SUGAR ITS CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 



129 



with which it would be well to try experiments. 

 In hard clay lands, for instance, especially if they 

 are too near the level of the swamp to be plowed 

 deep with advantage, quick lime applied to the 

 com land at the rate of fifty or sixty bushels to 

 the acre, produces an admirable effect upon the 

 ensuin;r crops. It is itself one of the substances 

 which the cane requires, and can replace others ; 

 aided by a crop of peas it very much increa.ses 

 the quantity of nitre and nitric acid formed at 

 the surface, keeps the laud iri the finest state of 

 tilth, causes the rapid decay of the inert vege- 

 table substances which accumulate in it during 

 repeated crops of caue, and is thus an abundant 

 source of carbonic acid. Land I limed four 

 years ago was planted again last whiter and the 

 cane upon it is the best I have. 



Experiments successfully made in Europe in- 

 duce me to believe that we all have at home a 

 substance possessed of the same qualities as 

 lime, and in a higher degree. That substance is 

 clay when burnt to a.shes. I caimot describe 

 the process by \\hich it is prepared ; you will 

 find it in a recent publication entitled the 

 " Famier's Manual." It is sufficient to state that 

 little or no fuel is required, and that one small 

 cart load of the ashes is said to have a better ayd 

 more lasting effect than eight bushels of lime. — 

 The ammonia which the.y aljsorb and retain, more 

 than I'oplaces the nitrification obtained by liming, 

 and the burning disintegrates very large quan- 

 tities of alkalies. It is to the effect of burning 

 that the inexhaustible fertility of ^nds formed 

 by the eruption of volcanoes is 10*^6 attributed. 

 Common salt I have also tried with succe.ss. 

 at the rate of ten bushels to the acre. It gives 

 to the cane a deep green color, and seems to 

 prevent the growth of grass. 



I observed, that covering land with peas 

 cau.sed the formation of nitre. In Europe, nitre 

 and saltpetre are both used upon growing plants, 

 at the rate of about one hundred pounds per 

 acre : it is probable that, sprinkled before the 

 plow, here, when the laud is first thrown to the 

 cane, their effect would be similar to that of peas. 

 Much has of late been said on the subject of 

 Guano, and experiments made in Jamaica prove 

 it to be a valuable manure for cane. Used there 

 at the rate of one pound to every four feet square, 

 or about twenty seven hundred pounds to the 

 acre, it caused cane to ripen earlier and to yield 

 two Inuidred pounds more of sugar per acre, 

 than that dressed with common manure. Those 

 ■who made the experiment seem to think that 

 one-third of the quantity used might have been 

 sufficient. Admitting the fact to be so, and sup- 

 posing the rattoons to last two years, and to yield 

 an additional quantity of two hundred pounds of 

 sugar per acre, which is not probable, an outlay 

 of nine hundred pounds of Guano would, in the 

 next three years, give an increase of four hun- 

 dred pounds of sugar. Where other manure 

 has to be purchased, as in .lamaica, and costs 

 more than Guano, this increa.se of product is a 

 material advantage. But where deep plowing 

 and peas do as well as animal manure, the ad- 

 ditional product obtained by the use of Gaano 

 would not pay for it. An experiment is now 

 going on with it iu my neighborhood ; if it 

 should make the cane fit for the mill earlier than 

 it usually is, it would on that account be very 

 valuable. In the mean time, I would recom- 

 mend the use of it to a portion of my audience 

 vvhom I have, till row, satUy neglected : to you. 

 Ladies, within your realm of fruits, flowers and 

 shrubs. There, as well as in the garden, when 

 (28.5).... 9 



applied with intelligence and care, it docs won- 

 ders, and I beseech you not to neglect the means 

 it affords you of increasing the beauty and the 

 comforts of your homes. When God, for wise 

 purposes, doomed man to waste his energies in 

 conquering physical obstacles, He placed yoa 

 near him to cheer him in his weary task, to re- 

 mind him that his toils had a worthy object on 

 earth, and to recall him in his hours of repose to 

 the consciousness of his moral existence. All 

 about his dwelling that has the spirituality of 

 beauty and grace, is by some mysterious tie con- 

 nected with you, and you have an interest in its 

 preservation. Nurse your flowers, then, as if 

 they were a part of yourselves, and let your fa- 

 vorite plants have a cheerful and happy look. — 

 Above all, do not torment them into fantastic 

 and unnatural shapes ; remember that the God 

 who made them, gave each of them, as he gave 

 each of you, peculiar forms of beauty, which 

 knives and scissors cannot improve, and that 

 trimming should be resorted to exclusively with 

 the view to restore and preserve the natural 

 shape "of each species, as you re.sort to the mys- 

 teries of the toilet to make the perfections you 

 possess conceal the slight blemishes which may 

 accompany them. 



Although, for want of time and of competent 

 knowledge, I have confined myself to the sugar 

 crop, my observations upon draining, tillage, 

 animal manure and peas, may be considered as 

 applicable to the cultivation of cotton also. I 

 would not recommend any course which would 

 further extend that cultivation ; but if the same 

 crops could, as I believe, be obtained from half 

 of the land that now produces it, the other half 

 might be employed in raising provisions and 

 other products, such as indigo, hemp and to- 

 bacco. 



On the subject of interchange of crops, I have 

 nothing to offer, and I will now direct your at- 

 tention to the improvements proposed in the 

 manufacture of sugar. 



Not less than six new methods have been 

 partially tested and are now offered for our adop- 

 tion. We ought to be thankful for every effort 

 of that kind, and encourage to a reasonable ex- 

 tent those persons, who, in trying to benefit 

 themselves, desire also to benefit us. But plant- 

 ers camiot be expected to incur tlie great ex- 

 pense which the adoption of most of those 

 methods requires, till they have satisfactory evi- 

 dence of their entire success. That evidence is 

 yet wanting ; there is in all much room for im- 

 provement. The process of my friend. Thomas 

 A. Morgan, of Plaquemines, is thus far consid- 

 ered the best, and he is far from claiming per- 

 fection for it. The increase in the quantity of 

 sugar obtained by some of the innovators, is 

 principall}' owing to the fact that they re-boil the 

 molasses. This is done equally well by others 

 in open pans. 



A new apparatus, said to embrace all that has 

 been found valuable in the other.s, is now being 

 constructed at the Noveltj' Iron Works, in New- 

 York, for Mr. Valcour Aime, of St. James, a gen- 

 tleman di.stinguished for his enterprise, as well 

 as for his practical knowledge of the subject. — 

 It may do better than the others, but. Sir, all 

 these new- methods have the original fault of the 

 usual process, their authors begin wrong. They 

 commence by creating large quantities of color- 

 ing matter iu the juice, and then, by a great va- 

 riety of means, they endeavor to extract that 

 coloring matter first from the symp, and after- 

 wards from the sugar, and in this, b^ -the-bye, no- 



