42 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



Al'GtST 17, 1«3C« 



Tlie first operation is comiilctecl in Tve or six 

 dnys, aftor wliicii the sirilj) is left tn flow diicitig 

 four or five days. By t!iese lcai-liiii<is tiie loaves 

 are perfectly bleached to the depth of four or five 

 itiches, hut they are still a little colored helovv ; I 

 complete the hieaching hy a slight claying, apply- 

 ing the earth immediately to the surface of the 

 loaves without any intermediate layer of sugar. 



I lind that bleaching is performed more speedi- 

 ly and with less labor in this way ; the evils aris- 

 ing from the use of sirup alone are obviated, and 

 l>ut a stnall portion of the Sugar already bleaclied 

 is dissolved. 



lu order to appreciate all the advantages aris- 

 ing from well-conddcted operations, it is necessary 

 that one should know the change produced in su- 

 gar by repeated meltings ; it is brought first to a 

 point when it will no longer crystallize, and after- 

 wards to the state of niola?ses. Sugar which has 

 been three or four times boiled over, will still 

 crystallize upon the sides of the moulds, but the 

 middle of the loaf will be only a uniform, thick, 

 white mass, destitute of the agreeable taste of su- 

 gar: this substance, if melted, does not again be- 

 come solid, but remains in the state of molasses. 



1 ought to mention that in the various opera- 

 tions that are [lerformed upon sugar, the nature of 

 the substance is often made to undergo a series of 

 changes, or a succession of degenerations equally 

 constant and regular. 



1 have just mentioned, that when sugar is made 

 to repass two or three times through the boiler, it 

 is rendered uncrystallizable, and the middle of the 

 loaf is found to consist of a uniform mass of the 

 consistency of butter, not possessiiig the agreeable 

 flavor of crystallized sugar. This mass dissolved 

 in water and concentrated by heat, is reduced to 

 molasses ; and when the evaporation and clarifi- 

 cation of the juice of beets is i)rolonged beyond a 

 certain time, nearly all the sugar is reduced to 

 molasses, and the boiling is rendered long and 

 difiicult; when this is the case the sirnp throws 

 up an abundance of adhesive white foam, which, 

 when removed with a skimmer, thickens and pre- 

 sents all the characteristics of vegetable wax. J he 

 experience of twelve years has uniformly furnished 

 me with these results. 



I am thoroughly convinced that these altera- 

 tions would be avoided by evaporating the sirii|) 

 in a vacuum ; it has even occurred to me that the 

 animal ciiaicoal produced good efiects only by its 

 opposing the action o( the oxygen of the atmos- 

 phere upon the sugar, since nearly the same re- 

 sulis are obtained hy the use of butter, and other 

 oily substances susceptible of extreme division. 

 The secret of causing this decomposition to retrace 

 its steps, still remains to be discovered ; J have 

 essayed it without success. 



(To l>e continued.) 



Beet Root Sugar. — At the recent meeting of 

 the German Naturalists, at Bonn, the section of 

 agriculture and rural economy was almost entire- 

 ly occupied with papers and discussions on this 

 subject. At Valenciennes, a manufacturer has 

 succeeded in discovering a method of crystalliz- 

 ing the whole of the saccharine matter of the beet, 

 without proilucing molasses in the process. — Lon. 

 Mag. Pop. Se. 



It is said that the State of Virginia will lose by 

 the failure of the wheat crop this year not less 

 thai) two million of dollars. 



From llie Silk Cnlturist. 



Austerlitz, .V. Y. June. 10, 1836. 



F. G. CoMSTocK, Esq. 



■■"ir — I have perused your valuable paper, the 

 "Cultmist," the year past, and have subscribed for 

 the year to come. I am a plain, "matter of fact" 

 farmer, but would like to see the time when mul- 

 berry nurseries and silk manufactories in America 

 shall be as common as they are now in France 

 and Italy ; and when old England shall send out 

 her ships to American ports to bring back silks of 

 the richest kinds. 1 am fully persuaded that the 

 cultivation of the mulberry tree is going to be a 

 valuable business for a farmer, even if he does not 

 wish to make use of them himself for silk ; for at 

 the price at which they are selling here (which is 

 18 cents for each tree 3 years old), they will be 

 valuable for years to coiwe. 



I have obtained a fav: trees, and have sown 

 seed the last spring, and have also about 100 cut- 

 tings of the Morus multicanlis, or Chinese mul- 

 berry, which have been in the ground but twenty 

 days, and have grown above the ground from six 

 to eight inches. Many of them have also put out 

 two shoots, though there was but one bud on them 

 wirn planted — they were about two or three 

 inches in length, and the buds bad not started, 

 when they were put into the ground. Now, sir, 

 will you idease give me some information relative 

 to the propagation of this valuable species of the 

 mulberry : — 



1st. Can I increase my stock of jilants faster by 

 cuttings than by layers .' 



2d. If so, when should they be cut, and liow 

 kept till planted ? 



3d. Should there be more than one bud to each 

 cutting? 



4tli. If propagating from layers is the best 

 method, at what time should they be laid down, 

 and should all the shoots be laid down, or one left 

 standing .' 



5th. As I was desirous of increasing my stock 

 as fast as possible, I cut off the trees in the spring 

 near the groimd, and there are several shoots frcin 

 each already started ; now from these may I g'dn 

 anything by bending thenr down to the groiyid to 

 gain separate roots, or shall I heap the eartb up to 

 them for that purpose? 



1 have never seen a plant of the ;\Ioiiis muUi- 

 caulis before these, which I have had but twenty 

 day.s, and I do sincerely wish, for \\n- good of the 

 cause, to have a little instruction on this my new- 

 project. \\\\\ you also ple.tse to inform wliethp' 

 I may take the cuttings from the White niuibe'fy 

 tree, and when, and how they must be trea^d ? 

 You may, if you jdease, give me an ansv''' by 

 letter, or in your valuable paper, in a proi''' time. 

 Yov.rs, &c. John B Cadt. 



Answer bt the Editor. — We ■"'e always 

 pleased to receive letters of inquiry fom practical 

 cultivators, and especially such as -n"" sensible of 

 the importance of being " matter -iff^i^"'" farmers, 

 and manifest that sj.irit of inleUgence and inquiry 

 which apparently dictated me foregoing letter. 

 Many faruers have enoug\ of the "go ahead," 

 but unlike the famous Favy Crockett, are not 

 "sure they are right," aid consequently do noth- 

 ing, or do to no purpose. It cannot be expected, 

 in the infimcy of a new branch of rural economy, 

 that every farmer will be conversant with the sub- 

 ject in det-iil; hut every fiirmer in the ccnununity 

 has a tongue and a pen, and if they would use 

 them with the same freedom as Mr Cady has bis, 



a mass of information would be collected, and the 

 busu)ess of growing silk become as common and 

 familiar as the growing of corn and potatoes. In 

 the management of our paper, it is our intention 

 to give full directions for every step in the process 

 of growing and manufacturing silk ; but there are 

 ahnost numberless cases occurring in practice, 

 which will not occur to us while seated in our 

 editorial chair, and may not while engaged in our 

 own experiments and operations. Information on 

 tliese subjects must, therefore, be drawn from us, 

 rather than expected as a matter of course ; and 

 we know of no better way than that adopted by 

 Mr Cady and some of our former correspondents, 

 of |)utting direct interrogatories, to be answered in 

 the Cnlturist. There is a childish timidity about 

 some farmers, which, though honored with the 

 appellation of modesty, is highly detrimental both 

 to their individual interest and that of agricidture 

 in general. It prevents that interchange of views, 

 discoveries and improvements, without which the 

 science of agriculture cannot advance, or a know- 

 ledge of its progress be diffused throughout the 

 community. If farmeis would communicate frefcly 

 with each other, and keep up a familiar corres- 

 pondence with editors of agricultural i)apers, 

 they would soon see their practical effects on 

 themselves, their families, and their farms. But 

 to the questions proposed by Mr Cady. 



1st. Of all methods of propagation, except from 

 seed, that of layers is undoubtedly llie best, espe- 

 cially where a rapid increase is desirable. When 

 the stem or stems of the plant are laid down, they 

 will generally throw out shoots at every bud, and 

 all draw nourishment and support from the root 

 of the parent stock till separated from it. This 

 gives them an advantage over cuttings, both as it 

 respects increase of ntimber and size of plants 

 which no extra cultivation can ^■ounterbalance. In 

 all practical cases,therefore,we should prefer layers. 

 2d. Cuttings should be cut in the spring, before 

 tl e buds begin to swell, and kept in moss or earth 

 to prevent their drying. Packed in thi^'^anner. 

 they may be transported from one "^''"^'^i,', "' 

 the country to the other, withou* '''."?'"^';', ^ ,^' 

 may be cut after the buds h? ' considerably swol- 

 len ; but in that case, the-""""''' "" ^^ '•'"^ «"' 

 of the ground. 



3.1. The rule in t"'"g" f"'ti"gs from the stems, 

 is to have two bi-« °" each,— one lor the root 

 and one for th' '"■""'^'' ^ '^"' *''®y ^^'" so""^'"""?^ 

 send out ro'<* "'''<^" there is no bud below the 

 surface o^t'ie ground. 



4th. The shoots should be laid down in the 

 spring, about the time of transplanting. When 

 trees are transplanted for the purpose of being 

 laid down, a good way is to set them so that they 

 will incline towards the ground, and form an angle 

 of about fortyfive degrees; then bend them down 

 and fasten them with wooden pins ; leave them 

 uncovered until the buds begin to send out shoots, 

 and from time to time draw the earth over as they 

 advance in their growth. Tlie whole, or any 

 number of the shoots may be laid dovirn, as may 

 be most desirable. 



5th. If the new shoote attain sufiicientsize, they 

 may be laid down, and a second crop obtained ; 

 but if the season is far advanced, it will be better 

 to omit it till the following spring, when they may 

 be again transplanted, laid down, and their num- 

 ber greatly multiplied. Cuttings from the White 

 mulberry are treated in the same manner as those 

 from the Chinese. 



