CORN FOR SUGAR. 



*'■ Some eoinparison between the 

 cultivation of cane and that of corn 

 may perhaps be interesting. 



" The cane lands in Louisiana are 

 redeemed to agriculture by strong 

 embankments along the river, and by 

 numerous ditches, which extend back 

 into the swamp to a considerable dis- 

 tance beyond the line of cultivation. 

 The ground is still farther divided, by 

 smaller ditches, into lots of from one 

 to two acres in extent. It is ex- 

 tremely rich and productive, but the 

 expense of draining and keeping up 

 the embankments must be consider- 

 able ; this forms the first difference to 

 be noted in the culture of the two 

 plants under consideration. 



" The best season for planting cane 

 in Louisiana is in the fall, which is 

 also the time of harvest, when labour 

 is the most valuable, and the greatest 

 exertions are required to secure the 

 crop before it is destroyed by Irost. 



" But the most striking difference 

 will be found in the cost of seed, and 

 in the labour of planting. The cane 

 is propagated by layers ; these are 

 partly furnished irom the tops of the 

 plants when cut for grinding, but are 

 principally ratoons. Of the latter, it 

 requires the produce of one acre to 

 plant three. The grain from one acre 

 of corn will be sufficient for planting 

 forty acres ; therefore, the difference 

 in the expense for seed will be as one 

 to thirteen. 



" In planting cane, furrows are 

 made with the plough from two and 

 a half to three feet apart ; in these 

 the layers are placed in a double row, 

 and the earth drawn over them with 

 hoes to the depth of three or four 

 inches. 



" In the spring, before the plants are 

 up, this covering is partly scraped off, 

 so as to leave them buried from one 

 to two inches. From this account, 

 it is evident that no more manual la- 

 bour will be required to drill fifty 

 acres in corn than to plant one acre 

 in cane. The labour of cultivating 

 the latter plant during its growth is 

 also greater, but this may be balan- 

 ced by the extra work required to 

 take off the embryo ears from the 

 188 



corn. When cultivated in the mode 

 recommended, the stalk of corn is 

 soft, remarkably heavy, and full of 

 juice from bottom to top. The 

 amount of power required for grind- 

 ing them must be much less than is 

 necessary for cane, or, what is the 

 same thing, an equal power will do it 

 with greater rapidity. The average 

 yield of cane, in Louisiana, is one 

 thousand pounds of sugar and forty- 

 five gallons of molasses per acre. 

 From the above comparative state- 

 ment, it would appear that one half 

 this amount of crop from corn would 

 be equally, if not more profitable. 



" I wdl only add, in conclusion, that 

 whether or not the sugar from the 

 corn-stalk may soon become an arti- 

 cle of profitable export, its manufac- 

 ture in the simplest form will enable 

 every family to supply tliemselves 

 with this article for common use, 

 now become so much a necessary of 

 life, and thus save a considerable bill 

 of expense yearly paid for foreign 

 sugars." 



Mr. Mapes's Account. — "You re- 

 quest to know the best method of 

 crystallizing corn sirup, and I know 

 of no more ready method to afford 

 the information required than to de- 

 tail the entire mode which should be 

 pursued for its manufacture : 



"1st. To cut the cane as ripe as pos- 

 sible, but before any acetic acid is 

 formed ; litmus paper, touched to 

 the fresh-cut cane, will turn red if 

 acid. 



" 2d. Express the juice without loss 

 of time, as ever)' moment after cut- 

 ting will deteriorate its quality. 



" 3d. A smallquantity of clear lime- 

 water (say one quart to a hundred 

 gallons of juice) should be added the 

 moment it is expressed, unless the 

 juice shows acidity with litmus pa- 

 per ; in that case, no lime should be 

 used, but a solution of sal soda, or 

 soda ash, should be added, until it is 

 precisely neutral. 



" 4th. When the juice is neutral (free 

 from excess of acid or alkali) it should 

 be evaporated in such an apparatus 

 as would finish its charge in 30 min- 

 utes ; if the boiling power is too small, 



