5
VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JANUARY 26,1889.
NO. 4
<£<mc (fyvawzxs.
) The Ind!ana Oane Grower*' Association,
'; The 7th annual session cf the Indiana
1 Cans Growers' Association met in the
'State Agricultural 100mson Tuesday,Jan-
uary 15th, at 1 p. m , and was called to order by President Chapman, of Madison.
The secretary, W. F. Crist, being absent,
the society elected N. B. Nicholson a3 sec
retary pro tern.
; Mr. L*-i'z-nan thereupon moved that all
membors exhibiting sorgHum for pre
miums should pay lO.cents for each entry,
and that all labsls Bhould be removed as
■well as all stoppers, so that tho committee
could not be able to designate whose samples they *were examining, -which was carried, after which a recess was
taken to enable all exhibitors to
prepare their samples.
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
• He began by extending to all a
hearty greeting for their presence,
aud he hoped all would go home
better prepared to make the manufacture of sorghum a great suo-
C3si. He then reviewed the organ-
ly.ition of the society, stating that
similar societies were organized in
oth-r States at the same time, but
all have ceased to exist except that
of  the old Hoosier State, which is
jjstili ina prosperous mn<i*Mr>*.. He
credits this to the metal of ~ "
cane growers. He said that
dustry.of cane growing stands high
in the country to-day, and that the
farmer is learning the value of
sorghum as a farm product. •
Touching the government experiments on sorghum, after the appeal made by the Association .'ast
meeting, Congress appropriated
? 100,000 for that purpose. The appropriation being made late but
About $35,000 was used the past season,  viz.: at Rio Grande, N. J,,
- Conway Springs, Sterling and
Douglass, Kan., and Kenner, La.
The experiments have developed
the fact that sugar can be made
from sorghum at a good profit by
the diffusion process on a large
scale, but it has also proven that
making sugar by the diflusion process on a small scale, at present
prices.is impracticable. Some 565,-
.000 of the appropriation yet remains unused. Indiana should
endeavor to obtain a portion of it,
snd I refer the matter to you for
your deliberation. A year ago resolutions were adopted by this Association praying the Legislature
tooffar a bounty for sugar grown
in Indiana; the Legislature is now
in session. I call your attention
thereto. The time is most appropriate, as with a share of the con-
gressional appropriation which
could readily be obtained if favorable action be taken by our State
legislature, and a bounty paid on
home produced sugar by that body,
experiments could be made as to the prac
Usability of Indiana as a sugar growing
State under the most favorable circum-
.stanccs,
• _He thought that the present Senate bill
jflacing sugar on the free list should receive the attention of the convention, and
he hoped all questions pertaining to the
sugar interest and sorghum making
should be discussed, and especially he desired the members to look into the question of best seed to plant. He closed by
thanking them for their attention and
•wishing them wisdom in their deliberations.
On motion of D. H. Talbert a vote of
thanks was tendered to the president for
his address and his untiring efforts dur
ing the past year.   Remarks on the president's  address   were  made  by  Messrs.
Lai' z nan, Tilson and Dr. R. T. Brown.
prof. Wiley's address.
We copy the paper of Prof. H. W. Wiley,
Chemist to the Department of Agriculture, as read before the convention:
I desire to extend a word of encouragement and congratulation to my old friends
and co-workers in the sorghum business,
who by their Industry and enthusiasm
have maintained in Indiana the association whose annual meetings continue to
be both entertaining and profitable. As
you well know, my work for the last few
years has been chiefly devoted to the production of sorghum sugar, but I have not
forgotten in all this time that there is a
place for
eery stores but in no case could sorghum
molasses be found. It would, perhaps, be
difficult to obtain a gallon of pure sorghum
molasses or sirup in any of onr large eastern cities; yet it must be admitted that
there is no kind of sirup used for the table
which can compare with a fine article
made from sorghum for purity, flavor,
wholesomeness and enduring table qualities.
The fact that sorghum sirups can be
made in a small way, by inexpensive apparatus and without special chemical or
technical control insures for that industry
an enduring place in agricultural pursuits.
Another point must not be forgotten, viz :
that the sorghum sugar industry, on account of limitation of season and soil, Is
not likely to spread over a large area of
_ri"ws?»^i
""      &VMNA31U*-*
PURDUE UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS.
PURE SORGHUM SIRUPS
which oould not be filled Dy any possible
extension of the sorghum sugar industry.
As you know the molasses left after the
extraction of sugar from sorghum is more
impure, less rich in saccharine matter and
more poorly suited for table consumption
than that which is made directly from the
juices according to the old process. I do
not apprehend, therefore, that the extension of the sorghum sugar industry will
in any way tend to prevent the expansion
of the production of a first-class article of
table sirups. I was asked a day or two
since, by a person fond of sorghum molasses, if that article could be had pure in
the Washington markets? Application
had been made to a large number of gro-
our country; for instance, in Indiana it is
scarcely possible that sorghum sugar can
be made profitably unless it be in the extreme southern portion of the State. The
severe frosts which often fall in September in the central and northern portions
of the State would prevent the working
of sorghum for sugar on -*, large scale.
These early frosts, however, do not interfere with the manufacture of sirup and
molasses, since even frosted cane, unless
It has fermented, can be successfully manufactured into the above artioles. I see,
therefore,
A PROSPEROUS    FUTURE
for the manufacturer of a standard article
of sorghum sirup, not only in Indiana
but over vast areas of our oountry where
i
it would be hopeless to expect the successful introduction of the culture of sorghum
for sugar making purposes.
I have a vivid recollection of tho remarkably fine samplos of sirups which I
have seen on exhibition at your annual
meetings and I doubt not but that the
collection which you have at the present
time will be equal if not superior to those
of former meetings; I therefore respectfully ask that you secure from the makers the finest samples of these products
for exhibition at the forthcoming Paris
Exposition. E _ch sample should be carefully labeled with the na-ne of the manufacturer, the locality and the kind of cane
from which made. Please have these samples carefully packed and send by express
at our expense, marked Department of
Agriculture, Division of Chemistry,Washington, p. C, for Paris Exposition.
Members of the association will doubtless be glad to know that there is a hopeful outlook for the sucoess of sorghum as
a sugar producing plant. The process of
diffusion, without which successful sorghum sugar making is impossible, has
been successfully established not only for
the production of sugar from sorghum
but also from sugar cane. There are many
minor details of a technical character yet,
to be worked out, but enough haa already
been accomplished to indicate the possibility of succesi. ; \ y _ /
L The mild autu__i,ns of Southern aAd
Western Kansas seem to afford peculiarly
favorable conditions for the manufacture
of sorghum. During thepist season at
the Government station at Conway
Springs the sorghum was still in good
condition for manufacture as late as the ,
4th of November. It is possible that the
conditions of the past season were more
favorable than usual but at least the above
shows the capabilities of that great region
for sorghum production. I have, this
morning, received a loiter from a resident
of Dublin, Indiana, in which he asks my
opinion in regard to the possibility of establishing
A S0ROHUM FACTORY
in that region of the State. Such inquiries
as the above are reaching me constantly
from all parts of the country, showing the
increasing interest of our people Jn this
great problem.
The recent success of the culture of the
sugar beet in California together with
ywhat has been done in tho production of
sorghum in Kansas, and the successful
introduction of the diffusion process in
Louisiana and Texas have emphasized the
possibility of our own sugar production
in the near future; at least the prospects
are bright enough to enable us to demand
that the sugar industry of this country
should at least have a chance. For a
period of at least ten years it should be
assured of non-interference insofar aa the
protection of the sugar interests is con*
cerned. If our Congress would declare
that no dangerous reductions should take
place in sugar duties for at least ten years
it would be an assurance to capital of a
safe investment. If it should be wiser to
reduce the duties a compensating bounty
should be established, po that for the period indicated the industry would have
time to grow and expand. If by that
time the indications of growth which are
now to be noticed have not been realized
there might be some justice in the argument for the entire removal of the duty
on imported sugar.
A curious phase of the sorghum sugar
industry, so far as I am personally pon-
cerned, has been in the
PERSISTENT -jIISREPRESBKTATIONS
of my position on the subject circulated
by a few newspapers and by a few persons engaged in the sorghum business.
Itis true that in my offi.ial capacity I
have reported all facts which have been
Concluded on pane 0,