VOL. XX. Xl>. IT. 



AND 110 R T I C U L T V, R A L K K G I S T E R . 



131 



»eck wilh tliundor ? Ho mockeih nt four, aiul is 

 )0t artViglitcd ; ncillior tunioth lio back from tlic 

 iword." Shortly fcfter that mighty battle which 

 jloseJ the career of Uonaparto and stayed his 

 irholo^iile murders, at the disbaiidiiijj of a part of 

 Jie ISritish army, tlio reinnins of u troop of luirse, 

 )oloiijjing to tlio Scotch Uroys, were brought to 

 ho hammer. Tlic Captain beinj; rich and & man 

 )f feeling, was lotli to seo these noble fellows turn- 

 d into butcher, baker, or beor-houso drags, after 

 lelpiiig to drive tlio French from Spain, and to 

 urn the llauk of the Inrinciblts nt Waterloo. He 

 hercfore bought the whole lot, and set them loose 

 D one of his fine grass parks, to wear away their 

 Id age in peace. One warm suinmer evening, 

 »hon it was just dork enough to render lightning 

 isible, a vivid tUsh was instantly followed by a 

 oud report of thunder. At this moment the hor- 

 les were grazing leisurely, and apart from one 

 nother, but seeing the blaze, and hearing the re- 

 ort, they thought a battle had begun. In n mi- 

 ute they were in the centre of the field, all drawn 

 p in line, their beautiful ears quivering with anxi- 

 ty, like the leaf of the poplar trembling in the 

 reeze, listening for the word of the rider to lead 

 hem to the charge ! My informant, who was un 

 ye witness of this wonderful scene, told me he had 

 flen seen these horses. Many of them bore hon- 

 orable scars on their faces, necks, and shoulders, 

 at none on the rump. A Scotch grey never " turns 

 jl." 



" Some few years ago, a baker in London pur- 

 Ihased on old horse at public sale. lie placed on 

 ia side a pair of panniers, or large baskets, sus- 

 ended by a strong leathern strap across the back, 

 here he himself sat, while his feet rested on a 

 lock of wood attached to the side. Thus accou- 

 -ed, he sallied forth to supply his customers with 

 lot rolls, etc. One day he happened to be pass- 

 ng the gate of Hyde-park at the moment the 

 nunpet was sounding for the regiment of Life- 

 iiards to fall in. No sooner had the sound as- 

 iled the animal's ears, than he dashed like light- 

 ing through the Park, with the baker on his back, 

 to the midst of the squadron! The poor man, 

 mfoundcd at being placed in military line in 

 't)iitrank of the Life-guards, began to whip, kick, 

 pur and swear ; but all to no purpose. His old 

 harger was so aroused at the sound of the trum- 

 let, that to move him from his station was impos- 

 ble. The soldiers were exceedingly amused at 

 ne grotesque appearance of the baker and the de- 

 lortment of his steed, and were expressing their 

 irprise at the apparition, when an old comrade 

 ecognized the animal, and info.'med the corps that 

 ne horse once belonged to the regiment, but had 

 een sold on account of some infirmity, a few 

 ears before. Several of the officers kindly groet- 

 id their old companion ; and the colonel, delighted 

 t the circumstance, gave the signal to advance in 

 ne ; when the baker, finding alt resistance use- 

 ;s3, calmly resigned himself to his situation. The 

 •umpet then sounded the charge, and the rider was 

 istantly carried, between his two panniers, with 

 he rapidity of the wind, to a great distance. Va- 

 lous evolutions were then performed, in which the 

 nimal displayed sundry equestrian feats. At 

 mgth the sound of retreat was proclaimed, when 

 ffweot the sagacious creature with his rider, 

 tfter having performed his duty in the field, he 

 raa content to resign himself to the guidance of 

 he bridle in a more humble walk of life." 



)''r<)in (Itc Fiirincr'« Cuhiitel, 



CORN-STALK SUtMR. 

 Letter addressed to I)r J. \V. Thompson, Prfsi- 

 dent of the New Castle County (Del.) Agnoullurul 

 Society : 



" Having ben rcquestoil to fMrni.'ih sonic account 

 of the process for monufufturing sugar from curii, 

 I cheerfully comply in giving nil the infnrmntion 

 on the subject so for as I am at present acquainted 

 with it. Scarcely one year hne passed since the 

 first idea was suggested in relation to this peculiar 

 plan for iiinking sugar ; and tliero has not been 

 sufficient time for those exact experiments neces- 

 sary to satisfy the careful calculator. In one case 

 I obtained from a small piece of ground, at the rate 

 of 100 pounds of sugar per acre, but other experi- 

 ments made since, have conclusively shown, that 

 had a different iiiodc of planting been adopted, the 

 product would have been increased tenfold. The 

 manner of raising the corn and making the sugar is 

 as follows : 



The corn is planted in rows 2 1-9 feet apart, and 

 the stalks are left to stand in the row 3 inches one 

 from another ; it is then cultivated in the usual 

 manner. Sometime in August, or as soon as the 

 stalk shows a disposition to form grain, the ears 

 must be taken off; this operation must be carefully 

 attended to, as upon it entirely depcritis success. 

 After this there is nothing more to do until the 

 crop is ready to betaken up, which will generally 

 happen in September : the stalks are then cut up 

 at the root, stripped of their leaves, and taken to 

 the mill, where the juice is pressed out between 

 iron rollers, in the same way usually employed 

 with the sugar cane. Lime water about the con- 

 sistency of thin cream, is then mixed with the juice, 

 one spoonful to the gallon ; it is left to settle one 

 hour, and then poured into boilers, which are cov- 

 ered until the liquid approaches nearly to the boil- 

 ing point, when the scum must be taken off. It ia 

 then boiled down as rapidly as possible, taking off 

 the scum as it rises. As the juice approaches the 

 state of syrup, it is necessary to slacken the fire 

 to avoid burning. The boiling is generally com- 

 pleted when six quarts are reduced to one : it is 

 then poured into coolers or moulds and set aside 

 to chrystalize. When this process is gone through, 

 the sugar is to be separated from the molasses; 

 Bnd the whole operation is finished. The process 

 here detailed gives the quality of sugar you see in 

 the samples. If required, it can be afterwards re- 

 fined as other sugar. The use of animal charcoal 

 and the employment of steam in tho process of 

 evaporation, as is common in the manufacture of 

 beet sugar, would, I am confident, produce white 

 sugar at one operation. 



From what is known on the subject, I fully be- 

 lieve that an acre of good ground treated as above 

 described, will yield at least 1000 pounds of sugar 

 — probably more. The value of the fodder taken 

 from the stalks, and of the stalks themselves after 

 passing through the mill, will he more than an 

 equivalent for the whole expense of cultivation and 

 keeping the ground up. The fodder produced in 

 this way is much superior to that usually made, 

 from its containing a greater quantity of saccha- 

 rine matter. And the whole business of making 

 sugar from corn contrasts so favorably with the 

 manufacture from beets, that I cannot but think it 

 will obtain the preference wherever the climate 

 will bring the former plant to perfection. Some 



of the dilVorciici'H luny be onuiinTnlcil ns follows: 

 Ist, the corn iHrlenii mid ngrcenblu to work with, 

 while the bed ia not. 3d, the machinery for ex- 

 tracting the juice fniin beds i* not only nioro 

 costly, but is more liabli- to get nut of repair. TM, 

 the beet juice coiitniiis a iiiiicli greater proportion 

 of foreign and injurious matter, decomposition 

 coiiimences almost immediately after it in presird 

 out, und if allowed to go im to any extent, will en- 

 tirely defeat the making of sugar. <ltli, the propor- 

 tion of succlinnne matter coiilaiiicd in e(|ual quan- 

 tities of corn and beet juice, in as '.i to I in favor 

 of the former — therefore the soine difTerenco will 

 be found in the amount of fuul m-cessary in evapo- 

 ration. i)(h, beet sugar, when oblained, is inferior 

 in (|uality and lo.ses a larger per cent, in refining, 

 (jth.corn is a niitive of our country, perfectly suited 

 to the climate, a true American, and is in fact, the 

 finest plant in the world. The author of" Arator," 

 (Col. Taylor, of Virginia,) used to call it our" meal, 

 meat and manure." We now add sugar to the 

 list of its valuable productions. 

 Respectfully yours, 



WM. WEI!B. 



Upon this conimunicjtioii Mr I'edder, the edi- 

 tor of the Farmer's Cabinet remarks — 



"lain free to confess that I have never seen 

 beet sugar prepiircd by first procrss at all C(|ual 

 to the samples of corn-stalk sugar forwarded by 

 Dr Thomson, while the molasses, which by the bye, 

 contains more than ."iO per cent, of sugar, is far su- 

 perior to that made from the beet by any process : 

 indeed I have never knonn beet molasses pure 

 enough for any pur|)iise but distillotTon or the feed- 

 ing of stock, fur which hist, however, it is of very 

 great importance. Air Webb has the merit of de- 

 ciding the question, " Can good sugar be made 

 from the corn stalk ?" Whether it can be made to 

 profit, is a second considerstion, which he will have 

 it in his power to determine. The simple mode of 

 operation which he detaih, would do but little in 

 the fabrication of sugar from tho beet; for tvhile 

 there is not the least dtfiiculty in the process by 

 well-appointed machinery, it is readily admitted 

 that a considerable portion of art is requisite in the 

 numerous stages of the fabrication of beet sugar, 

 to free it from the impnrilies found in the root. 

 With improved apparatus and experience in the 

 present art of refining, there is no question that 

 loaf-sugar might be made by first process from the 

 corn stalk. 



Mr Webb's modest and unreserved account of 

 the mode of manufacture will be read with very 

 great interest, for if the corn^grower can be direct- 

 ed to a new channel for the consumption of half 

 his crop, in the fabrication of an article of such le- 

 gitimate usefulness, I he gain to the community 

 will be of incalculable importance." 



Jlf^ricuUural Pun. — .\ fanner in the neighbor- 

 hood of Doncaster, was lately met by his landlord, 

 who accosted him thus : "John, I intend to raise 

 your rent:" to which John replied, "Sir, I ivould 

 be very uuch obliged to you for the kindness, for 

 I cannot \u'«e it myself." — Eng. pap- 



Large Crops. — .\ Wisconsin paper remarks that 

 the extensive scale upon which farming is carried 

 on in the West, will astonish the Eastern folks. — 

 It s'ays one farmer in the vicinity of Michigac city, 

 raised twenty thousand huahds of wheal the preseut 

 season. 



