be a ton of them. All the other walls are double, 

 from 5 to ]0 feet thick and 5 to 6 feet high, and 

 must have consumed an enormous quantity of stone. 

 We noticed grapes upon many other portions of 

 wall. J- B. 



(To he continued.) 



For the N, E. Farmer. 



BEET SUGAR IVIANUFACTURE. 



Boston, Jus;. 8, 1839. 



Mr Editor: Permit nie to offer through the 

 medium of your excellent paper, a few remarks on a 

 subject that seems at present to engross the atten- 

 tion of farmers, and must at no distant day afi'ect 

 materially their interest — T refer to the manufactur- 

 ing of sugar from beets. I am aware I cannot sug- 

 gest any thing new, for much has been said already 

 to impress the importance of raising the beet and 

 demonstrate the practicability of its conversion into 

 sugar. There seem to be a few facts connected 

 with it on which all agree, viz. : first, that beets do 

 not all contain the same quantity of saccharine 

 matter in a given weight, owing to the quality of 

 the soil on which they are raised, the kind of ma- 

 nure used, and the mode of applying it: therefore 

 in accordance with these principles, when the ex- 

 traction of sugar is contemplated, farmers should 

 not endeavor to raise very large beets, — they 

 should not use very rotten manure, and whatever 

 manure is applied should be given to the crop pre- 

 ceding that of beets. I believe a compost of peat 

 or muck and lime, or ashes is among the best of 

 manures for that crop. Second, that beets rank 

 among the first; vegetables as food for cattle. Third, 

 that it is a most sure and abundant crop. Fourth, 

 that the cultivation of beets tends greatly to ame- 

 liorate the soil. Fifth, that even when sugar has 

 been made from them, they afi'ord a vast quantity 

 of good fodder as well as manure, (accounted the 

 best for that crop.) With all these advantages to 

 recommend tbe sugar beet, it is gratifying to see 

 that farmers have begun somewhat extensively the 

 cultivation of it, without perhaps auy regard to the 

 making of sugar; but as it can be made (in my 

 humble opinion) more profitably on a farm than 

 elsewhere, and as it is emphatically a farming prod- 

 uce, it is on this topic that I would call attention. 



Where a small quantity of sugar is wanted, the 

 cost of perfected apparatus seems to preclude the 

 possibility of making it. But small farmers should 

 not give it up ; — they may use their cider mill or 

 grater to grind the beets — their cider press to ex- 

 tract the juice, and if they have not a sufiicient 

 number of tubs or pans to receive it, cfliks or bar- 

 rels sawed in two wi]l be found as coovenient. 

 Perhaps they will need a ketUe larger than they 

 possess, but if it cost a few dollars they may use 

 it for other purposes after the sugar is made, and 

 their cattle will fare none the worse for having 

 cooked food. They can every day work up just 

 the quantity required to feed their stock, fo as to 

 have no loss, and if by these simple means they 

 do not extract all the sugar, it is not lost, for it will 

 go to their cows. 



Where a large quantity of sugar is e.xpected, I 

 shall suppose of course, that the farmer who under- 

 takes it is wealthy ; therefore if he is already provid- 

 ed with a steam apparatus for steaming the food of 

 his cattle, let him apply it to sugar pans or kettles of 

 proper size, dispose every thing so as to save time 

 have efficient graters and press, dispose of the pulp, 

 as fast as made, except if it is pressed with a hy- 

 draulic press, for then he can keep it considerable 



time by excluding the air from it, or he can dry it, 

 for the time is not distant when it will sell at $20 

 a ton for paper making. Farmers seldom will de- 

 vote to it more than the winter months ; but those 

 who wish to manufacture in the spring or summer, 

 can do it by connecting the dry and fresh process. 

 I mean that while they are manufacturing from 

 fresh beets, they should slice and dry all they can. 

 Most any kiln will answer. With proper care, that 

 method of drying the beet will aflbrd to farmers in 

 general a profitable way to dispose of their beets 

 when manufactories will be in operation about the 

 country. Dried beets can be sent in packages like 

 dried apples. K cattle at first refuse to eat the 

 puff, the addition of a small quantity of meal and 

 molasses (beet) or molasses alone will make it rel- 

 ishing, thus giving a way to turn molasses to better 

 advantage than by distilling. I should here state 

 my reason for preferring to operate on green beets 

 instead of dried ones : it is because the mode is 

 easier, cheaper and quicker — it produces about as 

 much, every thing considered, and sugar of a fair 

 quality is regularly obtained without being subject 

 to mishaps that oftentimes aflcct dried beets. The 

 pulp is preferred by cattle. These assertions T am 

 aware come in direct contradiction of the theory 

 so earnestly advocated by well informed and well 

 disposed people, but as yet nobody in this country, 

 even the most sanguine, whether for public or pri- 

 vate interest, has proved, practically, the superiori- 

 ty of any recent improvement. All the new meth- 

 ods seem to have obtained favor from their apparent 

 facility and great return in sugar, and no doubt the 

 patriotic efforts of many a philanthropist instead of 

 advancing the cause as intended, in endeavoring to 

 secure to farmers the best of European inventions, 

 have only occasioned the neglect of well known 

 processes by which hundreds of factories have thriv- 

 ed to this day. 



I do not wish it to be understood that I am op- 

 posed to improvements — far from it. I think every 

 body who makes any sugar should, as far as prac- 

 ticable, give a fair trial to all those valuable dis- 

 coveries, no matter how extravagant. Most invari- 

 ably those experiments will lead a close observer 

 to someihing applicable to his own interest. But 

 fir.=it, I do not think it right for us to remain passive 

 admirers of the success of our transatlantic friends, 

 without trying to share their profits, in the hope 

 that new inventions giving double profits are act- 

 ually made or in progress. Second, I am support- 

 ed in what I advance by a conviction founded on 

 some experience, that good sugar can be easily 

 and regularly obtained from fresh beets when prop- 

 er manipulations are used, and that by tbe dried 

 process, the solution of saccharine matter from the 

 beet is far from being obtained except a gum or 

 n.ucilage that seems to prevent the easy extraction 

 of the sugar, and it requires for either process t!ie 

 use of the same chemical agent. Now farmers 

 should not be frightened by those technical words, 

 which sound, it is true, as if a chemical education 

 could not be dispensed with. But every farmer 

 possessed of a sound head, knows enough already 

 to make sugar. It is a simple, very simple opera- 

 tion — about as chemical as the making of butter or 

 cheese, and as certain in its results, in spite of all 

 that has been said of operations that did not suc- 

 ceed, or of the difficulty of extracting sugar from 

 some particular beets. 



I am, with respect, sir, 



Your very humble serv't, 



M. DUROY. 



From the Albany Cultivator. 



ON THE APPLICATION OF MANURES. 

 Fredericksburg, Va., June i&h, 1839. 



J. l5uEL — Dear Sir — In your paper for the pres- 

 ent month, I have read the following intimation : 

 " A subscriber wishes Mr Garnet's opinion of the 

 best method of applying manures to land" — and 

 presuming that I am the person meant, I avail my- 

 self of the earliest opportunity to evince my willing- 

 ness to gratify him. But as no man's mere opinion 

 on such subjects is worth any thing without the 

 facts and reasons upon which it is founded, I shall 

 take it for granted that he desires to hear both, and 

 will therefore state them together. 



Whether your subscriber means by the term 

 " manures," all things commonly so called, or only 

 putrescent substances, I have had but one opinion 

 for a long tiine in regard to their application, and 

 this has been confirmed by all my subsequent ex- 

 perience, each year adding something to the great 

 mass of consentaneous facts. When my attention 

 was first turned to this subject, some thirtyfive or 

 forty years ago, I had adopted, but without exam- 

 ination, the notion then most common amongst us, 

 that it was best to let all putrescent manures be 

 well rotted first, and next, to bury them deep, eith. 

 er by the plough, spade, or hoe. This notion, like 

 the common law, was so old that " the memory ot 

 man extended not to the contrary ;" but happily foi 

 us all, the revolution had broken the entail of opin- 

 ions as well as of landed estates, and left us at lib- 

 erty to think and act for ourselves. The naturae 

 consequence of this increased freedom was, the in- 

 troduction of many new practices in the arts, as 

 well as in government; and agriculture camie ii 

 for some small share of these benefits. Araonf 

 them Was the application of putrescent manures U 

 the surface, and in a mueh less fermented stati 

 than had ever been tried before. But so dreadful 

 ly afraid were the first experimenters of the formi 

 dable laugh of that once numerous family, "th' 

 Goodenoughs," that they made their trials as i 

 were, by stealth; and consequently .the results re 

 mained for a long time unknown, except to a few 

 I happened to be among the number, and could nc 

 long resist the evidence of my senses, although 

 must 'confess, that at first, it seemed to me a sor 

 of sacrilege, even to doubt, and still more to act, ii 

 direct opposition to an opinion which, for aught 

 k-Bow, had descended from Triptolen]US himself 

 By dfegrees, however, my courage waxed stronge 

 and Stronger every year, until I felt myself bravi 

 enough to commence the following experiment 

 which several old farmers in whose veracity I per 

 fectly confided, had assured me they had often triei 

 and always with the same result as that which 

 am about to report in my own case. 



1 began penning my cattle late in the spring, am 

 continued it until frost, in pens of the same size 

 moved at regular intervals of time, and containin; 

 the same number of cattle during the whole period 

 Tliesfe pens were alternately ploughed, and left un 

 ploughed, until the following spring, when all were 

 planted in corn, immediately followed by wheat.— 

 't he superiority of both crops on all the pens whici 

 had remained unploughed for so many months afte 

 the cattle had manured them, was just as distinct 

 ly marked as if the dividing fences had continue< 

 standing : it was too plain to admit even of thfi 

 slightest doubt. A near neighbor, a young farm- 

 er, had made the same experiment on a somewhak 

 different soil, the year before, but with results pr© 



