160 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



EXTBACTS AKD EEPLIES. 

 A NEW SUGAR EVAPORATOR. 



As many of the readers of the New Eng- 

 land Fanner make every year considerable ma- 

 ple sugar, I thought a few lines upon this subject 

 might be interesting to them ; and more especial- 

 ly so, as we soon expect to speak of a new boiling 

 apparatus, that is far superior to the common pan 

 used at the present time. It is the best article 

 that finds the quickest sale, and at a higher price. 



Maple, in its pure state, should be nearly as 

 white as crushed sugar. The color comes from 

 some impurity in the sap, or the manner of boil- 

 ing, or from both. It is impossible to make the 

 best sugar in the common sheet iron pans, which 

 are mainly in use at the present time. Every 

 one familiar with the process, knows that the sap 

 will burn on to the sides of the pan, and is again 

 ■washed off into the syrup, thereby giving the su- 

 gar a bad taste, and a dark color. This is reme- 

 died by using "Cook's Sugar Evaporator, manu- 

 factured by Messrs. Blymyers, Bates & Day, 

 Mansfield, Ohio. 



The writer used this evaporator a part of last 

 season, and can cheerfully recommend it to all su- 

 gar-makers as being a perfect sugar-boiling ap- 

 paratus. It is a shallow pan, about eight feet 

 long, and four feet wide ; and is arranged with 

 flanges, raised on the bottom, one and a half 

 inches high, which are left open for a space of 

 four inches at every alternate end. A tub of sap 

 is placed at the front left hand corner of this pan, 

 and another tub is put at the back riglit hand 

 corner of the pan, to receive the syrup. This pan 

 is set on a furnace, made for the purpose, or can 

 be adjusted to a common arch. It is then filled 

 three-fourths of an inch deep with sap, and the 

 fire is started. As soon as it begins to boil, turn 

 the faucet and let on a supply of sap, which runs 

 fifteen times across the pan before it reaches the 

 outlet. After it has travelled 60 feet, continually 

 boiling all the while, it becomes syrup sufficient- 

 ly thick for sugaring oflP. 



I can boil one barrel of sap per hour, with one 

 fire. Hence, it will be seen that I not only save 

 time and wood, but make a much better article 

 of sugar. 



Enclosed is a sample that I made after the 5th 

 of April, which had no cleansing or settling, but 

 ■was done off immediately after boiling. 



W. Westminster, Vt., 1861. G. Campbell. 



Remarks. — The sample before us is of unusual 

 whiteness and purity. We have eaten salt and 

 sugar, too, at Mr. Campbell's table, and know 

 that he understands what he is talking about in 

 the above article. 



MR. ROGERS' EXPERIMENT. 



My attention has been atti-actcd by the experi- 

 ments of Mr. Rogers, in the application of fertili- 

 zers to his grass land. It would seem from the re- 

 sults stated that guano produced the best crop — 

 about one-quarter part more than ashes. This is 

 different from what I should have expected. I hope 

 we shall see a definite statement of the products 

 of these several lots, for the coming year, for it is 

 as important to note the permanency of the effect, 

 as the immediate activity. 



Mr. R. is the right man to conduct such exper- 



iments ; he has ample means, and as good land 

 as c'.n be found in the county ; his farm being 

 situate on the easterly extremity of what has been 

 lon;5 known as Hog Hill, because in olden times 

 swi le used to run at large, and in common over 

 these grounds, their pasture lands. So say the 

 Records. 



South Danvers, Feb. 11, 1861. p. 



ASHES AS A FERTILIZER. 



Are wood ashes a manure, or only a stimulant ? 

 Which is the best for us farmers, who live back 

 from the sea-board, to buy wood ashes to put on 

 our lands that need fertilizing beyond our barn- 

 yard means, at 17 cents per bushel, or any of the 

 foreign nostrums that are cracked up so loudly, 

 at their common prices. Wm. Irish. 



Fast Rumford, Me., 1861. 



Remarks. — Wood ashes is not a stimulant, as 

 that term is generally understood. The alkali 

 which it contains is absolutely essential to most 

 plants, and therefore, when you can purchase it at 

 17 cents a bushel, you can find nothing cheaper 

 or more effective for the money it costs. It acts 

 something as follows : The black earth which we 

 cultivate contains a large portion of vegetable 

 matter, called humus, and this is constantly gen- 

 erating fresh carbonic acid. The acid, in turn, 

 acts upon the alkalies that are contained in the 

 broken rocks and alkaline earths, and dissolves 

 them, makes them soluble liquid, so that the roots 

 of plants can take them up. Liebig expresses it 

 — "these changes" — that is, the changes in the 

 rocks by being broken and pulverized — "consist 

 in the giving of a soluble form to the alkalies and 

 alkaline bases by the combined action of water 

 and carbonic acid. 



"The first colonists," he says, "of Virginia found 

 a soil filled with alkaline substances, from which 

 harvests of wheat and tobacco were obtained for 

 a century from one and the same field, with the 

 aid of manure ; but now, whole districts are 

 abandoned and converted into unfruitful pasture 

 land, which, without manure^ produces neither 

 wheat nor tobacco. From one acre of this land 

 there ■were removed in the space of 100 years 

 12,000 lbs. of alkalies, in leaves, grain and straw." 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society. — 

 The first paper in the Report of the Annual Tran- 

 sactions of this Society, is on "Ornamental Gar- 

 dening," and was prepared by our old correspon- 

 dent, J. F. C. Hyde, Esq., of Newton. It is the 

 report of the Committee appointed to visit such 

 places as they thought fit to look at, and to re- 

 mark upon them. Reports were made from the 

 Committee on Floirers, on Fruits, on Zoologij by 

 Prof. Jenks, and on the Library. The Address 

 of the President, Joseph Breck, Esq., was a 

 good one, containing touching allusions to re- 

 cently deceased members of the Society. 



