558 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



you should first make your lots ricli, hy manure, of 

 course. 'I'hey are to he ilien kept up, alter tohac- 

 fo, iniieed improved, hy oats. Ila certain amounl 

 of tobacco mitsi be made annually, and you are 

 limited by invincible circumstances to 2 luts, ! 

 admit the propriety of the praciice: but. il' this 

 id not the case, and there is room for three, why 

 g'we an oats lay the prelerence over a lieavy one 

 ot'clover, which will rarely lail to succeed tobacco 

 il" sown in February ; and i consider that clover, 

 on account of its early protection lo land Horn sun 

 and evaporation, as well as its leriilizing proper- 

 ties, has no equal as a lay. Oais, maturing rapidly, 

 with an exhausting crop ol seed, and drying up 

 at once, can not be so considered ; and if turned 

 under at ntaturity, as they must be to produce the 

 most leriilizing e fleet, a naked lallow is exposed to 

 the injurious itifluence of the isun at the hottest 

 sea-on of summer. Again, the rota;ion is too 

 short to allow ol an eHbrt ol'nature in the reform- 

 ation of soil. But the crowning objection with 

 me 10 the system is, that you give up a large por- 

 tion of the profits of your labor m preparing for 

 and cultivating this expensive crop, in losing the 

 best preparation known lor wheat and clover. 

 Why not then, Iriend H h, stretch your rota- 

 tion to three lots, even if they are a little rolling, 

 (which 1 agree is objectionable,) clear an addi- 

 tional one, or buy of a neighbor? or, if these are 

 inadmissible, divide by three insiead of two, and 

 bring yourself to the at)jiired and scouied system 

 .■of three fields — tobacco, wheat, clover? 



A. M. H. 



ON tVIAKING SUGAR FR03I INDIAN CORN 

 STALKS. 



To Dr. J. W. Thomson, President of the Agricultural 

 Society of New Castle County. 



Wilmington, 2d mo. 25, 1841. 

 Having been requested to furnish some account 

 >of the process lor manulijcturing sugar li'om 

 ■ corn, I cheerfully comply in giving all the inlbrm- 

 .ation on the subject so lar as I am at present 

 acquainted wiih it. The introduction of every 

 'iiew manufacture must necessarily be a work of 

 time; errors and difficulties continually obstruct 

 our course, even where we have all the advan- 

 tages of experience to direct ii. The making of 

 sugar from beets in the large way commenced in 

 France about 30 years ago ; yet not more than 

 one-third of this period his elapsed since the busi- 

 ness has become important from iis extent and 

 profit. These remarks are introduced as some 

 apology lor the imperlect state of the communica- 

 tion I have now to offer. Scarcely one year has 

 passed since ihe first idea was suggested in rela- 

 tion to this peculiar plan for making sugar ; and 

 there has not been sufficient time for those exact 

 experiments necessary to satisly the careful cal- 

 culator. In one case 1 obtained Iron) a small 

 piece of ground at the rate of 100 pounds of 

 sugar per acre; but other experiments, made since, 

 have conclusively shown, that had a different 

 mode of planting been adopted the product would 

 have been increased ten lold. The manner of 

 raising the corn and making the sugar is as lollows: 

 The corn is planted in rows 2^ leet apart, and 



the stalks are left to stand in the row 3 inches one 

 from another, il is then cultivated in the usual 

 manner. Some time in August or as soon as the 

 stalk shows a disposition to form grain the ears 

 must lie taken off, this operation must be carefully 

 attended to. as upon it entirely depends success. 

 Alter this there is nothing more to do until the 

 crop is ready to be taken up, which will generally 

 happen in September, the stalks are then cut up 

 at the root, siiipi of their leaves, and taken to the 

 mill, where the juice is pressed out between iron 

 rollers, in the same way usually employed with 

 the sugar cane. Lime water about the consis- 

 tency of ihin cream is then mixed with thejuice, 

 one spoonful lo the gallon, il is left to settle one 

 hour, and then poured into boilers which are co- 

 vered until the liquid approaches nearly to the 

 boiling [loint, when the scum must be taken ofi. 

 It is then boiled down as rapidly as possible, tak- 

 ing off the scum as il rises. As the juice ap- 

 proaches the slate of sj'rup il is necessary to slacken 

 the fire to avoid burnint);. The boiling is gene- 

 rally compleied when 6 quarts are reduced to one, 

 it is then poured into coolers or moulds and set 

 aside to ciystallize. When this process is gone 

 through the sugar is to be separated from the 

 molasses ; and ihe whole operation is finished. 

 The process here detailed gives ihe quality of 

 sugar you see in the samples, if required it can 

 be afierwards refined as other sugar. The use 

 of animal charcoal and the employment of steam 

 in the process of evaporation, as is common itj 

 the manulacture of beet sugar, would, I am confi- 

 dent, produce while sugar at one operation. 



From what is known on ihe subject, I fully be- 

 lieve that an acre of good ground treated as above 

 described will yield at least 1000 pounds of sugar 

 — probably more. The value of the fodder taken 

 from the stalks and of stalks themselves after 

 passing ihrough the mill, will be more than an 

 equivalent lor the whole expense of cultivation 

 and keeping the ground up. The fodder produced 

 in this vvay is much superior to that usually made, 

 I'rom its containing a greater quantity of saccha- 

 rine mailer. 



The project for introducing the manufacture of 

 beet sugar into the United States is one which 

 has received much public as well as private at- 

 tention. Government and people have united in 

 their efforts and worked zealously to bring it 

 about, but apparently without the least success. 

 How is this? must we admit that we are inferior 

 to the French in any thing whatever? this will 

 not be allowed. There is another supposition 

 which if correct wilt account for our failure : per- 

 haps their beets are better than ours. French 

 writers tell us of obtaining 4, 5, and even 6 per 

 cent, of sugar from the roots, but these results are 

 4, 5, and even 6 tinies better ihan any which I 

 have been able lo obtain. In short, the whole 

 business of making sugar from corn contrasts so 

 favorably with ihe manulacture from beets, that 

 I cannot but ihink it will obtain the prefiirence 

 wherever the climate will bring ihe former plant 

 lo perfection. Some of the ditlieiences may be 

 enumerated as follows : 1st, the corn is clean and 

 agreeable lo work with, while the beet is not. 

 2d, the machinery for extracting thejuice from 

 beets IS not only more cosily, but is more liable 

 10 get out of repair. 3d, the beet juice contains 

 a much greater proporlion of foreign and injurioa^! 



