185T. 



NEW ENGLAND FAHMEE. 



79 



now MANAGE MY NrUSEKY ? 



Will you or some of your correspondents inform 

 me how to manage ^Yith a nursery, and what kind 

 of fertilizer should be used when the seed is sown 

 to get the greatest growth ? How far should the 

 plp.nts be left apart the first year ? c. II. II. 



Xov., 1856. 



Remarks. — Prepare and manure the ground for 

 a nursery as you would if you intended to get 80 

 bushels of corn to the acre. Twelve inches apart 

 will answer for the young plants — though if you 

 prefer fine, thrifty trees, a greater distance will be 

 favorable. Keep the ground light and free from 

 weeds, and mulch the trees if on rather dry soil, 

 as they should be. 



DEATH OF HON. SETH SPRAGUE. 



It is with sorrow that we record the death of the 

 Hon. Seth Sprague, which event occurred at his 

 residence in this city, on Friday, Dec. 12th. Mr. 

 Sprague had for several months been suffering from 

 a disease which baffled the skill of his physicians, 

 and which a post mortem examination, as we hear, 

 has proved to be an internal cancer. Mr. Sprague 

 was widely known throughout the State, from the 

 interest which he took in agricultural matters. He 

 filled the office of President of the Plymouth 

 County Agricultural Society for several years, and 

 was thoroughly versed in both the theory and prac- 

 tice of farming. For many years he was engaged 

 in commercial pursuits in Boston, as partner in the 

 well-known house of P. & S. Sprague, one of the 

 oldest mercantile firms in the city. He was quite 

 noted in both agricultui-al and commercial circles 

 for his sound and discriminating judgment. For 

 the last third of a century he has been much Iden- 

 tified with political matters in Plymouth County. 

 He has frequently served in the State Senate, and 

 other public stations. He was also an active sup- 

 porter of the temperance reform, and was a consis- 

 tent and devoted member of the Methodist church. 

 It falls to the lot of few men to enjoy in this life a 

 greater measure of respect and confidence than Mr. 

 Sprague secured from those around him; and now 

 that he has gone, he leaves behind the precious me- 

 mory of an eminently pure, useful and honored life. 



Mr. Sprague was born in Duxbury, in 1787, and 

 was consequently 69 years of age. His father (of 

 the same name) was for a long time one of the 

 most prominent men in the "Old Colony." Judge 

 Peleg Sprague, of the United States Court, is a 

 brother of the deceased. 



The Farmer treats the subject fairly, yet "without 

 gloves." The agricultural press, with scarcely an 

 exception, is opposed to "trotting courses" on our 

 fair grounds. 



Fi-'T the New Eng'.and Farmer. 



MOLASSES FROM THE CHINESE 

 SUGAR-CANE. 



Mr. Editor: — About the middle'of List June I 

 received by exchange several small packages of 

 seed from the Patent Office ; among which w;;s one 

 of the Chinese Sugar-Cane. On the 18th of the 

 same month I planted a few seed for experiment, 

 from which one hill of seven plants was reserved. 

 These thrived well, and at the time of the first 

 heavy frost had attained a growth of about ten feet, 

 with the seed at the tops apparently full sized, but, 

 as was anticipated from the shortness of the grow- 

 ing season, not well filled and scarcely colored. 

 From six of the stalks the juice was expressed and 

 boiled down to the consistency of common molas- 

 ses, yielding about a common coffee cup full (or 

 one and two-thirds gills) of a rich syrup, which our 

 grocei's considered to be richer flavored than ordi- 

 nary molasses, equal in quality to the sjrup of 

 commerce. 



The saccharine substance was extracted from the 

 cane by the following simple process : the cane 

 was divided at the natural joints, and from the 

 pieces thus obtained the hard bamboo-like casing 

 was slipped, leaving the pith. The pith broken in- 

 to pieces of convenient size was reduced to powder 

 in a hand mortar, and in this state was thoroughly 

 macerated in several waters, until little or no 

 sweetness could be detected in it. The sweet in- 

 fusion was strained through a linen cloth and then 

 boiled to the proi)er consistency. 



The process, I hardly need to state, was a labo- 

 rious one, yet to a good degree thorough ; and while 

 I would not recommend it to the man who may 

 cultivate his acres, and has at command all the re- 

 sources in apparatus that art and science have afr 

 forded him, yet to some of the many who are deep- 

 ly interested in the attempt to introduce the culti- 

 vation of the cane into our Northern agriculture, 

 and are anxious to experiment in the matter, but 

 whose most extensive and complicated crushing ap- 

 paratus consists of a mortar and pestle and a strong 

 right arm, a statement of the above simple process, 

 may stimulate to a like experiment, and to such 

 "emendations and corrections" as a little experi- 

 ence and good sense will be sent to afford us. 



Please accept, with my best wishes, Mr. Editor, 

 the accompanying sample of the molasses. 



J. J. H. Gregory. 



Marblehead, Mass., Dec. 9, 1856. 



Agricultural Fairs. — The Ohio Farmer has 

 a long and able article upon the subject of the per- 

 version of the purposes of our agricultural fairs, 

 and inquires "whither are we tending?" This 

 question is often anxiously asked by thousands who 

 love our instructive and pleasant rural festivals. 



Remarks. — Friend Gregory -will please accept 

 thanks for his fine specimen of Chinese Sugar-Cane 

 Molasses — an article, we trust, yet to be generally 

 introduced as one of our staple New England crops. 

 We have received specimens of the syrup from dif- 

 ferent sections of Massachusetts ; and it was made 

 by Mr. Boylston, editor of the Cabinet, at Amherst, 

 N. H., so that the climate is undoubtedly favora- 

 ble. It is a syrup, rather than molasses, the latter 

 being an article drained from sugar. Let it have 

 a more extensive trial another season. 



