Vol, 6. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



8t 



combustible substance. It is mainly lost in the loss 

 of the liquid excretiopi of man and beast. 



It is proper to remark, in regard to the per cent- 

 age of earthy matter in cultivated plantp, that some 

 contain aeh^gh as 15 per cent. Timothy hay has 9 

 per cent. The proportion of their substance which 

 plants derive from the atmosphere directly through 

 their leaves, is a matter involved in too much doubt 

 for me to give an opinion respecting it at this time. 



D; L. 



Albany, Feb. 18, 1845. 



HONEY-DEW. 



This is a term made use of by many to denote a 

 vi.jcid saccharine substance often seen upon the leaves 

 of plants during midsummer ; and the more general 

 impression is, that it descends from the atmospheie, 

 as other dew, and has an injm-ious eftect upon plants 

 on vv^hich it falls, producing all manner of diseases, 

 as rust, blights. Sic, fee. I would invite the atten- 

 tion 01 such as would investigate this subject, to 

 visit a green-house during the wmter, where the 

 glass, being kept closed, prevents a free admission of 

 the atmosphere perpendicularly, which might be es- 

 sential for depositing this substance : neither, in 

 case it could so descend, is it supposed capable of 

 forming it at this season. 



In green-houses which are not often fumigated, 

 plants often become infested with ditFerent kinds of 

 aphis, or plant lice, which are a great nuisance, and if 

 allowed to remain long, materially injure the plants. 

 Where elevated plants become infested wath these in- 

 sects, the leaves of those standing beneath them will 

 have the same appearance that those in fields have 

 during summer, which are said to have been the re- 

 cipients of the honey-dew. Ants are known to be 

 particularly fond of this excrementitious matter, and 

 during summer may be seen ascending and de- 

 scending such plants as are infested with differ- 

 ent kinds of aphis — mixing with them without 

 niilestin;:', gathering the substance from the surface 

 of the leaves whereon it has fallen, and olten receiv- 

 ing t directly from the extremity of the insect, as it 

 is eje. ti3d. 



T'i3 h meyy-'-levv may, therefore, be considered no- 

 th'ng mor^ mr less than matter ejected from these 

 in ect--, 5n I will br? found most abundant vmder plants 

 or tre'^s on which these insect feed, or in the vicin- 

 ity of woo 's, or svvampp, from which some of t'lc 

 Tv'inge ' va-i%tips mxko their flight. 



Wh'le u son th-" subject of deiv, will any of your 

 co?respjn lent"- inf 'rm me why il is, that during the 

 summar, in *h-^ mornings, we often sec each blade of 

 glass orndm nt'' ! with a small pearl, or dew drop, 

 upon its exfr. ma point, while the blade below re- 

 mains dry, unl?s3 where the blade is upright, and the 

 drop has increased beyond what the point can sup- 

 port, when it descends upon the blade, or drops from 

 the point when it recline^i. Has electricity any 

 agency in the formation of these drops "? If so, how 

 is vegetation infmenced by it ? 



N. GOODSELL. 



MAPLE SUGAR. 



We liave in hand a communication on the subject 

 of iiJi.k'ng maple sugar, from W. S. T., which, "d- 

 thoigh a reasomble articls, yet from its hngth we 

 are obliged to abridge it, for the want of spac?'. He 

 very rarn'^.itly recommends cleanlines"? in the kettles 

 and sap-tronghs, er buck3ts, vyhich, if oil, m ist b^ 

 well Bcaldc 1 ; ani he prefers green •■\'ooi t) dry, on 



account of the blaze, which is apt to burn and disco- 

 lor the sugar. 



He recommends preparation to be made early, eo 

 that the first running, which is the richest and "most 

 valuable, may be secured ; and prefers the use ot the 

 augur for tapping, boring from 1 J to 2 inches in 

 depth, and no more. The spouts so made, that ia 

 driving in they shall only pinch at the b .rk and out- 

 er edge of the orifice, so as not to impede the flow of 

 the sap. Care should be taken that the boiling 

 works be placed near the centre of the sap bush ; 

 and in the boiling process, towards the latter end, 

 that it does not burn. If the weather be not too 

 warm, enough sap may be boiled at once to make 

 from 100 to 200 lbs. before sugaring — which, when 

 commenced, should be driven on as fast as possible, 

 till about the consistency of good molasses, when 

 the fire should be allowed to expire. 



For clarifying sugar, he says, " many ingredients 

 are used. Some use milk and sugar, beaten toge- 

 ther ; some use nothing but cold sap. I have used 

 them both, but prefer clear eggs alone, as being bet- 

 ter than eggs and milk together. Cold sap is better 

 than milk alone, from the fact, that if milk is put in 

 before the syrup is perfectly cold, it is apt to coagu- 

 late, and gives the sugar a bad appearance." He ad- 

 vises, that every time the boiling-kettle is emptied 

 of syrup, it should be well cleaned before using it 

 again. 



We are obliged to W. S. T. 'for his friendly of- 

 fers, and hope to hear from him again on other 

 subjects. f 



QtJicK ^jjfcNEGAR Process. — Prepare a barrel, 

 without heads, with netting or cross pieces of wood 

 across the bottom ; fill it with hard-wood shavings, 

 loosely packed, so that a current of air can pass 

 through, and set it over a tub. Take any quantity of 

 rectified whiskey, and mix it with from 4 to 6 times its 

 quantity of water, and cause it to trickle slowly on the 

 top of the shavings until it has all passed ; and so 

 continue to pass it through until it is thoroughly 

 converted into vinegar. It will be necessary, on 

 first putting up the concern, to mix a small quantity 

 of molasses with the liquor, to cause the shavings to 

 become oxidated, after which spirits, cider, beer 

 slops, fee, may readily be changed into vinegar in 

 less than 24 liours. 



The rationale of the process is — the immense 

 surface, of exposure to the air, whereby oxygen, on 

 the acidifying principle is absorbed ; in comparison 

 with the old process, wherein only one surface 

 comes in contact with the atmosphere. A. 



Cor?t-Stalk Sugar. — The manufacture of sugar 

 from corn-stalks promises to become an extensive 

 and profitable branch of business at the West. Mr. 

 John B:al, of New Harmony, Indiana, has made 395 

 lbs. of good sugar this season, from the corn-stalks 

 that grew on three-quarters of an acre. This is at 

 the rate of 500 lbs. to the acre. His ])lan is thus 

 briefly n-^ticed in the Cleveland Herald ; " When the 

 ears begin to form, they are pulled off. When the 

 leaves are dead about half way up, the stalk is strip- 

 oed of loaves, cut up at the ro it, the top cut off, and 

 then ground in a sugnr-mill. Twenty stalks Vv'ill 

 yield about one pcmd of sugar. Mr. B. made SOlbs. 

 in a day, v/ith a simple apparatus of his own con- 

 struction. 500 Ib^. at 4 cents per lb. is ^20 per 

 acre. It w^ ill hT.ve proiur-^l — say fifty bushels of 

 corn, at 25c-^nts. ^If!. — .iw,. Fanner, 



