The importance of raising sorghum.
The importance of giving attention to the cultivation of the Chinese sugar cane by the farmers of
Virginia cannot at this time be too highly estimated.
The present supply of sugar and molasses in the
Confederacy is not heavy, and is being daily reduced.
A few months more will, perhaps, suffice to consume it. As a substitute sorghum must supply the deficiency, and if every farmer will but take the pains to cultivate a few acres of the cane he will not only contribute to the production of a crop beneficial to the public, but one which will of necessity prove incentive to himself.
In this connection we may state that
Mr. Charles Y. Morriss, of this city, contemplates the erection of a mill for grinding cane and manufacturing molasses at some necessible point on the line of the canal between this city and
Lynchburg.
His intention is either to buy the cane and manufacture molasses for market, or to grind it upon shares for those who have not the means at home of manufacturing the molasses themselves.
This should be an incentive to the farmers in that section of the
State to engage in the cultivation of the sorghum, as it will enable them to have their molasses made without the expense of purchasing the apparatus requisite to its manufacture.
The canal will doubtless furnish ready transportation of the cane to the mill.