857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



29 



of cane, and practically diminished the area of trop- 

 ical cane-grovdng scil. India and the adjacent re- 

 gions of South Asia might produce more sugar, 

 but their people are very slow to change the dlrec 

 tion of their industry, while those of Spanish Amer 

 ica have little industry, of any fort. There is 

 more sugar land in the V/est Indies, but it is 

 mainly wildnerness, v/hich can only be converted 

 into cane-fields at heavy cost and by severe labor 

 — of course, quite slowly. 



In view of these facts, inquiry has very properly 

 been made for saccharine plants adapted to the 

 temperate zone, and which may be profitably em 

 ployed in the production of sugar. Until some 

 plant of this sort is found and extensively cultivat- 

 ed, it is not ])robable that the price of sugar, as 

 measured by that of wheat, beef and other edi- 

 bles, will be essentially reduced. With the pros- 

 pect of an active demand and a high price for su- 

 gar through several years ahead, it seems but reas- 

 onable that the sugar-producing area should be 

 enlarged, if that be Ibnnd practicable. 



THE ESEUSE OF GAS-WOEKS. 



We direct attention to a valuable contribution 

 from the Chemist of the Highland Society, 

 which we have extracted from the Transac- 

 tions, regarding the refuse of gas-works. The 

 amount of that valuable fertilizer, ammonia, which 

 is yearly lost to the country from means not being 

 taken to manufacture the sulphate of ammonia 

 h-om the ammoniacal liquid in the smaller gas- 

 works, appears to be very considerable. We are 

 cognizant of the fact that the liquid from several 

 gas-works was at one time, and, for aught we know, 

 still continues to be, turned into the nearest stream, 

 or carted, as in one or two cases that have come 

 under our own notice, to the sea, and for a time 

 creating a nuisance from the offensiveness of the 

 smell. Those farmers who can obtain this refuse, 

 gas water and lime, should mix -t up with earth, 

 and thus form composts. The liquid may be ap- 

 plied to manure heaps, when these are formed away 

 from the steading, the offensiveness of the smell 

 preventing its being applied to the cattle courts. — 

 The rise which has been established by the agents 

 of the Peruvian Government, Messrs. Gibbs, of 

 £2 per ton on Peruvian guano, makes the conserva- 

 tion of all products containing ammonia of more 

 importance, ammonia being, as our readers are 

 aware, the most valuable constituent of Peruvian 

 guano. The importer's price of guano is now £11 

 5s. — former price, £9 5s. Besides the ammonia 

 lost in the liquid of gas-works, there appears to 

 be a large amount which passes off with the gas, 

 and is consequently lost. Dr. Anderson, in this 

 paper, estimates that by a process which is patent- 

 ed for the purifying of gas from the ammonia, a 

 manure representing 30,000 tons of sulphate oi 

 ammonia could be rendered available for manure. 

 This quantity, taken at the selling price of sulphate 

 of ammonia, £18 per ton, is equal to £540,000. — 

 Taking one cwt. of the sulphate to represent six 

 bushels of wheat, this sum would be doubled. — JV. 

 B, Jigriculturisl. 



Fix your Gardens ix the Fall. — Perhaps 

 you desire a new garden next year. If so, drain 

 the ground, then cart on a large quantity of well 



rotted manure, and plow it, and sub-soil it, to the 

 depth of two feet or more. Then you may begin 

 to lay out the general features of the garden. Do 

 a large portion of the work soon. There is much 

 more time to do work in autumn than in the spring. 

 The winter, too, will soften the ground, and kill a 

 great many worms and insects, and you can begin 

 your garden work much earlier next season. — Ohio 

 Farmer, 



For the New England Fanner. 



MILK PEODTJCE. 



Mr. Editor : — Your commentary on Mr. Hors- 

 fall's management of dairy cattle, their feed, pro- 

 ducts, <S:c., has "set me to thinking," that it takes 

 at least thirty-three per cent, more milk in England 

 to make butter, than it does with us, to say nothing 

 of those remarkable animals in your county, four 

 quarts of whose milk will yield a pound of butter. 

 The instances you cite go to show that it takes 

 there, on an average, 14 quarts of niillt for the pro- 

 duction of a pound of butter. I had supposed that 

 10 quarts of good milk could be relied on to pro- 

 duce a pound of butter. How do you explain this 

 great difference ? Does it arise from the feed the_, 

 use ? Or is it from the different character of the an- 

 imals ? If a difference of one-third in quantity can 

 be brought about by a change in the manner of 

 feeding, this is important to be known by those 

 who retail their milk, and perhaps where they leave 

 it, it will save the trouble of an extra halt at the 

 pump, on the way to market. * 



N'ovember 15, 1856. 



Rem.aeks. — The subject here introduced de- 

 mands a more careful consideration than we can 

 give it at this moment ; but we may say now, that 

 the quality of butter depends in a great measure 

 upon the kind of food fed to the cows. There is a 

 marked difference in the pasture grasses. Old, 

 mossy pastures will not produce butter at all to be 

 compared with butttr produced from grasses grown 

 on new land, where there is a variety of grass, in- 

 cluding clover, red-top and herd's grass. A good 

 deal of butter that is made well is of a negative 

 quality, that is, it is not strong, or soft, or white, 

 but ha-^ no particular flavor, so that it puzzles you 

 to know whether you are eating butter, or some- 

 thing else having a remarkable resemblance to it. 

 This matter needs more attention. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MAEKET FAIES. 



We hiive more than once heard the inquiry, why 

 cannot such fairs be holden monthly, in each of the 

 principal counties of the commonwealth. For in- 

 stance, at Worcester, at Topsfield, at Dedham, &c. 

 &c. Such an arrangement would be eminently ser- 

 viceable to those who have animals or articles for 

 sale ; and equally beneficial to those who wish to 

 buy. We wish some of those who have witnessed 

 the benefits of such fairs in other counties, would 

 favor the public, through the columns of the Far- 

 mer, with their experience. 



