THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



55 



My cattle generally go strait to tlie potash kettle 

 placed in the fence between the two yards, suppli- 

 ed by an aqueduct from one of tlie best fountains 

 in the world. No freezing at any time. This is a 

 privilege which but few liave or can have. If it is 

 cliilly, this is the time for a high scrape, and it is 

 diverting to see them play. 1 have sometimesclos- 

 ed the door between them and the sheep, to prevent 

 injury to the latter, and in order to s.ober down 

 some of the high strung ones. I have not allowed 

 them to be put into the leantoes for a number of 

 days at a time the present winter. 



Now, Brother Farmers, this is my plan, and I 

 think it the cheajjest and easiest of any w^y. Af- 

 ter 3'ou liavc erected a shed or slieds, according to 

 the amount of your stock, which may l)e done by 

 placing posts in the ground very cheap, all I think 

 may adopt the plan next winter, which I have fol- 

 lowed for years, and 1 am confident it would give 

 general, if not universal satisfaction. I h.rve sep- 

 arate ajiartments for my sheep, where they have a 

 plank floor under their feet, which is brushed or 

 swept out every d,ay when used; and when the 

 yards are clean we feed them out, and th(*y lay with 

 the cattle. 



Mr. Editor, if you think the above would be of 

 any use to the public, so that I can see it in the 

 \^isitor, 1 should be amply rewarded for the trouble 

 of writinfr, Kespecti'ully, 



IIEHOD THOMPSON. 



Roots. — Sugar Beet — Manufacture of Sugar, 

 liumucy, Feb. 19, 1339. 



Governor Hill: — I have been for some time 

 talkino- about raising the sugar beet, and for want 

 of information I have delayed. You will oblige 

 me by o-iving information respecting the culture, 

 the kind and the soil, and where I can obtain the 

 best seed, and how much is wanted for an acre, 

 and how to plant it — also the cost of the seed, and 

 how much sugar can be obtained fronr a middling 

 crop ; and how many bushels from an acre. By 

 giving this information you will oblige your friend, 

 'SAMUEL HERBERT. 



ANSWER. 

 Without regard to the production of sugar, we 

 consider the Sugar Beet, as a root for feeding stock, 

 to be hardly less valuable tlian Ruta Bnga, or Man- 

 gel Wurtzel, or Carrot. It is our intention the 

 present j-ear to occupy two acres of light intervale 

 on the bank of the Merrimack as follows, viz : one 

 acre with Ruta Baga, and also one iialf acre each 

 with the Sugar Beet and Carrot. We also, by the 

 aid of our friend Whitney, intend to preserit a 

 field of three-fourths of an acre of Onions, from 

 ground on a southeastern slope, which will be in 

 early preparation to receive the seed. The two a- 

 cres were planted with corn last year and received 

 about twenty loads of manure, part from the stable 

 and partly a compost of lime and soil taken from 

 the bottom of a pond. We will again apply about 

 the same quantity of green manure, spreadmg be- 

 fore the land shall be ploughed ; and it is our in- 

 tention tlie land shall be ploughed twice and har- 

 rowed. The preparation will be the sa:ne for tlie 

 Swedish turnip, the carrot and the Sugar beet. Af- 

 ter the land shall be prepared in the manner men- 

 tioned, ridges with the horse plough will be fori-*.ed 

 say at two feet distance from each other — the 

 top of these ridges will be taken oft", possibly, if it 

 shall work Vv-ell, with a roller pas.^iingover three or 

 more rows at once. In the centre of the ridge thus 

 flattened, the seed will be sown, dropping them 

 three or four inches apart, and covering them at 

 the proper deptli. We shall be most certain of the 

 requisite number of seeds dropped by the hand ; 

 but if a drill harrow or seed sower can be procured 

 that will work sure, that may be adopted. 



For our use the present year, we have been fur- 

 nished by Friend Caleb M. Dyer at the Enfield 

 Family of United Brethren, with two pounds of 

 V.'hite Silesia French Sugar Beet seed at 7.') cents 

 per pound — 6 ounces of the same imported and 4 

 ounces of Yellow French Sugar beet — the two last 

 at the cost of $'2 02. There will be a fair opportu- 

 nity to ascertain whether the foreign seed is pre- 

 feralile to the domestic. From the same quarter, 

 we have received two pounds of Ruta Baga seed, 

 imported, at 75 cents per pound; 1 1-2 lb. Red On- 

 ion and 1-2 pound Yellow Onion seed at .$2 50 per 

 pound. 



We have no expectation of manufacturing sugar 

 from any portion of the Sugar beet raised the pres- 

 ent year. Our intention is to make use of it for 

 feeding stock and perhaps fattening hogs. 



For yielding Sugar, the Silesian beet is recom- 

 mended as the best and most productive. This beet 

 will come to maturity in all parts of the United 

 States up to the 'loth degree of north latitude. The 



soil said to be most congenial to its growth is a 

 light sandy loam, of gooil depth, the better if Iree 

 of stones. The alluvial meadows on the Connect- 

 icut, the Merrimack and other New England rivers 

 are sa'd to be extremely v/ell adapted to the growth 

 of tills root; lint the cultivation need not be con- 

 fined to our vallies — there is l+nd well adapted to 

 this beet in all our hill towns. The seed may be 

 sown to better advantage early than late in the sea- 

 son either broad cast or in drills. They should be 

 kept free from weeds — at the second hoeing they 

 should he thinned out so that one plant shall be 

 left in a hill, and the plants,- if broad cast, from 

 twelve to eighteen lushes apart — if in drills, from 

 eight to twelve inches apart. 



The average yield of the beet in well selected, 

 well prepared and highly manured ground may be 

 made to reach at least twenty tons to the acre. It 

 is said that thi.-s amount of beet will yield three 

 thousand pounds of sugar — that the cost of manu- 

 facture will he about four cents to the pound, leav- 

 ing all above that sum for which it may be sold 

 nett profit. This calculation would seem aimnst 

 beyond the bounds of probability : before extraor- 

 dinary expense shall be incurred by any farmer, we 

 recommend that he do not rush into this business 

 with the superficial information we shall give him. 



In th- extraction of sugar, the beets are tTrst 

 cleansed by washing or scraping, and all the de- 

 cayed parts taken off with a knife. The rasp (a 

 cut and delineation of which may be found in the 

 Visitor for February, page 25) is in universal use 

 ill France for the purpose of crushing the beet roots. 

 By this rasp they are reduced to a fine pulp. This 

 pulp is put into cloth bags, and the juice is express- 

 ed by means of a screw press. In France a hy- 

 draulic press is used for this purpose ; but a cider 

 press or almost any other press may be used. 



The juice after it is extracted must undergo four 

 distinct and difterent processes. 



The first process is the purification of the juice, 

 by extracting the acetic acid, wax and mucilage, be- 

 fore the process of evaporation commences. This 

 is done bj' the milk of lime, prepared by slaking 

 quick lime in hot water, and reducing it to the con- 

 sistence of cream: about 4G grains troy weight of 

 this to the gallon of extracted juice when heated to 

 about 160 degrees Fahrenheit should be thoroughly 

 mixed by stirring. Then suflercd to rest, it must 

 be heated to the boiling point, which will throw 

 all impurities upon the surface in the tbrinof skum. 

 Thus purified, the juice is drawn oft" or the akum 

 taken away in a manner completely to detach the 

 pure from the impure part. 



The next process is the boiling away ; and this 

 may be done much in the same manner as the juice 

 of the maple is boiled down. If there is an excess 

 of lime left, it may be extracled by means of sul- 

 phuric acid and water. The juice should bo boiled 

 down till it is reduced to about one-fiftli or one- 

 sixth of its original quantity in pans and kettles. 

 As the water evaporates, flaky substances will 

 separate from the juice and collect on the surface 

 in white foam : this must be skimmed oft'. The 

 liquid may be prevented from boiling over in the 

 same way as is sometimes practised by the maple 

 sugar boiler, by using tallow, lard, or a piece of 

 fat pork suspended. 



The next process is clarification. The liquid or 

 syrup is in that thin state that it may be filtered 

 throUL'h animal charcoal, or burnt bones broken to 

 gralnJ. The charcoal is placed directly over the 

 strainer, and covered with another strainer: the 

 juice or syrup turned into the vat, and let oft" by a 

 cock. The charcoal must be often changed — but it 

 may be waslied and reburnt and used ijntil it is en- 

 tirely consumed. 



The next process is concentration, or "sugaring 

 off." To accomplish this the purified syrup, must 

 be again evaporated by boiling until it is brought 

 into a proper state for chrystillizatlon. The rules 

 to be observed here are the same as are used in 

 completing maple sugar ; and the same method us- 

 ed as that for separating tlie sugar from molasses 

 in that case. 



All the information asked by our correspondent, 

 within our means, is embraced in the foregoing. 



JS'cwport, Jlpr'd '2d, 1830. 



Gov. IIiLL, — Dear Sir : — You are doubtless well 

 acquainted with the fact, that vines will not bear 

 until they have run the same distance that tlie pa- 

 rent vin>; had from which seed wjs taken ; that is, 

 if seed be selected from a vine ten feet from the 

 root, that seed will not produce, until the vine has 

 run the distance of ten feet. 



This is true of pumpkins, squashes, melons and 

 cucumbers. The seed taken t"rom the blow end of 

 the cucumber will produce abundantly of fine cu- 

 cumbers, while those from the stem end will pro- 

 duce but few, and those small and ill shaped. 



I have for a number of years 9a.v»d my own 

 seeds, and think them much better than any I can 

 purchase. I select for need the best cucumbers and 

 that grow near the root. I cut the cucumber trans- 

 verselyin the middle and save the seed from the blow 

 end. (See Silk Culturist, Vol. Ill, page 23, June 

 1837.) 



I have forwarded to you by F/sq. Stevens, some 

 melon and cucumber seeds, selected and secured 

 as they ouirht to be. Please accept. Yours, 



ALEXANDER BOYD. 



A .journey of t\i cnty-seven hoiiM. 



A journey at this season of the year, even though 

 vegetation has not yet s|.rung from tlie ground, is 

 not destitute of interest. The first notice of the 

 death. of a long tried friend met us at sunrise, on 

 April 3d, the day on which his funeral v/as ap- 

 pointed atone o'clock in the aftcrnnoon. At seven, 

 we v.'ere on our way to the late residence of the 

 deceased, tv.'enty-five miles distant. The frost had 

 not yet left the ground, and the road was mud for 

 more than half the ditt.once. Our course was up 

 the Contoocook from Hogklnton, which has its rise 

 on the Monadnock, about fifty miles south west, and 

 enters the Merrimack near the northerly line of 

 Concord. 



The road running transversely from the direc- 

 tion to the seaboard, has usually been considered a 

 cross road ; yet in the fust seven miles we met four- 

 teen teams with four times as many oxen and gen- 

 erally two horses to each, heavily loaded with val- 

 uable lumber, such as boards and planks, sawed 

 joists, clapboards and shingles, on their way to be 

 rafted on the river for Amoskeag, Lowell or Bos- 

 ton. The farmers had no where begun ploughing; 

 but all of them were busy either in cutting up for 

 the fire their ample piles o{ wood, preparing posts 

 and raiU for fences, carting manure from their 

 yards, or in some other early preparation — every 

 one seemed to be diligent, as if preraonishedby the 

 steady sun and bland air that the time was fast 

 approaching for committing the seed to the 

 ground. 



As the whole distance may be taken for a medium 

 specimen of the State, we might mention that for 

 the first seven miles in the last tliirty years, then 

 well settled, there has been in nearly every in- 

 stance gradual improvement; the dwelling houses 

 are invariably better than they vvere then— some 

 new ones have been built and most of ilie old ones 

 repaired. It is pleasaiit to meet frequently new and 

 enlarged and well finished barns offromfit'ty, sixty 

 to eighty and a hundred feet ; and the fields are 

 even more productive now tl»n they were then. 



A neat village at Hopkinton, the ancient half- 

 shire of Old Hillsborough county, is seven miles 

 ■from the point of starting: at this place are three 

 churches, one recently erected for the Baptists, a 

 neat o-ranite edifice for the Episcopalians, and the 

 Congregational church of ancient form : in the im- 

 mediate neighborhood are some fifty dwellings, the 

 most of which are painted white, fronted with 

 yards which are adorned with maple and other trees 

 neatly arranged. 



We had not been westward of Hopkinton in that 

 direction for about four years. The first object that 

 attracted our attention when leaving the village 

 was tlie Rev. Mr. Chase's newly constructed bee- 

 house (as we supposed from its shape) on the plan 

 of Mr. Searle of Franklin — then witliin the dis- 

 tance of only a few rods was presented to view the 

 fine fresh meadow westwardly of tlie beautiful res- 

 idence of Judge Harris, which for as many as fif- 

 teen years has yielded a large annual crop of good 

 English hay, having bceir reclaimed from a mere 

 morass by ample ditches in various directions. 

 Here we were glad to observe a gentleman retired 

 partially from his profession and from high public 

 oftice pursuing, as the most grateful occupation, 

 the business of a farmer, and that in the right way. 

 The spare room on the main road was occupied as 

 a place for preparing compost from the mud of al- 

 luvial depofiites taken from the low grounds; and 

 along tlie road was a low of flourishing grafted ap- 

 pletrees. 



Half a mile out of the village our attention was 

 drawn to a thrifty orchard of the white mulberry 

 tree, which we had noticed at the last time of pas- 

 sinn-. And it was a matter of some surprise to find 

 tint this orchard had not apparently suft'ered i"rom 

 the severity of the late v,-inters. The buds had not 

 yet begun to spring — but the trees appeared to be 

 all alive and thrifty. The owner of this orchard 

 could inform us whether the trees have been check- 

 ed in their growth by the cold, and how he has 

 preserved them from the injuries that have befallen 

 the mulbeny in other places. This orchard the 

 present year will furnish food for maiiy thousand 

 silk worms. , ,■ 



