124 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCT. 28, 183S. 



[From the Genesee Farmer.] 



SUGAR, I 



M.i TucKEK — I have seen in some late nuni- 

 be.vs of the Farmer, inquiries relative to the man- 

 ufacture of sugar from beets and potatoes. The 

 inquiry, as far as relates to beets, yon have an- 

 swered in your last number; and the process of 

 manufacture where ]iotatoes are used, has been 

 already -fully and ably described in the Farmer, in 

 vol. 2d, at page 38, in an article prepared by a 

 practical operator, Mr Guthrie of Sackett's Har- 

 bor, for Professor Silliman's Journal. Mr G. 

 made large quantities of molasses from potatoes, 

 but with all his skill was unable to chrystalize or 

 grain it, without the introduction of some delete- 

 rious substance, lend for instance; and conse- 

 quently all his was used in a liquid foru], of the 

 consistence of thick syrup, or rather honey. The 

 potatoes were first converted into starch, and then 

 by boiling in s\dphuric a-jid, diluted, for some 

 Ihours, into sugar. Tlie directions in the Ency- 

 clopedia Americana for this process, are 2000 fiarts 

 of starch, 8000 parts of water, and 40 parts strong 

 sulphuric acid — the mixture to boil some thirty 

 six hours in silver or lead ; but Mr Guthrie ac- 

 compUshes the conversion by the use of steam in 

 about six hours. The production of sugar or mo- 

 lasses is possible from a great variety of materials 

 provided by nature, such as the cane, maple, beet, 

 lioney — all plants that aflbrd starch, or substances 

 that by chemical process can be converted into 

 gum, as flax, linen rags, &c. ; still none have yet 

 been found, which can successfully enter into 

 competition with the cane, where it is grown in 

 favorable circumstances, and the production or 

 use of sugar is unfettered with vexatious restric- 

 tions. 



In your article on beet sugar, it is remarked 

 tliat " chemistry has discovered a new material 

 for sugar in wheat, the great staple of the west." 

 That starch could be converted into sugar, has 

 long been known ; and it is only the starch in 

 wheat, potatoes, or arrow root, that is thus con- 

 vertible. Starch by some chemists, and particu- 

 larly Front, is considered as sugar partly organized ; 

 rind though containing but a small quantity of car- 

 bon and hydrogen more than sugar, still this ex- 

 cess is sufficient to prevent its chrystalization, or 

 conversion by nature into sugar. The following 

 table prepared from the statements of Borzelius, 

 Raspail and Dumas, by Dr Prout, shows in a cu- 

 rious and interesting light, by what mere shades 

 of difference in their constituent atoms, sub.stances, 

 which to the sense appear as far apart as the zen- 

 irh from the nadir, are separated. Water is com- 

 posed of definite and well ascertained proportions 

 of oxvgen and hydrogen, and in the formation of 

 sugar, starch, acetic acid, and lignin, or the pure 

 woody fibre of trees and plants, these two materi- 

 als are found united in the same proportions as in 

 water ; the only ingredient added for their com- 

 pletion being carbon. 'I'hese substances, sugar, 

 acetic acid, starch, and lignin, may therefore be 

 considered as composed of carbon and water in 

 the proportions here given. 



Carbon. Water. 



Sugar 100 parts of sugar from 



Starch contains .... 36,20 63,80 



From Honey 36,36 63,64 



From East India moist . 40,88 59,12 



From Beet root and maple 42,10 57,90 



From English refined . . 42,05 58,05 



From Sugar Candy pure 42,85 57,15 



Acetic Acid 47,05 52,95 



Starch. — Arrow root in its ordi- 

 nary state 36,04 63,06 



From Wheat in its ordi- 

 nary state 37,50 62,50 



From Wheat dried 212'= 42,80 «67,20 

 LtGM-N. — hi its ordinary state of 



dryness 42,70 57,30 



From Willow dried 212° 49,80 50,20 



From Box do. 50,00 50,00 



Dr Prout, in his Bridgewater Treatise, remarks, 

 " that both starch and wood can by different arti. 

 fici'al processes be converted into sugar or vinegar. 

 But we are unable to reverjse the process, and 

 convert vinegar into sugar, or starch into wood." 

 The chemist Braconnet has ascertained that a 

 pound of linen rags yields rather more than a 

 pound of sugar. The finest chrystals of sugar I 

 have ever seen were from that of tlie maple. — 

 They were a quarter of an inch in length, and an 

 eighth in breadth, flattened six sided ])risms, ter- 

 nunated by similar sided summits. These chrys- 

 tals were as clear as flint glass, very hard and 

 brittle, and not easily soluble. W. Gaylord. 



A MAS OF THE OLDEN TIME. — On Wednesday, 

 the 23d ult. Moses Brown, the venerable Friend, 

 entered u|;on his ninet3'-eighth year. He is, I be- 

 lieve, the oldest individual in this city, where lie 

 was born, and wliere be has passed his long, and 

 useful, and happy life. The regular monthly 

 meeting of the Society of Friends occurred on 

 the forenoon of the same day. In compliance 

 with his almost invariable practice, he was found 

 in his place on that occasion, manifesting his hab- 

 itual interest, and taking an intelligent part in the 

 deliberations and acts of the meeting. At dinner 

 he was surrounded by several of bis family con- 

 nexions and familiar friends. In that group, 

 however, there was neither wife, nor brother, nor 

 son, nor daughter, to extend to the patriarch the 

 hand of congratulation, or to revive, with anything 

 like a cotemporary interest, the memories of the 

 distant past. All these he has, outlived ! Of his 

 lini'al desceridants, only one grand daughter and 

 three great grand children are now living. He 

 was the youngest of four brothers, and in early life 

 his constitution was thought to be so delicate as 

 to give little hope of a long life. Indeed, to quote 

 his own language addressed to the writer of this 

 notice, on the recent anniversary of his birth day, 

 he would gladly have compromised, had it been in 

 his power, for a life extended to the term of sixty 

 years! The last of his brothers he has survived 

 more than thirty years. 



Qn the afternoon of his recent birth day, several 

 of his collateral kindred and personal friends paid 

 him a visit, to congratulate him upon his i-eaching 

 another mile stone in his long journey with pow- 

 ers of body and mind, which leave Jiim still capa- 

 ble of usefulness, and alive to enjoyment. He 

 received them with much kindness, rising from 

 his seat on thesofii, as each one advanced to greet 

 him ; he conversed familiarly upon various topics 

 connected both with the j'ast and the present ; 

 and in no instance did he lapse for a moment 

 either into the garrulity or the torpor of age. He 

 betrays in fact no symptoms of senile dotage, and 

 in proof of this it may be mentioned, that he not 

 only is an efficient supervisor of the Friends' 

 Yearly Meeting Boarding School in this city, hut 

 that for vears he has been and still is the Treasu- 



rer of that important and richly-endowed institu- 

 tion. The duties of this responsible office he dis- 

 charges with great exactitude, without the aid even 

 of a clerk to perform the ordinary labors of an 

 accountant. To what causes may this extraordi- 

 nary exemption from the almost inevitable infirm- 

 ities of life thiis prolonged be ascribed ? I pretend 

 to offer no philosophical solution of the phenome- 

 non. Aa a plain man however, I answer, that 

 Moses Brown owes his remarkable longevity and 

 the healthy action of his mental powers, mainly 

 to three cau.ses — first, to temperance and regu- 

 larity in his habits of living — secondly, to the 

 influence of his peculiar religious faith and prac- I 

 tice, in preserving its votaries from the agitation 

 of the passions, from au exhausting solicitude to 

 win the high prizes of life, and from a voluntary 

 servitude to fashion and to pleasure — thirdly, to 

 the fact that he has never suffered his (acuities to 

 rest from want of use ; that he has exerted them 

 constantly upon subjects fitted not only to main- 

 tain their true balance, but to recruit their decay- 

 ing strength, and to ensure to them afler the lapse 

 of nearly one hundred years no little of the prac- 

 tical efiiciency which is but too generally the ex- 

 clusive possession of those over whose natural 

 force time has achieved no triumph. — Providence 

 Journal. 



The outa snake. — Before -vve quitted Chuor, 

 om- dandies, who had kindled a fire on the bank 

 of the river, were dressing their rice and curry, 

 when a small snake, approaching the place where 

 thej' were seated, one of them arose and despatch- 

 ed it with a piece of bamboo. It was about 25 

 inches long, entirely white except tlie top of the 

 head, which was a dee]) shining black. Thispat- 

 ticular species is called by the natives the Outa 

 snake. It is very rare, and of peculiar habits. 

 These creatures always go in pairs, and it is re- 

 markable that if one is killed by man or beast, the 

 survivor will follow, until it is either destroyed or 

 obtains its revenge by biting the author of its be- 

 reavement. It has been known, under such cir- 

 cumstances, to keep up the pursuit with the roost 

 patient jjerseverance for 300 miles. The little 

 creature whose mate was killed by one of the boat- 

 tTien, was seen after we had pushed from shore, 

 gliding along the bank of the stream in a direct 

 line with our boat, and when we reached Cown- 

 poor, there we found it ready to deal its vengeance 

 upon the wanton destroyer of its conjugal felicity. 

 It was despatched before it could put its evil in- 

 tent into execution. — Scenes in India. 



Essence of anchovt. — Put as much water 

 into a stewpau, on half a pound of the finest an- 

 chovies, as will make, with their liquor, the quan- 

 tity of nearly three pints ; with a little scraped 

 horse-radisli, a small sprig of thyme, three or four 

 chopped shallots, a blade of mace, about a dozen 

 ]iepj)er-corns, a few bits of lemon-peel, a gill of 

 good beer, with a little sugar, or half a gill of red 

 port, and half a gill of either the best ketchup or 

 soy. After the whole has boiled together for at 

 least a quarter of an hour, rub it with a wooden 

 spoon through a fine sieve ; and, when quite cold, 

 j>ut the essence up in bottles, and keep it closely 

 corked for use. This excellent essence will re- 

 main good for a long time. 



Foresight of>cn leaves its proudest possessors 

 only a choice of evils. 



