CORN FOR SUGAR. 



furnish a substitute for West India 

 sugar. They expressed the juice, 

 and exerted their ingenuity in efforts } 

 to bring it to a crystalhzcd state ; 

 but we have no account of any suc- 

 cessful operation of the kind. In 

 fact, the bitter and nauseous proper- 

 ties contained in the joints of large 

 stalks render the whole amount of 

 juice from them tit only to produce 

 an inferior kind of molasses. I found, 

 on experiment, that, by cutting out 

 the joints, and crushing the remain- 

 ing part of the stalk, sugar might be 

 made, but still of an inferior quality. 

 The molasses, of which there was a 

 large proportion, was bitter and dis- 

 agreeable. 



" From one to two feet of the lower 

 part of these stalks was full of juice ; 

 but the balance, as it approached the 

 top, became dryer, and afforded but 

 little. From the foregoing experi- 

 ments, we see that, in order to ob- 

 tain the purest juice, and in the great- 

 est quantity, we must adopt a mode 

 of cultivation which will p7-event the 

 large and luxuriant growth of the 

 stalk. 



" As we are upon the threshold of 

 this inquiry, many other improve- 

 ments may be expected in the mode 

 of operation ; for example, it may be 

 that cutting off the tassel as soon as 

 it appears on the plant will prevent 

 the formation of grain, and prove a 

 preferable means for effecting that 

 object. 



" On the whole, there appears am- 

 ple encouragement for perseverance. 

 Every step in the investigation has 

 increased the probabilities of success, 

 no evidence having been discovered 

 why it should not succeed as well, if 

 not better, on a large scale, than it 

 has done on a small one. 



" 1 . In the first place, it has been sat- 

 isfactorily proved that sugar of an ex- 

 cellent quality, suitable for common 

 use w-ithout refining, may be made 

 from the stalks of maize. 



"2. That the juice of this plant, 

 when cultivated in a certain manner, 

 contains saccharine matter remark- 

 ably free from foreign substances. 



" 3. The quantity of this juice (even 



Q-2 



supposing we had no other evidence 

 about it) is sufficiently demonstrated 

 by the great amount of nutritive grain 

 which it produces in the natural course 

 of vegetation. It is needless to ex- 

 patiate on the va^advantagcs which 

 would result fronHhe introduction of 

 this manufacture into our country. 



" Grain is produced in the West in 

 such overflowing abundance that the 

 markets become glutted, and induce- 

 ments are offered to employ the sur- 

 plus produce in distillation. This bu- 

 siness is now becoming disreputable. 

 The happy conviction is spreading 

 rapidly, that the use of alcohol, as a 

 beverage, instead of conducing to 

 health and strength, is the surest 

 means of destroying both. Some oth- 

 er production, therefore, will be re- 

 quired, in which the powers of our 

 soil maybe profitably employed. This, 

 it is hoped, will be found in the busi- 

 ness now proposed. Instead of dis- 

 tilleries, converting food into poison, 

 we may have sugar-houses, manufac- 

 turing at our doors an article of uni- 

 versal demand, not merely useful, but 

 necessary, furnishing as it does one 

 of the most simple, natural, and nu- 

 tritious varieties of human suste- 

 nance found in the whole range of 

 vegetable production. 



" It is said that the general use of 

 sugar in Europe has had the effect to 

 extinguish the scurvy and many oth- 

 er diseases formerly epidemical. It 

 may be doubted whether a tropical 

 country can ever furnish a great 

 amount of exports, except through 

 the means of compulsory labour. It 

 appears, then, highly probable, that if 

 the inhabitants of temperate countries 

 wish to continue the use of sugar, they 

 must find some means to produce it 

 themselves. The beet appears to suc- 

 ceed well in Europe, and the manu- 

 facture from it is extending rapidly ; 

 but there is no hazard in making the 

 assertion that Indian corn is far bet- 

 ter adapted to our purpose. The fol- 

 lowing mode of cultivating the plant 

 and making the sugar is the best that 

 can now be offered. The kind of soil 

 best adapted to corn is so well under- 

 stood, that no directions on this point 



1S5 



