218 



Corn-Stalk Sugar. — Comparative Price of Labour. Vol. VI. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Corn-Stalk Sugar. 



It is satisfactory to find that Mr. Webb 

 has not, nor does he intend to apply for, a 

 patent for the making of sugar from the corn- 

 stalk. The method of collecting the sap of 

 the palm-tree, as also the distinction which 

 he points out between the raw juice when 

 drawn from the tree, called toddy, and the 

 ardent spirit called arrack, which is procured 

 from it by fermentation and distillation, is all 

 correct ; but this is not incompatible with the 

 customary mode adopted for procuring it, 

 namely, the extraction of the fruit-buds, to 

 render the sap more abundant and of richer 

 quality ; nay, it is reasonable to expect that 

 the process, and the consequent increased 

 yield of product, would be greatly improved 

 and augmented by it, and which is said to be 

 the fact. The sin of supposing Mr. Webb 

 conversant with a mode of procedure which 

 I had understood to have always been prac- 

 tised, he must forgive, for I meant no more 

 than to presume he knew as much of the mat- 

 ter as myself. The extract which I gave 

 was taken verbatim from an account of the 

 process contained in a periodical then lying 

 before me, the name of which I have missed, 

 but I will endeavour to procure the work, 

 and if I succeed, I will send it up for Mr. 

 Webb's perusal : it is there plainly stated 

 that this toddy is denominated paviah arrack. 

 I am happy to assure Mr. Webb that nothing 

 was farther from my intention than to accuse 

 him of wilful deception ; my only idea was, 

 that he had appropriated to himself, by means 

 of his patent — which it is very generally said 

 and believed that he has secured — a mode of 

 manufacture which had before been known 

 and practised in detail — a charge that could 

 be brought against many improvements for 

 which patents are sought and obtained, with- 

 out a wish to fix upon such the charge of 

 wilful deception. 



The specimen of syrup which I saw at the 

 horticultural exhibition in Philadelphia, was 

 labelled molasses, and was so denominated by 

 Dr. Thompson, see p. 90 in Cab. for October. 

 Mr. Webb says it was syrup, meaning that 

 at least one process of crystallization had been 

 gone through, and this might therefore be 

 properly termed, in chemical language, the 

 mother-liquor. Now when I saw it, the gran- 

 ulated sugar had, by the mere act of subsi- 

 dence, become one-half the contents of the 

 bottle, and I will therefore leave any one, at 

 all acquainted with the manufacture of sugar, 

 to say whether the operations had been effec- 

 tive, and the point of concentration under- 

 stood or practised. Mr. Webb is in error 

 when he makes me say, " the whole opera- 

 tions were evidently performed in the most 



ignorant and ineffectual manner." When it 

 is said the old people were content to make 

 molasses only, it is admitted the term is not 

 correct, according to the nomenclature of the 

 manufactory ; it is as improper as it would be 

 to denominate this sweet substance syrup—. 

 the proper term is liquor, be it of what 

 strength of saccharine it might; after the 

 first and second granulations have been con- 

 ducted, the mother-liquor is called syrup, and 

 after the third granulating process, it is de- 

 nominated molasses ,- but if, after either of 

 these processes, the mother-liquor or syrup 

 should be found to contain a quarter-part of 

 the crystallized sugar exhibited in Mr. Webb's 

 sample, it would be fair to conclude that the 

 proper point of concentration had not been 

 either understood or practised; still it is a 

 fact, that the old people did make sugar from 

 the corn-stalk long before either Mr. Webb or 

 myself were born, and we cannot help it. 

 But if I know myself, nothing is farther from 

 my wish than to deprive Mr. Webb of a par- 

 ticle of the merit that is his due: far from it; 

 for it will give me real pleasure to hear that 

 he has succeeded in causing the manufacture 

 of sugar from the corn-stalk to become of 

 more importance than that from the cane, and 

 I trust he will favour us with an account of 

 his progress from time to time in the pages 

 of the Cabinet. The extreme richness of the 

 juice of the corn-stalk arises, no doubt, from 

 the circumstance that our climate is suited 

 to its full developemenl, while the cane sel- 

 dom obtains its perfect maturity in Louisiana; 

 much of the sugar from thence is therefore 

 unripe — in an incipient state — which at once 

 accounts for the great difficulty experienced 

 in fining their liquor. But Mr. Webb must 

 consent to accept a medal, which is so justly 

 his due. J, M. C. 



Eastern Shore, Maryland, Jan. 25, 1842. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Comparative Price of Labour. 



Mr. Editor, — I find in the Ledger for 

 the present day the following comparative 

 statement of the prices paid for labour in dif- 

 ferent countries, which does not appear to me 

 to be a fair criterion on which to form a judg- 

 ment. It is there said, in a quotation from 

 the Pennsylvania Inquirer, "The highest 

 price to be obtained by a weaver, his wife and 

 two children, in Manchester, England, per 

 week, is 10s. 6d. sterling, equal to $2 33, 

 while thousands of females are employed at 

 Lowell in factories, who receive $3 25 per 

 week." — "This, there is no doubt, is all 

 true as stated, and it is equally true that in 

 Texas the same labour that in Lowell com- 

 mands $3 25 will command four times the 



