66 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 2 



nion on this important question.* The results of 

 my crop above stated, under all the disadvanta- 

 ges of "rot" in the cotton, that destroyed nearly 

 one-fourth after "boiling;" and the loss in the 

 cane, from premature manufacture, and effects of 

 frost, were as Ibllows : 



62 bags cotton at 16i cents, - $2,831 40 



63 barrels sugar, (tioni 26 acres,) at 



10 cents, - - - - 1,323 00 



51 barrels molasses and syrup, at 30 



cents, - - - - 459 00 



180 gallons common rum, at 50 cents, 90 00 



800 bushels corn, at 50 cents, - - 400 00 



Total, - - - $5,103 40 



Deduct expenses of negroes, inclu- 

 ding rent of land, - - 1,600 00 



Nett product of 14 laborers, 



J,503 40 



*Our correspondent attaches much more hnportance 

 than is due to our opinions on vegetable chemistry ; 

 but being thus called on, we will state our impression. 

 It cannot be, (as he suggests,) that the concentration 

 of the saccharine juice can cause its yield to be greater; 

 but the other supposition may well be correct, that the 

 process of "mattressing," by generating and main- 

 taining a <rreater degree of heat, may produce chemical 

 changes in the juices of the canes, and actually in- 

 crease the quantity of sugar. All the diU'erent matters 

 which form vegetables, as sugar, starch, mucilage, 

 wax, oil, &c., are each composed of the same three 

 elementary bodies, viz. oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, 

 merely varied in their proportions. Of course, each 

 of these many substances could, by a slight change of 

 its quantities, in nature's laboratory, be changed to 

 any other. Even art can effectually produce some of 

 these changes. Thus, chemistry has shown the cer- 

 tain means of converting starch into sugar ; but at a 

 cost too great for economical purposes. The slightest 

 observer may know, that nature is working similar 

 changes throughout the whole course of vegetable life. 

 For example: the saccharine juice is formed abun- 

 dantly in the stalks of growing Indian corn, and the 

 sugar increases faster than the bulk of the plant, nearly 

 to the time of the maturing of the grain. But, about 

 that time, the sweetness of the pith is lost, by the su- 

 gar being entirely converted to some other vegetable 

 substance — and probably to furnish starch, which, 

 forms so large a portion of the grain. Now, as nature 

 in this case, changes sugar to starch (or somethinn- 

 die,) so the increase and maintenance of heat in sugar 

 canes may change starch, mucilage, &c., to sugar; 

 and this change is the more likely, as, in a climate"uf- 

 ficenlly warm, the successful elibrt of nature, at that 

 period of the growth, is to increase the proportion ol 

 sugar in the plants; and that increase, of course, is ef- 

 fected by changing other existing vegetable products 

 to sugar. When nature is making an etlbrt to pro- 

 duce a certain chemical change, (vv^liich, however, may 

 be thwarted or enfeebled by climate or other adverse 

 circumstances,) it is not diflicult to contrive artificial 

 means for aiding that eflbrt, and thereby giving it full 

 effect ; and such seems to be the operation and" effect 

 of •« mattressing."— Ed. fab. rjeg. 



This crop, it must be remembered, was made in 

 nine months — as 1 did not take possession of the 

 land till the etui of March, and was obliged to re- 

 linquisli it at Christmas. I lost, therefore, a large 

 proportion ofthe " refuse" of my mdl ; wliich, had 

 time allowed, could have been profilably convert- 

 ed info ruin. And here 1 would say that no one 

 should attempt the |n'ofitaLle cultivation of sugar- 

 cane, in this Territory, without first having an 

 efficient and complete disiillery. 1 look upon the 

 "still-house" as being here of decidedly greater 

 value and necessity than even the sugar-boding 

 apparatus. With a proper arrangement of stdls, 

 there can be no total loss sustained in the cane 

 crop: for even should frost strike it to acidity, spi- 

 rit can be extracted ; and it will require a vast 

 incease of Temperance Societies, before that sti- 

 mulant becomes valueless. 



In the West Indies, on well managed estates, 

 the rum and molassses pay all expenses of manu- 

 facture of the sugar ; and not only could it be 

 done in Florida, but leave also, from the higher 

 home use of .spirit and molasses, a handsome re- 

 venue. 



My operations for 1836 were solely in cotton. 

 Many reasons, (exclusive of my desire to try a 

 cotton crop alone,) here unnecessary to detail, 

 caused me for the time being to relinquish the 

 'S higher game" of sugar. I purchased this es- 

 tate, " VVascissa," and worked 36 hands. My 

 crop had not yet been sold; but it certainly will 

 nett me more |)erhead than last year's "combina- 

 tion," owing however to the present high value 

 of cotton ; and this is the reason why so many of 

 our cotton planters have realized this year such 

 extravagant wages from their negroes — some 

 even as high as ,'5;600, per head, average. Yes I 

 Mr. Editor, I have it from unquestionable men, 

 that our fellow-citizen, Mr. Green Chawes, has 

 sold cotton, made last year by 22 laborers, ex- 

 ceeding, (with corn,) $13,000. Eutyet I do not 

 yield determined prelerence for cotton. As long 

 as the demand will give 20 cents, or even 15 cents, 

 per pound, it is undoubtedly a money-making 

 culture, and sufficiently so to annihilate any other 

 substitute ; and even at 10 cents per pound, it is 

 unquestionably a more expedient entire crop than 

 sugar ; and no prudent man will, under any cir- 

 cumstances, in njy opinion, here, attempt a sole 

 crop of sugar : its results must and will be, nine 

 times in ten, complete ruin. I advocate only su- 

 gar in combination with cotton; and I conceive 

 that if it can be shown not only practicable in this 

 climate, but profitable, that 1 am "doing good 

 unto many," and especially advancing, in such 

 event, incon'estible proof that our Florida lands 

 are, (as I have befiire stated in a former letter,) 

 "the cheapest in the southern country." To ex- 

 pose clearly my reasoning, let us instance an es- 

 tate, first, with cotton alone; secondl}-. with cot- 

 ion ami sugar combined; and, lastly, with sugar 

 by itself! We must, in this comparison, reduce 

 our calculation to " dollars and cents;" that me- 

 thod of reasoning being, as it were, innate in all 

 planting readers, and, to do so fairly, we must take 

 the staples at a fiur average value. Say — cotton 

 10 cents per pound, and sugar 10 cents per 

 pound. 



Instance I^irst. 

 B has a plantation of choice land, well located. 



