Vol. VII.— No. 44. 



AND HOIITICULTUKAL JOURNAL. 



Tlie process of lioiliii^', cliryshiliziiii', &c. the 

 best sugars is as follows. First lioij tin; extruptuil 

 saccliariiie liquor dovvu to the coiisistcuL-e of a 

 syrup ; tlioii put it into a copper, of which one 

 third at least is euipty, ami let it hoil awa/by a 

 moderate fire, until u phial which holds one oiune 

 of water, will contain eleven drachms of the syrup, 

 or till the syrup pours somewhat hroad from the 

 ladle. The scum or froth should be taken ofi" as 

 it rises. When the syrup lias arrived at the stale 

 above mentione.l, hy gentle boiling, the fire must 

 be removed from umlerneath the c<.j)i)er, and the 

 syrup gradnaily run through aclean woollen cloth, 

 placed over a wooden or stone vessel. Thesyru|i 

 must not cool too mu(di before this filtration, or 

 else it becomes ropy. When the syrup is some- 

 what cool, it should be laded into shallow wood- 

 en or stone vessels, to ehry.stulize ; for this inn- 

 pose, shallow earthen vessels, such as are used to 

 produce cream, or vessels made of tin, are proper. 

 These vessels, filled with syrup, must be placed in 

 a room heated to about 68° of Fahrenheit, and 

 care must be taken to keep them free from flics 

 and dust. If the syrup has been of a proper 

 consistence, crystals will soon begin to f nm at the 

 bottom of the vessels; ami in an interval of 18 or 

 21 days the crystalization will be comi.leted. The 

 mass must then be put into a strong linen sack, 

 well secured, and placed under a press, to squeeze 

 out the h.pn.l from the sugar which remains in the 

 bag. The h-piid matter may be .set to chrystal- 

 ize a second or third time, and will yield su"ar of 

 a coarser quality. A cheese press, or long'lever 

 will serve the purpose of pressure. The su-ar 

 first obtained, may be rendered [jurer by mixhi- 

 with It a rpiantity of clear spring water, and plac" 

 in- It again under the press; the colored svr- 

 '■P will then run out, and leave the sugar in the 

 bag in a much purer state than before. By re- 

 peating the operation it is so far uii|>ioved, tl'iat, 

 When dried and rubbed, it becomes a fine, white 

 powder sugar. The separated syrups should be 

 again carefully boiled, and more sugar will be ob- 

 tained from thein by crystalization. If the sugar 

 procured from the first pressure be dissolved iii^as 

 much clear water as will form a syrup, and placed 

 again in a warm room to crystalize, it will yieM 

 a much purer and harder sugar : the syrup "may 

 then be sejiarated without pressure from the sugar, 

 merely by incMiiing the vessel, and allowing "the 

 syrup to run ofl" from the crystals. All the syrups 

 thus prepared are fit for family use, and are much 

 superior in taste to those prepared from the pres- 

 sure of the rav/ or boiled roots. The remaining 

 thick syru|is may be used as treacle, or molasses', 

 and will serve to distil for rum or spirits. 



The proiluce of beet roots, and their quality for 

 yielding sugar have been variable, and of course 

 the profit accruing from them. From M. Acii- 

 ard's account we learn, that 24 measures of roots, 

 each of which weigh about 00 pounds, (in all 2100 

 pounds,) produce 100 pounds of raw sugar; that 

 is 20 pounds of roots produce nearly one"pound of 

 sugar. One hundred pounds of raw sugar give 

 65 pounds of refined sugar, and twenty-five poimds 

 of molasses. Another statement inliirms us, that 

 U pounds of raw sugar gave I a pound of lump 



347 



vated, would produce white beet sulficieni to fur- 

 nish the whole Prussian domihions willi sugar. 



Loudon's li;iicycl(ipedia of Gardening, in Uiein- 

 ilex, under the head " BlI,!,' has the following re- 

 marks. " It is from the roots of the beta eicla 

 that the French and Germans obtained sugar with 

 so much suci-.ess during the late war. The fol- 

 lowing was the ordinary process :— Reduce the 

 roots to a |)ulp by pres.,iiig them between two 

 rough cyfindeis : put the pulp in bags and press 

 out the liquor it contains ; boil this liquor| prejipi- 

 tate the saccharine matter by quick lime, pour off 

 the hquor; add to the residuum a solution of sul- 

 phuric acid, and boil again ; the lime uniting with 

 tlie acid, is got rid of by .straining, and the'ljcpior 

 m.-iy then be gently evaporated, or left to granu- 

 late slowly, after which it is ready for uiidiugoing 

 the (•(Uimion jirocess for reliuing raw sui'ar." 



The foregoing contains all the informaiion on 

 this subject, which we can at present readily ob- 

 tain. Should anything fintlier occur of impor- 

 tance, we shall be gratified in publishing it. In 

 forniii!g an opinion of the expediency of attempt- 

 ing to maiiufactufe beet sugar in this country, 

 many things are to be taken into consideration, 

 which would vary circumstances connected with' 

 an establishment of the kind in the United States, 

 from those existing in France and Germany. The 

 price of labor in this country, the price of sugar 

 obtained from the cane, and from the inajile, are 

 among the items which deserve to be well ean- 



va.ssed before a large manufactory is attempted. 



We believe about twenty tons of sugar beet to an 

 acre may be raised with facility in the United 

 States; and if, as M. Achard supposes, 20 |iounds 

 of roots will give 1 ponfid of sugar, we may have 

 at least 400 pounds of sugar from an acre of roots. 

 Besides the refuse matter of the roots containing 

 starch, mucilage, &c. wouUl prove valuable for 

 feeding cattle, &c. The tops would also be ser- 

 viceable for the same purpose. But we must be 

 careful to obtain the pro|jer variety of beet ; and 

 if a person accustomed to the manufacture of beet 

 sugar in Europe, could be found, and induced to 

 superintend an establishment for that purpose, in 

 this country, it would save much labor in experi- 

 ments, and give a nuieh fairer jirospect of eventu- 

 al success. 



near y coiupleted their growth, it is advisable to 

 break off tie leaves wherever they shade the fruit, 

 ni order that it shouhl bave the uninterrupte.l 

 benefit of the sun, and to cut off freely the stra-- 

 ghng vines, so that ii.uie should be left but those 

 which bear fruit ; this will hasten their maturity 

 and perlcetion. The same .system of pruning is 

 still more needful for musk melons ; it will im- 

 prove the flavor and the size of the fruit, and is, 

 I believe, universally practised in the old coun- 

 tries. The French always pinch off the small top 

 of the heart, at the earliest period, which they 

 call chnlrer, and which encourages the growth of 

 the slender side shoots, which are the fruit bear- 

 ers. The ripening of melons is much hastened 

 by plating under them, when about the size of an 

 *-'??. large pieces of slate stone, or a shingle ; the 

 melons are also ke.pl from ground worms by thia 

 process. Although our soil and climate are mora 

 powerful and finring, and might dispense in some 

 measure with these refinements of the gardener's 

 art, jet they will repay well for the little time and 

 attention required, and 1 have always found it my 

 pleasure, and iny advantage, to attend to it regu- 

 '•■"■'>'• J. M. G. 



If'cston, May 1.3, 1829. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FOR THE NL'W ENGLAND FARMER. 



sugar, Ig pound of 



v>'!iitc powder sugar, and 1; 



of a darker colored powder sugar, and 8 pounds 

 of brown .syrup ; from which more sugar might 

 have been obtained. It is computed in M. Ach- 

 ard's aceonnt, that a German square mile of land, 

 (that is 16 square miles English,) properly culli- 



CULTURE OF SQUASHES AND MELONS. 

 Mr Editor— Squashes, melons, and all other 

 vines require good oM manure ; nothing suits lliem 

 better than vault manure, kejit one year after it is 

 taken out ; hog's manure is excellent. There 

 should he, for squashes, five or six .shovelfuls to 

 each hill, distance about six feet; as the vines e.\- 

 I'and it will be very useful to check their growth 

 for the benefit of the fruit. It is getierally placed 

 on the side shoots, and only one squash should be 

 permitted to grow on one side shoot, and as soon 

 as the blossoming is over, the shoot should be 

 stopped by pinching off the head of it. The main 

 vines should also be stopped after they have a suf- 

 ficient number of side shoots and squashes. This 

 kind of pruning will have a tendeucv to improve 

 the size and the quality of the fruit ;'it is advisa- 

 ble to take off late blossoms and small squashes 

 which have no chance of coming to maturity be- 

 lore the white frosts take place, and which would 

 injure theearherand better fruit, by dejiriving it of 

 some of the nourishment. When the lattcl- part 

 ol the season comes on, and the squashes have 



GRAFTING THE VINE. 



Mr Editor — After making many fruitless at- 

 tempts to cultivate the vine by grafting, I have, 

 the [last season, succeeded to my entire satisfac- 

 tion. The result of my experience I wish to com- 

 municate to the lovers of horticulture, through 

 your useful paper. 



Early last spring I took two wild vines from the 

 trees, where they grew naturally, which I sup- 

 pose were an hundred years old. I dug a trench 

 about six inches deep, lioni the roots to a conven- 

 ient place, where I had trained the vine to graft. 

 In this trench I buried the vine in suitable 

 branches for grafting, and there inserted the grafts, 

 which were also covered, leaving only one eye 

 >»)ove ground. At the usual time for such buds 

 to break, mine burst forth, with a degree of esu- 

 berancc, which I had never before witnessed, in- 

 somuch that I had to prune them every ten days 

 throughout the season, to keep them in tolerable 

 order. Some of these grafls grew nearly twenty 

 feet long, producing fine bearing wood for the next 

 year, and several fine bunches of grapes the first 

 sea.son. I think, on a moderate calculation, I shall 

 have the ensuing season, several bushels of grapes 

 from my two vines. CALVIN iMORRELL. 



Hamilton County, Ohio, Marcli 25, 1829. 



~ CARROTS. 



The following mode is recommended of ren- 

 dering the cultivation of this valuable root less ex- 

 pensive and trnuhlesome, viz. — to sow the seed 

 on some very rich mould under a hovel, about a 

 forrnight before the field is ready, and then drill, 

 mould, and seed altogelher, having had it well 

 stirred every second day, r.tui kept snflicieiitlv wet 

 to cause it to vegetate. This operation enablea 

 the grower to clean his land, and to pulverise it, 

 So as to make mcst of the .•ronblesome annual 



weeds, and give the carrot a considerabie start 



The crop is much prclerable to mangel wurtzel 

 or Swodiah turni|is, for feeding oxen, and as a 

 winter food for milch cows ; for the latter pur- 

 pose, its siiperimily is very evident in improving 

 the quantity and quality of the milk and butler.-l 

 a estfitld Register^ 



