Holbrook Brothers Sorghum Brochure

Holbrook Brothers
Sorghum
93 Veterinarian Lane
West Liberty, KY 41472
606-743-1252
606-522-4864
Sorghum Making in the Good Old Days
Way back in the “good old days,”
Sorghum was used in a lot of different ways.
Most people would buy five gallons or more,
Some people would have a lard can full
behind the door.
We could come to the table in cold winter weather.
And take some sorghum and butter and mix it
together.
Sorghum and butter was my favorite spread,
And hot biscuits was my favorite bread.
On biscuits, with butter, you couldn’t beat it,
But that wasn’t the only way you could eat it.
It was used to sweeten coffee, and in cookies
or cakes,
And they also used it in other things they’d make.
Sorghum wasn’t always sold at the store,
It was mostly sold at the mill, or from door to door.
When I think back on the things I’ve done,
Going to the Sorghum mill was a whole lot of fun.
Some people made sorghum at night,
They had a big fire, burning bright.
To keep the fire going they used a lot of wood,
And of course they got it from anywhere
they could.
They would drag dead logs from off the hill,
Two gallons of sorghum equaled about one day’s pay,
Or maybe get slabs from the saw mill.
And as far as I know, it’s still that way.
The fire was used to heat the evaporator,
I like sorghum, it’s good to eat,
I’ll tell you about that a little bit later.
and hot out of the pan it can’t be beat.
Some of the cane was stripped in the field,
We would use a stick of any kind,
Some was cut and hauled and stripped at the mill.
A piece of cane stalk was a favorite of mine.
Either way was alright I guess,
A cane stalk or a paddle made of wood,
Then it was put through a mule powered press.
They would let us eat all if it we could.
The mule pulled the sweep ‘round and ‘round.
Now picture this, if you can,
Walking on cane stalkes spread on the ground.
We’d lick the paddle off and stick it back in the pan.
I guess it was an effort not to be cruel,
I don’t know all the scientific terms,
The stalks made easy walking for the mule.
But the heat was supposed to kill all the germs.
A woman usually fed the press,
I know a place that you out to go,
She wore men’s pants instead of a dress.
West Liberty, Kentucky, to the Sorghum Show.
As the juice was all squeezed out,
I’ve been there a few times and as I remember,
It ran through a pipe connected to a spout.
They hold it sometime the last of September.
The pipe carried the juice into the pan,
They have arts and crafts and plenty to eat,
I’ll explain it the best I can.
And they have a Sorghum mill on Main Street.
At the cool end of the pan the juice would start,
If you’ve never seen sorghum made, you’ll be amazed.
Then travel through the bars to the hottest part.
It takes me back to the “good-old-days.”
They would work it through the bars as evely
By: Raymond “Dog” C. Hitchcock
1778 Kenny Road
Columbus, Ohio 43212
From his book,
I Think I was Lucky to Grow Up in Kentucky
as they could,
They used a long-handled paddle, made of wood.
The pan is where the juice was evaporated,
That is the way sorghum was created.
They used extra help ‘till the sorghum was all made,
A few buckets of sorghum is how they were paid.
Modern day sorghum making is quiet different. Mules
have been replaced with engines to press the juice from
the cane and logs have been replaced with propane
gas. No longer can you eat the foam from the pan with a
stalk but have to use your own cup.