M8 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOV. 15, I~.?^. 



(For Ihe New England Farmer.) 



BEET SUGAR. 



We were much pleased by the receptiim of the 

 following coniimini.:atioii, together with a liberal 

 s.ecimen of the first fruits of a kind of domestic 

 mamifttctiire, destined, as we hope and believe, 

 to become of vtry great importance to this coun- 

 try, by rendering us independent of foreigners for 

 one of our greatest and most expensive articles of 

 household consumption. 



Salem, Nov. 8, 1837. 

 T. G. Fessenden, Esq.,— Sir; I take the lib- 

 erty of sending you herewith, a small sajviple, 

 from 5 lbs. of Beet root Sugar, manufactured by 

 Mr G. Perkins and myself, from roots grown at 

 my cottage garden, at North Salem. In conduc- 

 ting this, our first experiment, we etVected the 

 l.roce-ss of rasping with my small grater cider 

 mill, turned by hand, ami expressed the juice from 

 the pulp, by means of an old fashioned condemn- 

 ed lever press. 



With so rude an apparatus as this, we could 

 hiirdly promise ourselves any extraordinary 

 results ; in fact, our only object was, to satisfy 

 ourselves that we could produce elirystallized su- 

 gar. We obtained 8 1-2 gallons of juice from the 

 200 lbs. of beets, and taking Chaptai for our guide, 

 followed out the piocess as delineated by him m 

 ilie latter part of his Agricultural Chemistry ; a 

 book, by the way, which should occupy a place 

 on the shelves of every Farmer's Library. 



I have about 1000 lbs. of the sugar beet in my 

 cellar, with which we intend to pursue our exper- 

 iment, as also that of rcfiniu!;; and should we 

 succeed in this last and most important process, 

 we shall avail ourselves of an early opportunity 

 of presenting you with a loaf of our first and fi- 

 nest quality. With much respect, 



1 remain your friend and servant, 



PicKERi.NB Dodge, 



CFroni the Hampshire Gazette.) 



LIME. 



Mr Hinoley : In the Gazette, two or three weeks 

 ice, 1 noticed a communication from .Amherst, 



|)roposing some inquiries m reg 



ard to the nature 



fFor tile New England Farmer. J 



Salem, Mass. Nov. 8, 1S37. 

 Messrs. J. Breck & Co., — Gentlemen: I liave 

 juet received per Ship Tartar, from Canton, a lot 

 of the real Morus Multicaulis Seed, which was 

 obtained of the Chinese Horticulturalist "Tywang" 

 head gardener at the " Fatd Gardens," and which 

 he says he can '^ secure." They were packed iti 

 a variety of ways, and every care taken with them, 



some in jars with powder, which "Tywang" 



says is essentially necessary to its preservation — 

 some in small tight boxes, in brown papeis, tcith- 

 oul and with said powder — some in cotton bags, 

 also With and without said powder. " Tywang " 

 says they ought not to be opened " till used," as 

 afier being shut up, they injure on exjiosure to 

 the air. They were kept by Capt. Nickels above 

 the u/a/cr fine, which is said to be essential to their 

 preservation. 1 intend to send you a sample of 

 the seed, to be distributed to those members of our 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society, that are de- 

 sirous of testing its vitality, and to yourselves, as 

 1 shall wish to dispose of it to the best advan- 

 tage. Yours truly, 



John M. Ives. 



We were presented yesterday, with a Quince, 

 which measured 13 inches in circumference, and 

 weighed 18 ounces! — Nantucket Inq. 



and value of Lime in agriculture. Perha(is the 

 following extrart.s from the ' Complete Farmer,' 

 published in 183-5, by T. G. Fessenden, Esq., of 

 Boston, may answer those inquiries. 



"Mr Young says, 'It cannot be denied, that 

 since the plentiful use of lime has been adopted, 

 lands in Europe will produce wheat which other- 

 wise were incapable of bearing it;' and quotes 

 several instances in proof of this assertion. 



The following from the same work, is an ex- 

 tract of a letter from Daniel Buckley, Esq., of 

 Salisbury, Pa., to J. Buel, Esq. 



" There are good farmers who differ as to the 

 quantity of lime that is most profitably applied ; 

 some say sixty bushels to the acre, some seventy, 

 and some more. I have applied 100 on an acre 

 of limestone land, at a dressing ; but have not 

 been able to discover any benefit from using it 

 thus freely, nor any injury, except in the loss of 

 lime. 



" it is a general opinion among good farmers, 

 that limingshould be repeated every ten or fifteen 

 years, anil that the increased crops richly com- 

 pensate the expense. It matters very little how- 

 it is applied, provided it is evenly spread imme- 

 diately after it has been water-slacked, it reim- 

 bibes carbonic acid, which the fire had expelled, 

 becomes lumpy, and is more difficult to be incor- 

 porated with tiie acid. Somo spread it upon the 

 sod, and plough it under, ami think they have as 

 much profit from it in this way as in any other. 

 When thus aiiplied, it powerfully contributes to 

 decompose the tougher fibres of the sod, and to 

 convert them into nutriment for the crop." 



Whntelrj Lime. 



As the communication from Amherst, mention- 

 ed above, has called the attention of the public to 

 the Whately lime, the following extracts respect- 

 ing it, from the report of the Geology of Massa- 

 chusetts, by Prof. Hitchcock, may not be uninter- 

 esting to many of your readers: 



"This limestone contains a large proportion of 

 silex, which, on burning, becomes a harsh sand. 

 Wishing to know how much of pure carbonate, 

 of lime was contained in it, I [lowdeied and dis- 

 solved portions of it, from different localities, 

 in muriatic acid ; — and the remits were as fol- 

 lows : 



1. Purest variety from Whately ; 100 parts con- 

 tain carbonate of lime, 78 ; residuum(chiefly saud) 

 22 parts. 



2. Compact variety from Conway ; carbonate 

 of lime, 58 parts; silicious residuum, 42 parts. 



3. Poorest from Whately ; carbonate of lime, 

 67 parts; silicious residuum, 33 parts. 



I tiled some specimens of our best limestone 

 in the same manner, with the following results : 



1. Gray liiiieslone from New Marlboro' ; car- 

 bonate ol' lime, 98 parts ; residuum (chiefly mica) 

 2 parts. 



2. Gray limestone iVoni W alpole ; carbonate of 

 limCj 92 parts ; residuum, 8 [larts. 



3. White crystaline from lioxboro' ; carbonate 

 of lime, 99 parts ; residuum 1 part. 



" it is my decided opinion that the limestone 

 described above, in the primitive - region of tlie 

 Connecticut Valley, may be usefully employed, 



either for mortar, or for spreading upon the so 

 The bedsof it are quite numerous in all tlie towi 

 I think, however, that the best variety occurs 

 Whately, where, should it ever come into use, < 

 the north line of the town,^ is a hill, large enou: 

 to supply the whole valley of the Connecticut f 

 centuries. This locality is favorably situated I 

 working, so as to furnish that valley ; being 

 more than two or three miles from the Conner 

 cut, and the whole distance nearly level. I c; 

 not but lio[)e that the attention of some enterpr 

 ing gentleman may be directed to this subjei 

 and should he succeed, in preparing even tole 

 hie lime from this rock, he would confer a gr 

 (avor upon the inhabitants of this section of i 

 State. 



These remarks, 1 believe, first tuinecl the atti 

 tion of several individuals to it, whose princi 

 object was to test its virtues in agriculture. 

 com|)any was accordingly formed, and a kilner 

 ted last fall, which has-been five times filled i 

 burned. The total amount of lime made, vi 

 probably, not vary from 1300 bushels. Most 

 this has been carried to Hadley, and the jirii 

 pal part of it used as manure ; and so far 

 liave been able to ascertain, it has fully answt 

 the expectations of those who have used it. 



This stone will, probably, be a great benefi 

 the farmers in its immediate vicinity, if they chc 

 to avail themselves of it ; but, owing to the qt 

 tity of sand which it contains, whether it willl 

 transportation to any considerable distance, 

 question wliiidi can only be determined by a tl 

 ough trial. Such a trial is now undergoing, 

 there is considerable reason for anticipating l 

 vorable result. 



Hadley, Oct. 24, 1837. 



(From Ihe Hagorslowil Torch Liglit. ) 



REAPING MACHINE. 



Mr Bell, — Dear Sir: Will you jilease 

 this a place in your paper, for the benefit of w 

 growers. As the sulijcct is of public interei 

 is hoped that other papers will circulate it thro 

 the grain growing districts of the country. 



I luocured a reaping machine this sniiiine; 

 Mr Ilussey, the inventor, which I have 

 throughout my wheat harvest. It was in cons 

 use every day, and performed its work to my 

 isfaetion, and far better than I had any exp< 

 tion of, when I first engaged it of Mr Hiisse 

 When the ground is clear of rocks, loose sto 

 stumiis, &c., and the grain stands well, it cu 

 perfectly clear, taking every head, and if 

 managed, scatters none ; but leaves it in 

 heaps, ready for binding. When the grain Is 

 down, the machine will of course pass over 

 but if it be leaning, or tangled only, it is cut i 

 ly as well as if standing, excepting when it I 

 from the machine, and then if tlie horses are 

 in a trot, it will be very well cut. But in cu 

 such grain, much depends on the expertiies 

 the hand, who pushes off the grain, in inn 

 clean work, and good sheaves. I found the 

 chine capable of going through, any thing g 

 ing on my wheat l.iiul, such ns weeds and g 

 no matter how thick. 



After my harvest was over, 1 cut my seed 

 othy, with the same neatness and ease, that . 

 my grain. As respects the durability of the 

 chine, I can say this much for my machine, 

 not the least thing has given out yet ; it ap| 

 as strong as a cart, and but little liable to gc ' 



