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THE ILLINOIS PAEMEB. 



91 



molasses. Experiments and chemical an- 

 alysis go very far to prove that this cane 

 will answer the purposes required. Should 

 future experiments sustain our present 

 hopes, it is hardly possible to estimate too 

 highly the advantages which will result to 

 the country from the cultivation of this new 

 plant. 



The southern agricultural papers contain 

 a communicatiom from Dr. Robert Battey, 

 on this subject. Dr. Battey is professor in 

 the College of Pharmacy in Philadelphia. 

 He cultivated the cane in the summer of 

 1856, and made experiments with the juice 

 of the stalks, from which he obtained sugar 

 and molasses. His investigations go to 

 prove that the Chinese sugar cane adapts 

 itself to all the vicissitudes of our varied cli- 

 mates; that it succeeds well in Georgia and 

 as far north as the northern parts of Illinois 

 and Massachusetts; on rich land and land 

 of a poor quality — ^indeed, where corn will 

 grow to advantage, there the Chinese sugar 

 cane can be made to grow. At this time, 

 when seed isicarce and it is an object to 

 make most of the seed, it should be planted 

 in hills and cultivated as corn. Harvesting 

 should be done when the seed has passed 

 the dough state and become hard. And be- 

 fore harvesting preparation should be made 

 for expressing the juice and manufacturing 

 it into syrup. For this purpose there should 

 be a mill and three kettles of the capacity 

 of from 60 to 100 gallons. No matter how 

 rich and valuable the juice may be, to suc- 

 ceed in realizing its value, yon must have 

 apparatus to work with. Mr. Peters, in 

 Georgia, found the lyrup he obtained from 

 one eighth of an acre of good canes, 63 1-4 

 gallons, and from another eighth of an acre 

 of inferior canes, 43 1-4 gallons. He esti- 

 mated the syrup that might be obtained with 

 suitable apparatus at 570 gallons per acre. 



Dr. Battey says — "If the opinions I ex- 

 press should seem to some too wild and ex- 

 travagant, I trust they will be received as 

 the honest and candid sentiments of one 

 who has carefully examined the subject, and 

 that others will be led to experiment for 

 themselves.'' 



Dr. Battey supposes the Chinese sugar 

 cane will take the place of the cane now 

 cultivated in the south, and that the pro- 

 duction of sugar will in consequence be 

 limited and its value enhancedt We hold, 

 however, a different opinion. If the cultiva- 

 tion of the Chinese sugar cane can be made 

 profitable in the north, it will be extensively 

 cultivated here, and that southern cultiva. 

 tors will find that slave labor, in this case, 

 will not successfully compete with free labor. 



The Season. — ^The loss of wheat threw 

 "a damper" upon our farmers; but they 

 never say "die," and they have gone to work 

 to sow and plant the ground where the 

 wheat has failed, \nth a hearty will. There 

 was a great breadth of land sowed with 

 wheat last fall; in this county, probably 

 twice as much as was ever sown before. 

 We believe that two-thirds of the winter 

 wheat is killed beyond hope; bat spring 

 wheat has been sown in large quantities, as 

 also barley, and we are inspired with the 

 hope that the loss of our farmers will not 

 be great. More corn will be planted this 

 year than usual; and we hope, earnestly, 

 that our farmers will plant potatoes and 

 beans enough to supply the demands of the 

 home market Potatoes have become^ an 

 "institution" in families that cannot be dis- 

 pensed with; and the article of beans can 

 be used also to great advantage. Beans at 

 one dollar a bushel can be grown with profit; 

 but there is no likelihood of their being be- 

 low $1 50 per bushel. 



Let us go ahead, brother farmers; let as 

 put the seed into the ground again, and we 

 may yet be prospered in the crops of the 

 coming season. Indeed, so far the season 

 promises well. The earth is well saturated 

 with water, and with the usual season crops 

 will be abundant. When matters go wrong 

 in any business, then yon will sefd what the 

 man is made of. If he is of "the right 

 stuff," he will still go ahead. If he is 

 of the baser material, he will sink under 

 difficulties. We shall see these truths ver- 

 ified, noc only in the present spring, bat in 

 all time afterwards. 



