402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



EXPERIMENTS IN TUB MANUFACTURE 

 OF CORN-STALK SUGAR. 

 Last year, a premium of $]00 was awarded by 

 the N. Y. State Agfricultiirnl Society, to Marcus 

 Adams, of Genesee county, N. Y., for experiments 

 in the manufacture of sugar from cornstalks. Mr 

 Adams' statement is contained in the last volume 

 of the Society's Transactious, from which we copy : 



Raisi7}g the Corn. — One acre of ground was se- 

 lected, of a sandy loam, cultivated last year to ruta 

 baga ; this was manured with thirty loads of the 

 best stable manure, well mixed in with the soil by 

 twice plowing and harrowing. Corn planted the 

 T3th of May; kind, eight-rowed northern; the 

 rows three feet apart one way, and liills J8 inches 

 the other, with from six to eight kernels in a hill. 

 Corn came up fine, and was plastered the 31st of 

 May ; hoed the liist time the 9th and 10th of June ; 

 the second time, 24th of June. Cultivator run 

 through it three times. The corn began to tassel 

 the )8th uf July, and was in full tassel the tirst of 

 August. 



Up to this time the crop had looked uncommon- 

 ly well ; but from the 1st of August, a severe 

 drought commenced, and continued, until the crop 

 was very materially injured. Some spots where 

 the corn had grown most luxuriantly, withered and 

 dried up ; other parts of the field suffered less, so 

 that on the whole there was some more than half 

 of a good crop, or of what there would have been 

 if the season had continued favorable. 



Culling, Grinding, and Boiling. — Cut the first 

 stalks, and made the first experiment at grinding 

 and boiling, the 25th of August. The stalks a° 

 this time were quite green, but the produce was 

 quite satisfactory, and appeared quite favorable for 

 crystalizing. The juice was very abundant, of a 

 greenish color, very rich, thick and heavy, yet re- 

 taining all the flavor of the corn-stalk, until after 

 cleansing and boiling. 



August 30lh, made the second batch. This was 

 boiled in a shallow sheet-iron pan, clarified and 

 strained, according to the directions given in Mr 

 Ellsworth's report. 



Other experiments were made the 4th and 7th of 

 i^epteniber. 



The object of these successive experiments was 

 mainly to determine at what time the saccharine 

 matter was sufficiently matured to make crystal- 



JVNS 19, 1S4 4 



a few minutes. The syrup is then removed from 

 the fire, and again passed through the flannel 

 strainer, when the boiling is finished, as rapidly as 

 possible. 



This process, from the cutting of the stalk to 

 taking the sugar from the fire, could not possibly 

 iie performed in less than two hours; ant! if the 

 batch was larger, would often exceed three. Five 

 batches were made in one day, from which one 

 hundred pounds of sugar were produced. 



The Boiler — The boiler or pan, I made of a 

 sheet of Russian iron, turned up at the sides and 

 ends, lapped and riveted at the corners; would 

 hold about twentyfive gallons, five and a half in- 

 ches deep, but from fifteen to twenty gallons is as 

 much as would boil to advantage. This pan is 

 placed upon an arch of brick, so that the fire comes 

 in contact with only the bottom. 



Mill — To construct this was a matter of much 

 more difficulty. Some drawings and descriptions 

 are given by Mr Ellsworth, but little more could 

 be known from them than that there must be three 

 rollers, so placed and put in motion that the stalks 

 in passing between them should receive two crush- 

 ings. 



To plan and construct a mill, with the proper 



ized 



Onthellthof September, the stalks appeared 

 in the right stage, and the cutting, grinding and 

 boiling were commenced and continued with little 

 intermission until the whole was completed. The 

 method pursued in this operation, was to keep a 

 sufficient number of hands in the field to strip the 

 leaves or blades, and cut off the tops as fast as the 

 elalks were wanted for use ; this labor was gen- 

 erally performed by boys. The cornfield being at 

 a. little distance from the mill, (he horse used for 

 grinding was put before a light wagon, driven to 

 the field, the stalks then cut and placed upon the 

 wagon, (taking care to keep them straight and in 

 order,) driven to the mill and ground without delay. 

 A load of this kind in a light wagon, with a lum- 

 ber box, will make a batch of from 15 to 20 gal- 

 lons : this would be ground in about 30 miinrtes. 

 Lime water was mixed with the juice while it was 

 running from the mill. The juice is then strained 

 through a flannel cloth into a pan, and heated, rath, 

 er moderately, to the boiling point, when the scum 

 is removed with a skimmer, then boiled rapidly for 



dimensions and with the strength required, so that 

 the work of crushing the stalks should be performed 

 with certainty and despatch, was no easy task. I 

 flatter myself that 1 have in this been tolerably 

 successful. The rollers and iron work, patterns, 

 &c., for my mill, were made by A. J. Lang worthy, 

 of Rochester, at a cost of sixtyfive dollars. The 

 whole weight of iron is about nine hundred pounds. 

 About one-half of the expense of the mill is in 

 the horse power. The iron rollers being placed 

 horizontal, it was necessary to have a horse-power 

 wheel and gearing, in order to give them motion. 

 If the more simple, and it ivould seem at first view, 

 less expensive forms, given in Mr Ellsworth's re- 

 port, had been adopted, placing the rollers perpen- 

 dicular, the horse passing around them, the rollers 

 must have been of large diameter in order to take 

 through the length of a cornstalk at one revolution 

 of the horse. These large rollers, when made of 

 iron, would have been very expensive, and probably 

 not work os fast as the small ones 1 use, giving 

 them a quicker motion by gearing. In my mill 

 the circumference of the rollers has such a propor- 

 tion to their motion, that their velocity is equal to 

 about one-sixth the velocity of the horse ; or, in 

 other words, a cornstalk six feet long, will pass 

 through between the rollers in the same time that 

 the horse will walk thirtysix feet. The grinding 

 is a beautiful operation; the amount of juice con- 

 tained in the stalk is surprising to every one. The 

 stalks in passing through the mill, are crushed very 

 fine, and the juice entirely separated from them by 

 the pressure of the rollers. 



Clarifying. — This has been to me a difficult, 

 and to some extent, an unsuccessful operation. 

 All the various methods recommended by different 

 persons who have made some experiments on corn- 

 stalk sugar, and all that my own experience in 

 clarifying maple sugar could suggest, failed of 

 producing fully the desired effect. In all the fail- 

 ures which have been experienced to produce crys- 

 talized sugar, the cause should be sought here. 

 Unless the juice of cornstalks can be clarified, it is 

 vain to expect a pure article of crystalized sugar. 

 All the obstacles to the complete success of this 

 enterprise are met at this point ; but that they will 

 be completely overcome, there cannot be the least 



doubt. Lime water applied to the juice as soon 

 it comes from the mill, one gill to fifteen gallor 

 was thought to produce the best effect. But e 

 periments were made with various other thino 

 such as milk, eggs, charcoal, &c. ; these we 

 used separately, and combined, but nothing ai 

 peared to raise the scum as well and render tl 

 juice as clear and well-flavored as the lime-wate 

 One experiment was made by filtering the juic 

 through sand and charcoal ; this rendered it vei 

 transparent and improved the taste, but there ai 

 very many objections to this process— the lengl 

 of time required for the operation, is a sufficiei 

 one. 



Straining. — This operation is performed bot 

 before and after clarifying. The strainer use 

 was a square yard of good new flannel, of fine te.> 

 ture ; so great is the amount of mucilage, or ver 

 minute particles of the cornstalk contained in th 

 juice, that the strainer has to be rinsed in watc 

 once or twice in straining a batch. The secon 

 straining is rendered more difficult by the juice be 

 ing hot, as the hands have to be used in forcin 

 it through the cloth. Some method may yet b 

 discovered by which all this foreign matter will b 

 removed in the operation of skimming. 



Boiling — .This operation requires care and clos 

 attention, particularly when about ready to skin 

 and when the juice is concentrated to about thi 

 point desired. The more rapidly this operation i; 

 performed, the more perfect will be the ciyslaliza 

 tion. As soon as the scum begins to rise, the fin 

 must be regulated with care, that time may be hac 

 for removing the scum before it shall be boiled in 

 If the operation of boiling and skimming be wel 

 performed, about one gallon of thick heavy scuir 

 will be obtained from a batch of fifteen gallons 

 The syrup, when thick and nearly done, has a very 

 beautiful appearance, equalling in every respect 

 the best maple syrup. To boil to the crystalizing 

 point, (which is a very uncertain one,) requires 

 considerable care and discrimination. The same 

 tests that are used for maple syrup are equally ap- 

 plicable to cornstalk ; as, for instance, when it will 



flake off, breaking short, from a dipper or stick 



or string out between the thumb and finger, from 

 half an inch to an inch in length, is perhaps the 

 safest test. Very great care is necgssary here, 

 that it be brought to the right point and no more ; 

 and also in managing the fire, as a little blaze, or 

 too strong a heat, is most sure to scorch, and this 

 is fatal to crystalization. 



Cnjslalizntion. — Difficulty has been found here 

 by all that have made experiments with cornstalk 

 sugar ; but perhaps every one has obtained a suf- 

 ficient quantity that was well enough grained to 

 satisfy them that the difficulty was somewhere in 

 the process of manufacture. 



From recent observation I am inclined to think 

 that I have kept my sugar in too cool a place. 

 Two small parcels, left partly by accident where 

 they received the warmth of a fire, were found well 

 grained. But there is another difliuulty after it is 

 well crystalized, to make the molasses separate, or 

 drain, as it is called ; although the crystal appears 

 to be as fine as was ever formed, still the molasses 

 will not separate by any common methods used for 

 maple sugar. 



Jimounl from, the Jlcre. — Although the quantity 

 of stalks was so much diminished by the drought, 

 yet six hundred pounds of sugar were obtained : 

 this, it should be understood, is weighed when taken 

 from the fire, and before graining has commenced. 



