry. This fine dried sugar is then to be transferred without further drying to a heating vessel, and about one-tenth of its weight of pure water mixed with it. Here it is to he heated very gradually, with frequent stirring, to diffuse the heat through the mass, and when it has partially remelted and it is in the liquefied state, it is to be poured finally into the crystallizing boxes, in a room heated about 90° F., where it will form a solid mass of crystals as soon as it becomes cool. The result is a very coarse-grained, beautiful sugar of a high grade. If properly prepared, it vvill be almost white, and the immediate yield is almost double that which .may be secured in any other way without reboiling. The sugar prepared from sorghum in this way has the additional advantage of not being contaminated with the secondary products usually formed by reboiling;: the final crystallization is attended by no risk, is easily and cheaply done, and in quality, with due care should rank nearly or quite equal to vacuum sugar. The very small quantity of syrup left in contact with the crystals will drain off from the crystallizers, and, being almost free from glucose, will crystallize gradually if posed in broad trays at the temperature of the rdom. If the production of sugar of a softer or more open grain is desired, it can readily be accomplished by a mode of treatment almost identical with the stirring off process adopted by maple sugar producers but with better results. As soon as the half-liquefied sugary mass, duced as already mentioned, has been poured in the crystallizing-boxes, it should be stirred with a broad oar-shaped wooden instrument, without interruption, until it is cool and the sugar dry. The process of experimental manufacture of sugar from both corn and sorghum in 1878,is thus described by the chemist of the Department of Agriculture, and also the results including per cent. of syrup. He says : The following tabulated

results of my experiments are valuable in this especially, that they were conducted quantitatively throughout. The stalks were from a common field-corn, said to have been a cross between a yellow and -white The ears had been plucked from the stalks and sold in our own inarlKets as green corn some three weeks before the stalks had been cut and brought to me for the making of sugar. The sorghum was a variety known as the Minnesota Early Amber. Both corn and sorghum were in a condition of vigorous growth when cut, the leaves being green. The seed of the sorghum was sufficiently mature to rant its preservation, and indeed the last lot received shelled slightly upon handling. The sorghum had not been planted or tivated so as to produce even a fair average in size, as will be seen by the results pended. The mill made use of in ing the juice was an old sorghum mill of common construction, which, through vious use and misuse, had been rendered quite unfit to give satisfactory results. After most of our experiments below given were concluded, it was repaired, so that afterward its working was very much ter, as will he seen by the quent results given further on. The apparatus used in the experhnents, besides a few barrels and pails for holding the juice, consisted of a copper tank of the following sions: four feet three inches' long, two feet three inches deep, two feet three inches wide; a galvanized iron pan nine feet long by eight inches deep, and three feet six inches wide. This iron pan was entirely surrounded by a wooden frame of two-inch plank, so as to support the sides, and each pan was placed in brick-work with chimney, and so arranged as to permit a fire to be kept below it in direct contact with the bottom. In the case of the copper tank the flame played about the sides also, so as to heat the tents more rapidly. The galvanized-iron pan was such as could readily be constructed by any ordinary tinsmith or mechanic. The copper tank was used for defecation with lime; the galvan ized-iron pan for evaporation. The process in brief is as follows. After topping or stripping the corn or sorghum, it was passed tht:ough the mill, and when sufficient juice had been obtained it was heated in the copper tank to a temperature of 82' Centigrade=182° Fahrenheit. After the juice had reached this temperature there was added to it, with stirring, cream of lime until a piece of litrnus paper dipped iu the juice showed a purple or bluish-purple color. The heat was now raised to the boiling point. and so soon as the juice was in good ebullition the fire was drawn, and a thick seum removed from the sur face of the juice. After a few minutes the sedi ment from the juice subsided, and by means of a syphon the clear liquid was decanted off, leav ing a muddy sediment which was equal to about one-tenth to one-twentieth of the bulk of the juice. This muddy sediment was drawn off by means of a stopcock, and filtered through a plaited-bag filter, and the clear filtrate therefrom was added to the liquid previously -syphoned off. The clarified juice, which, during the above operation, is not allowed to cool below a temperature of 66' Centigrade, or 150" Fahr.,was now emptied into the evaporating-pan, and there was added to it, with stirring, a solution of sul phurous acid in water. until the lime present was neutralized, as was shown by the reddening of litmus. paper when it was dipped in the juice. The evaporation was now hastened as much as possible,and the juice concentrated to asyrup at a boiling point of 108' Centigrade equal to 226° Fahrenheit, or thereabout. It Was the intention to concentrate the syrnp still more (to a boiling point of 112 Centigrade, equal to 235' Fahren heit) bnt it was found impracticable to do so in the evaporator, as the danger of scorching it was great, over a naked flame which could not well be controlled. When the syrup reached the density above indicated, it was drawn off into wooden tubs, the fire having previously been drawn from beneath the evaporator. Owing to the fact that each successive lot of stalks was a new experiment, I was unable to wait for the process of filtration of the sediment from the defecator to be completed, and therefore in every case lost a portion of the juice. which of course could have been saved in a continuous process' such as would be practically carried out. This will explain what is meant by the juice utilized, as compared with that obtained. It was intended to have still further concentrated the syrnps in a smaller pan of galvanized tron,so arranged that by a slide the heat could be in stantaneously removed to prevent the scorching of the syrup; but before this pan was completed it was found that the several tubs of syrup were crystallizing, and they were therefore allowed to stand; and the sugar was obtained by pressing out the molasses by means of an ordinary screw press, the mass of molasses and sugar from the tubs being enclosed in an ordinary grain-bag. The sugar thus obtained was very greatly im proved in appearance by the addition of five or ten per cent. of water, and stirring it into a mush, and again subjecting the mass to pressure, by which operation the adhering molasses was almost entirely removed, and the sugar obtained was, in the ease of sorghum, nearly white, while in the ca,:e of corn it was of a rich golden yellow. I may add that in no case, either with corn or sorghum, did I fail to obtain satisfactory results in the way of crystallization, although of course the molasses still contains a very large percentage of crystallizable sugar, which will, at least in great part, be obtained by further concentration. I omit mention of seven experiments with com paratively small quantities of corn-stalks and sorghum, only saying that the results obtained were such as to fully warrant tlte more extended experiments here recorded; and it is unfortunate that the value of these experiments is vitiated somewhat by the imperfect apparatus employed, as also by the inferior material, which, however, was all that was obminable in this vicinity. It is greatly to be desired that another season may find the department amply equipped with all necessary means to carry these important ques tions to complete solution. The point which these experiments have fully settled is, that there exists no difficulty in making from either corn or sorghum a first-rate quality of sugar, which will compare favorably with the best pro duct from sugar cane grown in the most fav orable localities. The experiments here given clearly indicate the probability that sugar may be thus made at a profit, and it is desirable that nothing be spared in continuing an investiga tion giving such fair promise of success. In 1879, and previous, the Commissioner of Agri culture, Gen. Le Duc, caused many experiments to be made in reducing the juice of the cane, and in ascertaining the best varieties for planting. We have reproduced four of those considered best, including the old Chinese and the deserv edly popular Amber. The report of the chemist of the department is given in connection as explanat ory so far as relates to these varieties with some of the conclusions arrived at. The chem ist says : During the past season there have been made several series of investigations for the pur pose of determining the development of sugar iu varieties of sorghum, maize, and of pearl millet. These investigations appear to denionstrate that stalks, all the results of which only confirmed the general principle above stated, viz., the prac tical equality and great value of every variety of this plant. The illustrations, as we have given them, show varieties of sorghum grown during the past season on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, and used in the experiments of the chemical division as detailed in the report. The drawings were made by a gentleman employed in the department. The designations given them are somewhat different from those current in some parts of the country, but are conformed to what are believed to be the most authoritative standards. The cut, page 886, represents the Early Amber Sorghum, a favorite with planters in Minnesota and the Northwest. What is now called the Minnesota Early Amber cane is claimed as an improvement upon the Early Amber varieties g-rown formerly in dif ferent parts of Minnesota, by Hon. Seth M. Kenny and Mr. C. F. Miller of that State. Act ing on the theory that cane in a high latitude will degenerate if grown continuously from its own seed, these • gentlemen selected the finest specimens of seed from their own crops and sent them to a southern latitude to be grown. The seed products of this southern growth was there exists little difference between the various kinds of sorghum as sugar-producing plains and, what is quite a surprising result, each of them is, at a certain period of its development, nearly if not quite as rich in sugar as the very best of sugar-cane. It is a matter, also, of extreme practical importance that this maximum content of sn2-ar is maintained for a long period, and affords sufficient time to work up a large crop. Another result of these investigations has been to sath-factorily explain the cause of repeated failure in the production of sugar during the past quarter of a centmy, and to give the assur ance that in the future such failure need not attend this industry. For the purpose of making clear the above points, the results obtained in the laboratory and in out-of-door experiments are .appended. The varieties of sorghum g,rown and subjected to continuous investigation during the _season were Early Amber, White Liberian, Chi -nese, and Honduras and Pearl Millet. Besides the above there were made very many examina tions of other specimens of sorghums and corn returned to Minnesota. By this alternation of seed, and by other intelligent processes of cul ture they have succeeded in establishing a new aud permanent variety, which they claim to be rnore productive iu weight of cane and to con tain a higher per cent. of saccharine mat ter than any other grown in that State. This claim needs to be substantiated by more careful and extended observations before it can be said to be fully established. Messrs. Kenny and Miller describe the Early Amber cane as presenting the charac teristics of both sorgho and imphee. By sorgho they mean the Chinese sorgho, page 889, and by imphee, the N1 hite Liberian, page 888, and its kin dred African varieties. The Early Amber receives its name from its early ripening and from the bright amber color which characterizes its syrup when properly made. The Early Amber cane on the department g-rounds did not grow quite so tall as the White Liberian. Its seed-heads were of moderate fullness and dark in color. Page 889 shows the Chinese Sorghum grown on the depart ment grounds. Its height is about that of the Early Amber. Its seed heads are fuller and more compact and somewhat resembles a head of sumach ; hence the synonym Sumach Cane. It is also known as Chinese Cane. Page 888 shows theWhite Liberian Sorghum grown on the depart ment grounds. This variety is rather taller than the Early Amber. The stalk curves at the top leaving the head pendent; hence the synonym Gooseneck. The seed-heads are shorter,more com pact, and of lighter color than the Early Amber. Page 890 shows Honduras, grown on the depart ment grounds. It grows about one-half taller than either of the above varieties Its seed-top is red dish brown and spreading; hence the synonym Sprangle Top. It is also called Mastodon and Honey Cane. The Early Amber, Chinese, Libe rian, and Honduras Sorghums and the Pearl Millet examined, mentioned as having been grown upon the department grounds, were all planted the same day, May 15, 1879. The relative weights of the different kinds of sorghum experimented upon are as follows: - - Since these were all grown side by side and upon land presumably of equal fertility, it will afford the data for calculating the relative amount of each variety, as required, to be grown per acre. An average of all the examinations made of these four sorghums, during these periods when they were suitable for cutting, gives the follow ing results: Early Amber, from August 13 to October 29, inclusive, fifteen analyses, extend ing. over seventy-eight days, 14.6 per cent. sucrose; Liberian, from August 13 to October 29, inclusive, thirteen analyses, extending over seventy-eight days, 13.8 per cent. sucrose; Chi nese, from September 13 to October 29, inclu sive, seven analyses, extending over forty-six days, 13.8 per cent. sucrose; Honduras, from October 14 to October 29, inclusive, three anal yses, extending over sixteen days, 14.6 per cent. sucrose. Besides the investigations above men tioned, there have been made thirty-five exper iments in making sugar from cornstalks, sor ghums, pearl millet, etc., in all of which there have been used over twenty-three tons of stalks. The result of these experiments has been to fully confirm all the experiments, not only of the pre vious year, but also to help towards the solution of certain questions of the highest practical importance. In every case it has been found that the quality of the syrup obtained has been precisely such as the previous analysis in the laboratory of the juice used made probable. An average of the nine best syrups obtained showed a percentage of cane-sugar present equal to 92.7 of the amount originally present in the juice, while au average of the nine poorest (i. e., con taining the lowest percentage of cane-sugar) showed a percentage of cane-sugar present equal to 90.1 of the amount present in the juice.