1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



117 



settled down upon them. Most of the lamp oil 

 used in Germany is made from the rape seed. La- 

 ter in the season, the fields of poppies unfold their 

 blossoms of blushing red. From these seeds an oil 

 of better quality is expressed, used for the table 

 and for other purposes. Poppy seeds are also an 

 important ingredient in some of the varieties of 

 cake, so abundantly produced in the German cui- 

 sine. 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTURAL 

 CIETY. 



SO- 



DISCUSSION ON THE CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 



Those gentlemen — members of the Legislature — 

 favorable, to the scheme of re-establishing the Legis- 

 lative Agricultural Society, met in the Representa- 

 tives' Hall, Tuesday night, at 7 o'clock, at Avhich hour 

 only half a dozen were present. The meeting was 

 called to order at 20 minutes past 7, by Hon. John 

 Brooks, of Princeton. He considered it proper that 

 an organization should take place, and that com- 

 mittees on organization and on subjects of discus- 

 sion should be appointed, as was usual. About 40 

 members were then present. 



Mr. Stebbins, of Deerfield, nominated Hon 

 John Brooks, of Princeton, for Chairman yro tern,, 

 and put the question, when that gentleman was 

 elected. Messrs. W. J. Buckminster, of the 

 Mass. Ploughman, and Aaron Dickinson, of 

 Heath, were appointed Secretaries. 



A committee to nominate Chairman for the eve- 

 ning, and an Executive Committee, to act during 

 the whole session, consisted of Messrs. Hyde, of 

 Newton, Stebbins, of Deerfield, and Parsons, of 

 Ludlow, and reported as follows : 



For Chairman — Hon. John Brooks. For Ex- 

 ecutive Committee — John Brooks, of Princeton, 

 Moses Stebbens, of Deerfield, Charles L. Flint, of 

 Boston, AsaG. Sheldon, of Wilmington, and Steph 

 en P. Collin, of Longmeadow. 



Mr. Brooks made a brief congratulatory ad- 

 dress on taking the chair, on the thriving state of 

 the farming interest generally. Within the State, 

 within the last ten years, the increase of agricultu- 

 ral productions had risen from twenty-six to sixty- 

 three millions in value. With proper care this in- 

 crease could yet be doubled, and the resources of 

 the soil not yet all called into request. He invited 

 gentlemen to state their agricultural experience, 

 and specially called on Mr. Hyde, of Newton, to 

 relate what he had in cultivating the Chinese sugar 

 cane. 



Mr. Hyde, after glancing at the morus multicau- 

 lis and other agricultural bubbles, said he entered 

 on the cultivation of the Chinese Sugar Cane with 

 much doubt as to its ultimate benefits. These he 

 nad tested, and could speak from experience. As 

 a forage crop he considered it superior to anything 

 known in this portion of the country. It has the 

 advantage of many other plants in its production of 

 two crops per annum — the last not a full one, but 

 a very liberal one. It would grow to three or four 

 feet in height in July, and be again ready to cut in 

 October. For soiling purposes nothing could be 

 more generally valuable, as horses, cows and pigs 

 were alike fond of it, and selected it always in pref- 

 erence to any other food that could be placed be- 

 fore them. It was easily cured, and could be as eas- 

 Uy preserved over winter as any common forage 



crop — although it grew to the height of ten or fif- 

 teen feet. It was very hardy ; and while other 

 crops v/ould wilt beneath the strong sun, it stood 

 up fresh and juicy. It did not produce a nice look- 

 ing fodder ; but if cut into pieces, cattle would eat 

 it with avidity. Some cattle would seize upon a 

 long, rough stalk, and chew it so long as they could 

 feel the taste of the saccharine matter in it. In 

 order that it should constitute good fodder, the 

 cane should be cut before it is seeded. If planted 

 in drills, (1.^ pounds of seed to an acre, and the 

 stalks 5 or 6 inches apart,) it would grow too rank. 

 Care should be taken not to plant the seed too 

 deep, or make the hills too close. 



Mr. Hyde had tried the cane for sugar, and had 

 found it to yield one-fifth of its weight in syrup, 

 much better than that which came from the South — 

 of better quality and heavier. His experiments 

 showed him that syrup could be produced at the 

 rate of 25 cents per gallon, on land like that in 

 Newton. A portion of the syrup was not crystali- 

 zable, and this was held as an objection to it ; but 

 while the fact was so, it was also true that the Chi- 

 nese cane would produce a good brown sugar. He 

 was determined to give the production of sugar a 

 fair trial, and had confidence of his being success- 

 ful ; and one of his proposed plans was to cut off 

 the seed panicles before they begin to ripen, and he 

 had little doubt that by this process he would save 

 a considerable amount of saccharine matter. • If 

 planted in the middle of May, the cane would be 

 ready to cut about the middle of September. While 

 he would not advise any one to go into an extrava- 

 gant system of cultivation, he would advise all far- 

 mers to try it in their gardens and their fields, and 

 one trial would go farther to convince them of the 

 value of the sugar cane than any advice whatever. 



Several gentlemen made inquiry of Mr. Hyde re- 

 specting the method of the cultivation of the cane. 

 He advised that it be hilled, like corn, when it was 

 intended to use the cane for sugar, and drill it in 

 rows when intended for fodder. A dry soil was the 

 most favorable for its production. He thought it 

 might be an exhausting crop ; and that it would 

 not be hurt by being planted on good soil. It stood 

 heat, as he said before, and was also able to bear 

 up against frost. The seed he had used was got 

 from the Patent Office, and came from France, 

 where the best seed came. It was had originally 

 from China. The pure seed was of a black color 

 (at least such as he considered pure.) There was 

 a quantity to be had of Col. Peters, of Atalanta, 

 Ga., and this was pure ; but it might be that seeds 

 from Paris, where the rest came, might not be so 

 genuine. The price was about $1 per pound ; and 

 the charge of $3 per pound, made in this city, was 

 suggested by certain parties who wanted to com- 

 bine against the purchasers. Seed, he thought, 

 could be grown for a shilling per pound. But with 

 all these facts, he advised the greatest caution in 

 making experiments and in drawing conclusions. 



Several gentlemen made observations on the sub- 

 ject of conversation, only one of whom, in any shape, 

 controverted the statements made by Mr. Hyde. 

 That was with reference to its superiority as a for- 

 age plant. The party in question said he has seen 

 as heavy a forage of Indian corn as of Chinese cane. 

 He sustained all Mr. Hyde's statements in other 

 respects, and added to them the fict that, after the 

 juice was expressed from the cane its fibrous part 

 made excellent paper. He advised, among other 



