461               THE WISCONSIN FARMER.

and that they must abandon corn planting, To illustrate: half an acre of
Sorghum, after
as readily, at least, as Sorghum, if they pro- being manufactured at the
halves, will yield
pose to dodge the frosts.                   forty gallons, for a family's
use, at an actual
  I have seen twenty-six crops ripen in wis- expense of not over twenty-five
cents per gal-
consin, and do not remember but one or two lon. Half an acre of corn, on
the other hand,
seasons as bad as the past. In at least nine will yield, at most, ordinarily,
seventeen and
cases out of ten. corn has made a fair crop, one-half bushels, which at 35
cents per bush-
and sugar cane of the early and proper vari- el, amounts to $6,13 cents,
which, invested in
rieties, would and has done the same, when Southern syrup, at 80cts. per
gallon, only buys
planted. It is at least twice as safe a crop as between seven and eight gallons,
or less than
wheat. Still, farmers persist in sowing a one-fifth as much. The same is
the result, if
good deal of wheat. We throw out these re- wheat or any other common crop
is substitu-
marks merely for the benefit of those who get ted for corn.
easily frightened, and come to hasty conclu-  Well, now, this difference,
when applied to
sions on single experiments, and individual all the consumers of the State,
amounts to a
cases.                                      sum of money, by no means small,
probably
  I know from actual experience, that an acre counting up hard on to millions.
Such mat-
of Sorghum can be raised, and got ready for ters of economy, are well worth
the consider-
the mill, as easy as an acre of corn, and an ation of individuals, communities
and states,
average crop, will yield 160 gallons of good, and just such items of waste
and extrava-
thick, clean syrup, worth at wholesale, in any gance, in almost all our western
farm opera-
western market, at least fifty cents per gal- tions, are what keep so many
families poor
Ion, and seventy-five cents at retail, making and shabby. So many riding
to town in lum-
the net product, when manufactured on equal ber wagons, so many wives and
mothers do-
terms, $40 per acre.   Now  an  average ing without sewing machines, clothes
wring-
crop of corn would yield from thirty to thirty- ers and other articles of
indispensible econo-
five bushels to the acre, which at the ordinary my and comfort in every well
regulated house-
price of 23 to 25 cents per bushel, would be hold.
just about one-third of the net amount of the  The Projite of Manufacturing'Sorghum,
either
acre of Sorghum, saying nothing about the upon shares, or for pay, has also
been well
cane seed, which, when mature, is worth near- demonstrated the present season
in many ca-
Iv or quite one-half as much as corn.   Re_ notwithstandine the unfavorable
season.



  Well, now, I don't wish to have any one
think, that I would have them abandon corn-
growing and substitute Sorghum entirely, by
any manner of means. Not at all; but what
I would advise is, simply, that every neigh-
borhood grow Snrglium enough at least for its
own supply and consumption, and as much
for export further North and West, as would
supply the demand. I would advise this as a
matter of economy, not to each family but to
community, for nothing is more certain than
that all Southern sweet products will contin-
ue, as now, very high for some time to come.
In fact, we expect to see those prices go high-
er and higher, even after the war is over, un-
til some new system of labor is established



Men with machinery have cleared from $200
to $600 and even $1,000 in from four to six
weeks, and in doing so, have as it were, just
learned the trade; and feel sure that they can
do much better, especially with good cane, an-
other season. I have hardly met with one,
who does not mean to try it over another
year, with enlarged facilities. Numbers, who
run machinery this season, that made but 100
gallons per day, intend to make from two to
four hundred per day next season; thus they
will go up, as they have in thrashing ma-
chines, from little two-horse treadles to eight
and ten horse ,machines, that will rush through
a days work, and pay well for having a smart
and capable man to see to it.



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