HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 273 



I have a new variety of amber cane that I originated from the 

 Minnesota early amber cane, that will add as least two weeks to 

 the working season besides ripening the cane, so that it will be 

 twice as valuable for sugar and will each year give from thirty to 

 forty bushels of ripe seed per acre. This for feeding purposes is 

 nearly as valuable as Indian corn. The history of this seed is 

 this; two years ago I found at harvest time, two kinds of cane seed 

 that had ripened early and the cane was rich in saccharine matter. I 

 sent a few of the seeds to Peter Collier formerly government 

 chemist. He gave the new cane a test the past season, and he 

 thinks it the most valuable and one of the earliest kind they have. 

 I have no seed for sale or for distribution of this variety at 

 present. The early amber syrup and sugar has been pronounced 

 the best in years past and this variety stood the highest test of any 

 thing at New Orleans for quality. Last spring I was requested to 

 prepare on exhibit for the Paris exposition, by Hon. Norman J. 

 Coleman, commissioner of agriculture. The syrup was sent in 

 sealed tin cans; the sugar in boxes. I have received notice from 

 the Director General of the exposition that this exhibit from 

 Minnesota had been awarded a premium. This is the second 

 time the cane products of Minnesota have taken premiums and I 

 am of the opinion that our amber cane products will soon be re- 

 cognized as superior to any on the market. This last season we 

 commenced to plant the early amber May 9th, but late frosts and 

 cold weather interfered so much with the work of planting that 

 we did not finish until May 22d, but the last planting matured as 

 early as the first. 



The following is the cost of growing my crop of cane in 1889: 



Plowing 44 acres $44.00 



Marking and planting 33.00 



HoeiDg and thinning 44.00 



First plowing 26.00 



Second plowing 20.00 



Third plowing and seed for planting 28.00 



Totol cost of growing 44 acres $195.00 



or $4.45 per acre, without reckoning anything for use of land. We 

 began cutting cane the 16th of September. I shocked several acres, 

 putting 144 hills in a shock and cut the rest and laid it down in 

 small piles. 



The drouth lessened the yield of juice but the quality was of the 

 best. It yielded of syrup 100 gallons to the acre. I worked the 

 cane crop for about 100 farmers. 



My entire product was 10,400 gal. It took 25 days of 13^ hours 

 to manufacture this amount at a cost of 7 cts. per gallon on an aver- 

 age of 416| gallons per day or \ gallon per minute for the entire 

 2*5 days. 



If the cane had been well refined and of the usual sacharine 

 strength the product would have been doubled. The amount of 

 wood used was thirty cords. 



The average price per gallon has been 45 cts at wholesale and the 

 demand good. I have forwarded a barrel of Minnesota early amber 



-18 



