202 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



(that of Mrs. P.'s ancestors, in North Carolina,) ever 

 since the year 1697, Now, he has upwards of 30 entirely 

 superannuated. There are, also, or were, at that time, 

 upwards of 70 children under ten years of age. What a 

 host to feed and clothe, and all to be looked after and 

 provided for by the care of one man ! Quite enough to 

 frighten a New-England farmer. 



The bishop is an experimenting and improving planter. 

 He believes in good tillage and manure. He has one of 

 the best fluke plows, made upon the place, that I have 

 seen anywhere. The beam is 51/2 feet long, 17 inches 

 high — the handles fastened to the sides of the beam, and 

 supported by a standard down to the centre bar, which 

 bar is 29 inches long. The moldboards are 10 inches 

 high, and 27 inches apart behind, and are made of 

 wrought iron. He tried an experiment, last year, of 

 stripping the cane of leaves, to give it a better oppor- 

 tunity to mature, and thinks he found his account in the 

 experiment largely in his favor. At any rate, he ob- 

 tained upwards of 21 hogsheads of good sugar from 

 seven acres, which was a much larger yield than any 

 other acres gave. The stripping was done by children, 

 whose labor was not of much value at that season for any 

 other purpose ; and even if it had been valuable, he thinks 

 that the labor was not lost, because the work of the cane 

 cutters was greatly facilitated. I forgot to inquire 

 whether he used the leaves for fodder. The cane experi- 

 mented upon, was first-year rattoons. It is needless to 

 say that it was good, independent of the stripping. 



The bishop also tried an experiment, last season, to 

 ascertain the quantity of juice obtained. He weighed 

 2,300 pounds of cane, which gave 163 gallons of juice, 

 weighing Sy^ lbs. to the gallon. He then reground the 

 bagasse, and got 5 gallons more. Another experiment 

 gave 67 lbs. of juice to 100 lbs. of cane. To do this, the 

 mill must be first rate. 



Bishop P. has made an improvement upon his mill that 

 I like. Instead of elevating the cane on the carrier, so 



