196 



Cement for Floors. 



Vol. VI. 



tree for the very same purpose, and Mr. 

 Webb no doubt knew it, and has merely 

 adopted the process." This very serious 

 charge of my attempting a piece of wilful 

 deception is made by Mr. C. upon very slight 

 evidence, or rather upon no evidence at all, 

 for what can he know about the amount of 

 my knowledge relative to the manufacture 

 of " toddy." I certainly did not know that 

 this plan had been applied to the cocoa, or 

 any other tree ; and notwithstanding the quo- 

 tation given, I am still very far from being 

 convincsd of the fact. The author quoted 

 by Mr. C. states, " that it is usual to deprive 

 some of these trees of their fruit-buds, in 

 order that they may produce a drink called 

 paviah arrack." I have two works now be- 

 fore me, (which are considered good autho- 

 rity,) both giving very minute accounts of the 

 many uses to which the cocoa-tree is applied. 

 That part describing the manufacture of ar- 

 rack, is as follows : — " The operator provides 

 himself with a parcel of earthen pots, resem- 

 bling bird-bottles, and with these fastened to 

 his girdle, he climbs up the trunk of the 

 cocoa-tree. When he comes to the boughs, 

 he takes out his knife, and cutting off several 

 of the small knots or buttons, he applies the 

 mouths of the bottles to the wounds, fastening 

 them with bandages. The next morning he 

 takes off the bottles, which are generally 

 filled, and empties the juice into the proper 

 receptacle ; in this state it is called toddy. 

 After fermentation has progressed to a cer- 

 tain point, the spirit, or arrack, is drawn off 

 by distillation." There is nothing said about 

 taking off the fruit-buds, but it is positively 

 stated the tree produces both fruit and toddy ; 

 which is positive evidence, as far as it goes, 

 that the operation is not performed at all. 



Mr. C.'s author, whoever he may happen 

 to be, is evidently very ignorant about the 

 matter which he attempts to describe. He 

 says that "these trees are deprived of their 

 fruit-buds in order that they may produce a 

 drink called arrack, and it is the employment 

 of some men to collect this article and sell it 

 under the name of toddy." This is not the 

 fact, for arrack is the product of fermentation 

 and distillation, and to sell it under the name 

 of toddy (which is the raw juice) is rather too 

 green a proceeding to be credited, unless we 

 suppose that the writer is relating his own 

 operations. It is the same thing as if a per- 

 son were to tell me the sugar-cane yields on 

 being pressed, a certain kind of drink called 

 Jamaica Rum, and it is the business of cer- 

 tain men to collect this rum and sell it under 

 the name of cane-juice! 



I now take leave of Mr. C, with the as- 

 surance that I entertain no harsh feelings tO' 

 wards him, and with the sincere hope that 

 our future communications may have the de- 



sirable effect to increase rather than dimin- 

 ish the good understanding which should ex- 

 ist between us. 



The question, whether the manufacture of 

 sugar in our middle and northern states can 

 be carried on with profit, where circum- 

 stances are favourable, is one which has al- 

 ready been decided. Maple sugar to the ex- 

 tent of millions of pounds is produced annu- 

 ally, furnishing in many parts of the country 

 a very large proportion of the whole amount 

 consumed. It is estimated that an acre of 

 ground planted with the sugar maple at due 

 distances, will yield on an average of seasons, 

 about 130 pounds of sugar; but this is the 

 only product which can be calculated upon, 

 as neither grass nor grain flourishes beneath 

 the trees. Now, if a yield like this is found 

 sufficient to induce a continuance at the busi- 

 ness, it would seem that the manufacture of 

 sugar from corn could hardly fail to be pro- 

 fitable, the operations with both are equally 

 simple, while the corn, after the sugar is ex- 

 tracted from it, will be found more than equal 

 in value (for fodder) to the whole crop of ma. 

 pie sugar. The most encouraging fact which 

 has been developed in relation to this new 

 business, is the extreme richness of the juice; 

 it at least equals in this respect the very best 

 extracted from the cane ; marking 10° upon 

 Beaume's saccharometer. This fact has been 

 deemed incredible by many persons, but, if 

 necessary, it can be substantiated by better 

 authority than my own assertion. 



W. WEBa 



Woodland, near Wilmington, Del., Jan. 3d, 1842. 



Cement for Floors. 



The manner of making earthen floors for 

 country houses is as follows : Take two-thirda 

 lime, and one of coal ashes, well sifted, with 

 a small quantity of loam clay ; mix the whole 

 together, temper it well with water, and 

 make it up into a heap, letting it lie a week 

 or ten days, and then temper it well over 

 again. After this, let it lie for three or four 

 days longer, and temper again, until it be- 

 comes smooth, yielding, tough and gluey. 

 The floor being then levelled, lay the plaster 

 about two and a-half or three inches thick, 

 making it smooth with a trowel. The hotter 

 the season is, the better ; and when it is tho- 

 roughly dry, nothing can make a better floor. 

 If any one would wish their floors to look 

 very handsome, let him take lime of rag- 

 stones, well tempered with whites of eggs, 

 covering the floor about half an inch thick 

 with this mixture, before the under flooring 

 is too dry. If this be well done and thorough- 

 ly dried, it will look, when rubbed with a 

 little linseed oil, nearly as transparent as 

 metal or glass, and endure for many years, 

 without crack or blemish. 



