successfully manufactured into a flour which makes a very toothsome griddle cake. It was offered in evidence, and not controverted, that an acre of cane would produce forty bushels of seed, and that that product was equal in fattening qualities to the same number of bushels of corn. Sixth. That the juice of the Chinese cane, and doubtless the other qualities, without cooking, can be fed to hogs, cattle, and horses with admirable fattening results; in fact, that in this respect, an acre of cane is equal to two or three of corn. This last is a very important feature, and should challenge the attention of stock raisers. Seventh. That the stalks, leaves, and heads will make an excellent quality of paper. Eighth. That the bagasse can be made to yield excellent manuring qualities, and can be prepared as a fuel, to the saving of large quantities of wood and coal in the season of syrup boiling. The report of the committee on sugars and syrups was as follows:

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON SUGARS AND SYRUPS.

Your committee respectfully report that the following described samples are on exhibition, to which we have appended such information as we have been able to obtain:

One specimen of syrup by P. Woolworth, of Rockford, from cane that had been frozen. This was worthless, being spoiled by the frost.

H. Foote, of Winnebago County.-Five specimens of syrup. He has manufactured 1,800 gallons.

Sylvester and Daniel Scott, Winnebago County.-Thirteen specimens syrup. Have made 1,428 gallons. It took from eight to fourteen gallons of juice to make one of syrup. No clarifying done.

C. A. Huntington, Rockford.-Three specimens. Manufactured 1,600 gallons, at a cost of fifteen cents per gallon. Juice averages seven gallons to one of syrup.

C. Cory & Sons, Lima, Lagrange County, Ind.-Six specimens syrup, and five of sugar made from the Chinese cane, and two from Othaheitan cane.

L. Meacham, Du Page County.-Specimens of sugar made from sorghum. He cut the joints out of the cane before crushing.

J. M. Frink, McHenry County.-Eight specimens of syrup, of which two were from Chinese sorghum. He manufactured 1,085 gallons, at an expense of 111 cents per gallon. Eight cords of wood were consumed; men's labor at $1 25 per day, and team at $1. He used Gate's evaporator and made thirty gallons per day. He showed four samples of sugar from the Chinese cane. It has stood in the shock eight weeks. The syrup was two weeks in granulating.

V. R. Beach, Independence, Iowa.-Two kinds of sorghum syrup. Manufactured 2,600 gallons. Juice averaged seven gallons to one of syrup. Cost of manufacture seven cents per gallon. One of the specimens was from Jube Day, Independence, Iowa, and the other from Harvey B. Hatch, Independence, Iowa. Danley & Davis, Winnegago County.-Three specimens of sorghum syrup. Made 1,800 gallons at a cost of 12 cents per gallon.

Orlando Clark, Rockford.-Two specimens of syrup, one from early imphee. Obtained twenty-two gallons from one-tenth of an acre. Manufactured 180 gallons at a cost of ten cents per gallon.

D. S. Pardee, Winnebago County.-Six specimens of sorghum syrup and three of imphee syrup. Made 800 gallons at a cost of fifteen cents per gallon. Nine gallons of juice made one of syrup.

Henry Spaulding, Ogle County.-Five specimens syrup. Made 3 000 gallons, at a cost of ten cents per gallon. Counting wood $3 per cord, labor 75 cents

per day, and team $1 per day. Made from 75 to 100 gallons per twenty-four hours. Eight gallons of juice to one of syrup.

E. H. Seward, McHenry County.-Eighteen specimens of syrup, part sorghum and part imphee. Made 2,200 gallons at a cost of 10 cents per gallon. Average of thirteen gallons of juice to one of syrup.

Belcher, of Chicago.-Three samples of refined syrup.

Lewis Nichold, Winnebago County.-One specimen of syrup. Made 400 gallons. Averaged eight gallons of juice to one of syrup.

Almeron Dodge, Winnebago County.-One specimen syrup. Made 900 gallons. Average seven to eight gallons of juice to one of syrup.

Isaac Crisman, Sycamora, DeKalb County.-Six specimens of syrup. Made 3,000 gallons, at a cost of fifteen cents per gallon. His samples of white (or as some called it, yellow) imphee was the best. The cane of this had been frozen twice, and it was made into syrup October 25th. He got thirty-five gallons from twenty-four rods of land, with moderate stand of cane. It was manufactured at the rate of seven gallons per hour. The syrup stood forty-five degrees by the sachremeter. The cane grows thirteen feet high and does not fall down like sorghum. The syrup granulates easily. His white imphee yielded one gallon of syrup to four and-a-half of juice. Grown on rich loam. He showed four specimens of sugar. Made 1,000, or 1,200 pounds, and obtained eleven pounds to the gallon. He has the seed of the white imphee for sale.

P. W. Gates, Chicago.--Six specimens syrup. He could manufacture at a cost of four cents per gallon, when he made 1,000 per twenty-four hours. Juice averaged eight gallons to one of syrup. He showed a sample of sugar.

Charles Fletcher, of Rockford.-Five specimens. Made 1,300 gallons, at a cost of 11 cents per gallon. Juice ranged from five to ten gallons to one of syrup.

B. B. Hovey, Winnebago County.--Two samples of syrup. Made 2,665 gallons, at a cost of nine cents per gallon; seven gallons juice to one of syrup.

J. M. Moss, Waverly, Iowa.--Seven specimens of syrup, and two of sugar. He made 2,763 gallons of syrup, at a cost of ten cents per gallon. The sugar was made from yellow imphee.

W. G. Cole, Rockford.--Two specimens of syrup. The yield was 105 gallons from one-half acre, made by Hall & Co.

A. T. Moss, Boone County.--One sample yellow imphee syrup. Made 1,200 gallons.

O. N. Brainard, Marion, Iowa.--Two samples sugar; one from sorghum and one from imphee. Made 1,200 pounds sugar, averaging twelve pounds to the gallon. He had three samples of syrup; made 3,600 gallons, at a cost of 5 8-10 cents per gallon. Juice nine or ten to one of syrup.

J. E. Youngman, Rockford.--Seven samples of syrup. Made 1,870 gallons, at a cost of 11 cents per gallon. Juice averaged seven to one of syrup.

C. D. Roberts, Jacksonville.--Eight samples of syrup and four of sugar. Made 2,500 gallons of syrup.

Pope & Buckbee, Winnebago County.-Seven samples sorghum syrup. Made 3,500 gallons, at a cost of fifteen cents per gallon. Juice range from seven to one of syrup.

J. Milner, Rockford.--Three specimens of syrup. Made 150 gallons, at a cost of thirteen cents per gallon. Juice seven to one.

G. Anderson, Rockford.--Two samples syrup. Made 250 gallons.

M. Johnston, Rockford.--One sample syrup. Made 1,050 gallons, at a cost of twelve cents.

A. Heart, Winnebago County.--Two samples syrup.

N. Smedley, Boone County.-Three specimens syrup. Made 1,400 gallons, at

a cost of twelve cents per gallon. Juice averaged six and-a-half gallons to one He had one specimen of sugar.

of syrup.

Your committee would respectfully report that they have spared no pains in examining the different samples of syrups on exhibition. From the good samples they set aside twenty-seven as ranking first among those exhibited; that as a matter of course there are among this lot, some of superior excellence and purity, but they are so numerous that your committee concluded to designate no one as worthy the claim of superior excellence. Certain it is that, judging from the samples, great attainments and advancement have been made within the last year in the manufacture of syrups; and with the necessary care and attention to the subject of manufacture, as brought before the Convention, will enable almost any one to manufacture a very palatable article of syrup. How far it will be practicable to manufacture for sale and export every one should be his own judge.

Among the sugars on exhibition, your committee would make especial notice of the following:

L. Meacham, of Will County.--Sugar partly refined, made from Chinese cane. C. D. Roberts, Jacksonville.-Nine different samples, made of different kinds of cane, and from the mush state to the refined grain.

Cory & Sons, Lagrange, Ind.--Several different samples made from Chinese and Otaheitan canes.

J. C. Frink, McHenry County.-Four kinds, made from Chinese cane.

C. N. Brainard, Marion, Iowa.--Two samples in the crude state, made from the African and Chinese canes.

D. S. Pardee, Winnebago County.--Several samples from imphee, in the mush state.

Isaac Crisman, Sycamore County.-Three specimens from the different kinds of cane.

One sample of dark sugar, owner unknown.

J. M. Moss, Waverly, Iowa.-One sample made of the yellow cane.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

H. P. KIMBALL,

I. S. HYATT,

A. F. Moss,
C. W. MURTFELDT,
E. H. SEWARD.

A committee reported that there were forty manufacturers in Winnebago County, who had made 50,000 gallons of syrup at an average cost of thirty cents per gallon.

It would appear that the culture has taken deep root in the North west, and that it is feeling its way towards an important interest. It will probably be found necessary, as in France, in relation to the beet root sugar, that the manufacturers should become entirely distinct. The farmers in confining their attention to the culture, may produce a profitable crop, which might find a ready market with manufactures of sugar in the neighborhood.

The discussions at the convention showed that very much depended upon the character of the soil in relation to the value of the juice. This peculiarity is the case in Mexico, where almost all the grains and vegetables which grow in that dry, clear climate, are remarkable for their extraordinary sweatness. The common corn-stalk abounds in saccharine matter to such an extent as to furnish the native population with molasses, which, although hardly as good as the inferior molasses of Louisiana,

might doubtless be much improved by a more perfect mode of manufacture than that adopted by the Mexican population. The molasses is purchased there by those who do not supply their own wants at a rate of $150 per gallon. The beet of New Mexico contains so unusual a quantity of saccharine matter, that the manufacture of beet sugar is said to offer strong inducements to gentlemen of enterprise and capital to embark in the business. The only sugar which is brought to Santa Fe now, is transported from the Valley of the Mississippi across a desert of nearly 900 miles in extent, and the cost of transportation increases its price about ten cents a pound, so that the most inferior kinds range from nineteen to twenty-five cents in value.

The supply of sugar in the United States was obtained mostly from Cuba and Brazil, but of late years the Louisiana crop has so progressed, that it now exerts a marked influence upon prices in the United States. The following table from official sources will show the quantities consumed in the United States, the quantity per head of the consumers, and the average prices in New York:

This table describes the great fluctuation in the sugar market, caused by the failures of the Louisiana sugar crop in 1857. The sugar crop in that State in 1853 was very large, and as a consequence, aided by financial pressure, the price fell very low, encouraging consumption while it discouraged planters. In the following year a great decrease was manifest in the crops. Many of the planters had turned their attention to other crops, particularly cotton, which was more sure. The number of sugar houses was reduced from 1,481 in 1852, to 1,299 in 1855, and the reduction was progressive. As a consequence, there was a larger dependence upon the foreign sugar, and this increased American demand happened at a time when a disease broke out among the French vines, causing a demand for sugar for distilation, and the price rose all over the world, when in 1857 the Louisiana crop failed almost altogether. This was a fruitful cause of the financial revulsion in that year. The alarming state of affairs attracted the attention of Congress, which fitted out a vessel to procure fresh supplies of cuttings from Bahia, British Guiana, and for free distribution among the planters. The high price of sugar drew large quantities hither from countries not before known as sugar exporters, and a new article called melado, which has continued to form a portion of the sugar supply made its appearance.

The same circumstances gave an immense impulse to the maple sugar production. The winter of 1856-57 was one of the most favorable for the manufacture, and the high prices induced the farmers to labor indefatigably with the sap kettles, producing an unusually large result.

This state of the markets gave great effect to the efforts of the Patent Office, in extending the culture of sorgho. Expectations were, however, a little highly wrought, and resulted in some disappointment in respect of sugar, although much syrup was produced. The renewed efforts that have grown out of the circumstances of the sugar crop point to greater results, but the question will present itself whether sorghum is, after all, better than beet root. If an extensive experiment in sorghum in France, ended in a preference for beet root, it may turn out that the same root may ultimately be prefered here. The spread of the beet root culture in Europe has been very great. The production is now nearly as follows:

This is a quantity very nearly equal to 800,000,000 pounds of sugar, which enters into the food of the people of Europe from the culture of beet root, to which the industry settled, after having experimented extensively in sorgho and other articles. The production in Poland is far in excess of local wants, and about ten per cent of the product is exported annually into Russia by way of Dantzic, duty free, in competition with cane sugar. It is obvious that those articles which best pay the grower, will ultimately be the source for the supply of sugar, and that condition is governed by the quantity of sugar that the paint will give per acre. It is evident that some plants may give more juice than others which, however, may stand thicker upon the land, and thus give more juice from the acre. In relation to cane sugar, a great increase of production has of late years taken place. Land formerly very productive ran down to a lower figure, but has recovered by the use of fertilisers. The British and French West Indies formerly gave 6,000 pounds to the acre. They will now not give 2,000 pounds. The Mauritius formerly gave 2,000 pounds to the acre, but by the use of guano, and the increased supply of Coolies from India, it has been brought up to 6,000 pounds per acre, and is in a high state of prosperity. The Brazil gives 5,000 pounds per acre; Cuba, 4,000 pounds; St. Domingo, 1,100 pounds, and in Louisiana, 1,000 pounds per acre is obtained in ordinary years. When the price of sugar is high these rates are remunerative. In Europe, however, an acre of land will give 20,000 pounds of beet root, sold to the manufacturers. These roots contain ten per cent sugar; eight per cent was formerly extracted, but improved processes obtain nine per cent, or 1,800 pounds of sugar per acre. The value of this sugar is tested in the price, and it brings nine cents per pound when the best cane sugar brings eight cents. The production of cane sugar is restricted by want of labor, but beet root sugar is not restricted in that respect, and may form a part of the regular labors of every farmer. The refuse is as valuable as that of sorgho.

In the convention above quoted, Mr. CLARK stated that he got twenty