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THE ILLINOIS FAKMEB. 



207 



The Chinese Sugar Cane. 



The time is now rapidly advancing when 

 the value of this new plant, for saccharine 

 purposes, will be determined. If it should 

 prove what many anticipate, it will add a 

 most valuable article to our list of plants, 

 and but less valuable than corn or wheat. 



We feel a deep interest in the results of 

 experiments the coming autumn. Gener- 

 ally the plant will not be sufficiently ad- 

 vanced in ripeness for trial until next month. 

 We have heard of one small experiment in 

 this county, by Mr. Lucius 0. Francis. He 

 had some forward plants, and near the 

 middle of last month he expressed the 

 juice from some of them, boiled it and made 

 a beautiful molasses. He has an acre of 

 the cane, and will make a mill for the ex- 

 pressing of the juice. He feels encouraged 

 to persevere in an effectual trial. 



Some trials have already been made in 

 South and North Carolina, which are 

 noticed in the newspapers. 



The following are the earliest notices we 

 have seen of this year's crop of Chinese 

 Sugar Cane.- We should be pleased to hear 

 from any of our friends upon the subject. 



A correspondent 6f the Columbia, S. C, 

 Times says: 



On Saturday last I had the pleasure of 

 inspecting a very good quality of molasses, 

 produced from the Chinese Sugar Cane, 

 grown by Dr. D. W. Ray, a planter in 

 the Pork. 



The specimen proved to be of superior 

 quality, a half gallon of which (molasses) 

 had been extracted from only twenty stalks. 



I learned that Dr. Ray, who is one of our 

 most successful and influential citizens, has 

 planted only four acres in this cane, and 

 that he is satisfied he will be able to extract 

 from it fifteen hundred gallons of syrup, 

 which, if equal to the specimen inspected, 

 will be regarded by the heads of families 

 quite acceptable for table use, to say no-- 

 thing of plantation purposes. 



Richard H. Smith, Esq., ©f Scotland 

 Neck, N. C, writes to the Raleigh Regis- 

 ter that he has made an experiment with 

 the Chinese^Sugar Cane, with the following 

 results: 



From three unripe joints of the cane, 

 about one gill of juice was imperfectly ex- 



tracted, and after having been boUed for 

 half an hour, a table spoonful of very good 

 molasses was obtained — superior to the com- 

 mon grades of molasses- 



I write this to encourage those persons 

 who have planted the cane, to go to work 

 and make their mills, and give it a fair trial. 



If they have not cane enough to justify 

 the expense of a mill with wooden rollers, 

 let them extract the juice, as I have done 

 in this instance, by using the edge of a 

 piece of thick plank or scantling as a lever- 

 power. Make the experiment if with a 

 pint of juice only. 



From the great yield of juice and the 

 simple process required in making the mo-. 

 lasses, I have no doubt of its complete sue- 

 cesss, and that the day is not distant when 

 the sugar-mill will be as common with our 

 people as the cider-mill was years ago — 

 when every family will make their own mo- 

 lasses — and the children — white and black 

 — will eat bread and molasses, and drink 

 "switchel" to their heart's content. 



Sugar from the Chinese Sxtgab Cane. — 

 Some of our theoretical college professors, 

 in public lectures, have labored to produce 

 an impression on the public mind, that 

 sugar, made from Chinese Sugar Cane, 

 would be of the variety known as grape or 

 manna sugar, technically termed giucox. 

 In a communication transmitted to this 

 country from Alexander, Vattemare, in 

 Paris, and written by the distinguish French 

 Savan, Vilmorin, this opinion is durectly 

 opposed; Mens. Vilmorin knows of what he 

 writes. The following is his letter: 



[Translation.] 



Pa-bis, April 20, 1857. 

 To Mr. Alexandre Vattemare: 



Sir: — The crystalization of the sugar of 

 the Sorghum, it seems, should be easily ob- 

 tained in all cases where the cane .can be 

 sufficiently ripened.; and as the proportion 

 of the sugar is an unfailing index of ripe- 

 ness, it follows that we could always be sure 

 of obtaining a good crystalization of juices 

 whose density exceeds 1,075, while weaker 

 ones would not yield satisfactory results 

 after concentration. I attribute this pe- 

 culiarity to the fact that the sugar is pre- 

 ceded in the juice by a gummy principle, 

 which seems to be transformed at a late 

 date, for its proportion diminishes in exact 

 correspondence with the increase of .the 

 sugar. The uncrystalizable sugar, or 

 glucose, undergoes the same changes- that 

 is to say, it is more abundant before than 



