Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 25.djvu/651

Rh With the aid of this liberal appropriation, and of numerous substantial gratuities to individuals, the development of this industry was still slow. In 1826 only 1,500 tons of beet-sugar were produced in France, but after that time the increase was more rapid, and we find France producing 420,396 tons of beet-sugar in 1879.

From small and inauspicious beginnings the beet-sugar industry has slowly grown, until it is securely established in France, Belgium, Austria, and Germany. At present, three eighths of the sugar used by civilized nations is produced by the sugar-beet. In like manner, the production of sugar from sorghum may not attain great proportions until some years have passed, but the plant is richer in sugar and is much more easily cultivated and handled than is the sugar-beet. The production of sorghum-sugar at a profit is less problematical than was the successful manufacture of beet-sugar when Napoleon issued the decree which laid the foundations of the beet-sugar industry in France.

The results of recent investigations of sorghum in the hands of other experimenters, as well as the immense amount of work done at Washington, have been rendered available, for the general reader and those interested in scientific and practical details, by a recent book written by Dr. Collier. In this work, of over five hundred pages, a great number of scientific and economic problems are discussed, and our present definite knowledge of various points, formerly disputed, is clearly stated. The chemical changes occurring in the plant during its development have been recorded with an exactness suited to delight the student of vegetable physiology, while the practical sugar-maker need not look in vain for the latest information as to machinery and manufacturing processes. Farmers wishing to grow sorghum are told what varieties are most likely to succeed in Northern and what other varieties in Southern latitudes, and the best methods of planting, fertilizing, and securing the crop are carefully described.

In fact, this work has been well done, and its completeness is creditable alike to the thoroughness and the ability of the author. It is fortunate for this industry and for the country that these investigations have been prosecuted by a chemist so competent, and it is to be hoped that Congress may see fit to continue this work under the direction of Dr. Collier.

In view of the fact that the special committee of the National Academy has reported as its opinion, based on facts thus far presented, that the production of sugar from sorghum is likely to prove a commercial success, this country can well afford to expend liberal amounts of money for a continuation of these investigations, and for a practical demonstration of the cost of manufacturing sugar on the large scale.