37 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



From among a large number of letters upon the subject, I se- 

 lect the following, which will, I am certam, be read with interest : 



[From A. J. Decker, Esq., Fond clu Lac, Wis.] 



Fond du Lac, Wis., December 17, 1881. 

 Prof. W. A. Henry, Agricultural Department, University of Wisconsin: 



Dear Sir —Another season has passed, and another harvest has been gath- 

 ered with its lessons of success or failure. That should teach us in luture 

 years how to attain success and avert the chances ot failure. 



Though the past season has been the poorest in many years for growing 

 Amber cane, and its-manufacture into syrup and sugar, yet I think we have 

 advanced very materially. 



The late cold, wet spring greatly retarded planting, and fully one-third of 

 the amount planted came up so poorly that it was plowed up and other crops 

 planted. This was the case mostly with farmers who had little or no expe- 

 rience in raising cane, and mistook it for pigeon grass, or thought it looked 

 too small to ever pay for the taking care of it. While farmers understanding 

 it better, cultivated it carefully and were paid with good crops. The fall has 

 been very bad for the manufacture of syrup. The grinding season com- 

 menced about September 15, and by [the 25th it commenced raining and 

 rained almost every day for six weeks, until the country was flooded and 

 roads impassable; some farmers feeding their cane to their cattle, a few of 

 them storing it in their barns, hoping for better weather to haul it to the mill ; 

 and after I had finished the cane at the mill and 'had been shut down nearly 

 a month, I started up to accommodate those farmers and to determine the 

 amount and quality of syrup that could be made from cane kept so long after 

 being cut, which was seven weeks. The result was a fine, Ight syrup, and 

 about three-fourths of a full crop. Out of this lot was one-half acre from 

 which I made 95^^ gallons of syrup, for which the owner was offered sixty 

 cents per gallon at the mill, which speaks well for its quality. 



From the unfavorable season we have learned many valuable lessons which 

 a favorable season would not have shown, and solving such difficult prob- 

 lems is taking a firm step in advance towards the time when this industry, 

 with the aid of your department, is to be an established source of business 

 and wealth to the people of the state of Wisconsin. 



One great drawback has been the lack of proper knowledge in the manip- 

 ulation of the juice to obtain the best results, and people starting factories 

 have been so anxious to get such information taat they have been the easy 

 prey of traveling sharks, claiming to be experts in the business, referring to 

 some successful factory to which their name may be attached in some capac- 

 ity, claiming by their skill and superior articles to have accomplished such 

 results, and offering to sell a mill and outfit, for which they ask a fancy price 



