DIGEST OF STATE REPORTS. 477 



the White Impbee. Of the latter he raised at the rate of 305 gallous 

 of syrup to the acre. The cost of cultivation and mauufacture was $70. 

 The syrup being- valued at 50 cents per gallon, left him a net i^rofit of 

 $82.50 per acre. The following is Mr. Smay's system of planting 

 and cultivating sorghum : 



1. Ono of tlie juost important tbiugs is to select a suitable piece of ffronutl, as all 

 soils will not ])roduce good sorglium. It should be dry laud ; a light sandy soil will 

 produce unich the best syrup. Duriug the last six years I have made upwards of 9,000 

 gallous. lu workiug caue tliat has beeu raised by diiiereut persons and ou different 

 soils, I have always made the best syrup from caue that was grown oa a warm sandy 

 soil. East fall I had afair test : tvro of my neighbors planted caue ; each used the same seed ; 

 cue of them had a dry farm and tho other had a llat wet farm, with a. cold soil, a soil 

 that some of our farmers call blue ruin. These two men cut and hauled their caue at 

 the same time. I first tried that grown on the wet laud. The yield of sap was good ; 

 it also boiled nicely until it began to thicken, then it darkened and smelledvery iin- 

 ideasautly. We tried it iu different ways, but the syrup continued dark, and, worst of 

 all, the syrup had an unpleasant taste. We called it worthless and stopped grinding 

 and commenced ou the other man's, and with the same work made very good syrup. 

 We gave the other a second trial, but with no better result. 



2. There is not much difference as to when the ground is plowed for cane. Last 

 year I tried both fall and spring plowing but could not see any difference in the cane. 

 The main thing is to plow deep aud harrow Avell, so as to get the ground mellow, as 

 cane-ground should be in good condition so as to bear early cultivation. 



3. Plant as early as possible^ if the conditions will allow, about one week before you 

 plant corn. There is no danger of good seed rotting in the ground if planted early. I 

 have always made the fairest and best flavored syrup from cano that was planted iu 

 tu'ills. I find that drilled cane, planted about three feet eight inches apart, is best ; it 

 makes but little difference whether the cano is drilled continuously or growu iu Mils 

 eighteen inches apart. 



4. One of tho most important rules is to culllvatc carhj and often. Cane, while small, 

 will bear any kind of rough handliug better than neglect ; therefore the hoo and plow 

 should be used with gre.at freedom ; but when it gets to be 10 or 12 inches higb it 

 should not be cultivated deep, as the roots extend from one row to the other and take 

 up every iuch of tho ground. At this st.ago the weeds should be cut off" with a hoo or 

 pulled up. With regard to thinuiug out or removing suckers for a jiermanent stand, 

 this must be regulated by tho finality of tho laud. If the hand is rich and strong, such 

 as would produce 50 or 60 bushels of corn to tho acre, it will do to leave from three to 

 four stalks to every running foot ; if planted iu rows both ways, allow from six to 

 eight stalks to stand iu each hill. It is better to thin while small, so as not to disturb 

 the roots of that left standing. It will do but little good to cut them oft' with a hoe — 

 they don't mind that much. 



.'>. In harvesting, never allow the caue to stand in the field after it is stripped. This 

 will injure it more than any other thing. It is contrary to nature, and either drives the 

 saj) to the roots or causes it to run out at the joints and bruises from blading. If al- 

 lowed to stand many days the sap which runs from the stalk fermeuts, and causes tho 

 syrup to be dark aud gives it an unpleasant taste. My method of stripping is to use a 

 long, flat stick, made iu the shape of a sword; a lath will do very well. It is much 

 easier stripped with a stick than with the hands. In two or three strokes nearly every 

 blade can be knocked ©&' a hill. The dead blades ou the butts of the stalks should be 

 carefully taken oft', as they are very dirty aud color the syrup. 



6. The plan of my furnace is one main furnace with two paus, aud a small side fur- 

 nace to finish off on the back pan, being ten feet long and the front one live feet ; the 

 side pans are five, and each of them two and a half feet wide. The juice is conducted 

 from the mill to the pan by a lead trough running iu at the back end of the long pan, and 

 p.assiug from that through a faucet into the front pan, thence into the side furnace, 

 Avhero it is boiled to its proper thickness. The fire passes from the side from under the 

 front end of the long pan. This furnace worked well ; the back pan worked like a 

 charm. The juice ran in at the back end continually, and the heat from both of tho 

 tires passing under it, it boiled over half of the way back iu a continual foam, workiug 

 all the scum to the back end, where it could be easily removed. The back pan did its 

 work so well that there was scarcely any skimming to be done on the front pan, while, 

 iu the front pan, it boils very rapidly, and whtiu boiled to the proper stage it is ruu oft' 

 into the side pan, where it is finished over a slow fire, aud in this way can be boiled to 

 any thickness you may vdsh, without danger of scorching it. 



As early as January a very fatal disease attacked the hogs in the 

 neighborhood of Davenport. The epidemic spread rapidly, and by ISo- 

 vember had passed over the counties of Appanoose, Chirke, Madison, 



