Tiiii: iLLi::srois i^^^\ i^:mer. 



37 



pleasure of your acquaintance, but the sub- 

 ject of this note may be deemed a sufficieut 

 apology for my writing. 



I have roceutly traveled con.«iderably in 

 the northern portion of this State, and find 

 much interest felt in the cultivation of tlic 

 Chinese Sugar Cane. Every one is going 

 to plant a patch, to make his own sugar or 

 syrup. Now this is all v»-rong, as the public 

 will ultimately find. Tiie successful manu- 

 facture of sugar, absolutely requires a con- 

 siderable outlay for suitable buildings and 

 machinerj-, — I do not say upon a large scale, 

 but adapted to the crop to be taken off. Tlie 

 idea of a man planting a little patch, grind- 

 ing out a few tubs of juice in the forenoon, 

 and boiling it down to something in the af- 

 ternoon, is all nonsense. It would be souic- 

 thiug to be sure; but what, would be difficult 

 for any live man to tell. 



The manufacture of sugar from the Chinese 

 cane, can, and will, be made exceedingly 

 profitable, by going into it in the right way; 

 but sugar can never be properly and success- 

 fully boiled, but by an experienced hand — 

 no two samples of j a ice rcqairiitg ixactJjj the 

 same treatment ! 



I have had several years' experience in 

 Louisiana and Florida, in erecting sugar 

 mills and in taking off crops of sugar. I 

 know what the Chinese cane is, and what it 

 will do if judiciously and properly treated; — 

 and if not, it will do nothing. For the suc- 

 cessful manufacture of sugar in this State, 

 let one or two in a county go into it — 

 say considerably strong, viz : put up a cou- 

 ple of buildings, side by side, of nutderate 

 dimensions, — one for the engine and grinding 

 house, the other for the boiling and curing 

 house. Procure an engine of aljout eight 

 horse power, with a suitable mill of three 

 cast iron rollers, three small sized sugar ket- 

 tles, &c., — the whole can l.>e put inoperatiun 

 for 31,500 or ??2,U00, and with twcnty-iive 

 or thirty acres of matured cane, would clear 

 itself the first season. For ni^sflf, T would 

 not advise the planting of the Chinese cane 

 north of 40 or 41 degrees. 



I have no hesitation in warrantintr for a 

 fair acre of matured cane 1.500 lbs. sugar 

 and 75 gallons of mohisses. I ])ut u}) a sugar 

 mill for the Hon. ]). Ti. Yulcc, at llouiosass;i, 

 in Florida, in the autuniu of '52, and took 

 off two crops of sugar iur hiui, that and the 

 following year. Tlie la,■^t season I Avas vrith 

 him, from a small piece, containing six acres, 

 I made over thirteen hogsheads of the very 

 best sugar of 1,000 lbs. each, and over 500 

 gallons of tlie very best molasses, — and 1 

 fidly believe that the Chinasc ciino, ju-opcr/// 

 treated, will do full as well. The last sea- 

 son I was with 3Ir. Yulce, from about 70 

 acres in cane, we made 143 hogsheads sugar 

 and 4,500 gallons molasses. 



No one who knows anything about the 

 manufacture of sugar from canes, will advo- 

 cate every one gijin^ \,^^^y j^. — because it is 

 something that cannot succc>sfallv be got 

 along with, without considerable outh^v, and 

 much skill, experience and information. 

 There are kiuA-.'^ in hoilins; susar not to be 

 fouud iu any treatise on the subject. 



Should my engagements the'ensuint;- sen- 

 son permit, 1 would like to put up a mfll for 

 some euterpnsing individual and take off a 

 crop of sugar; but the business is likely to 



bo much prejudiced by ])eople going into it | 

 who know nothing at all about it. | 



The successful litaiuifactiire of sug::r de- i 

 pends much on its being rapidly do!ie. It i 

 shoidd be rapidly gnumd, jirojicrly limed, I 

 and evaporated to the striking i>oint,as (juick- 

 ly as possible. 



Hoping that Avhat T have said may be of 

 use to some one, ] rema.in 



Your obed't servant, 



J. P. V>'. IJAFGliR. 



Cincinnati, Jan. 22, 1R58. 



To S. Franct's, Cor respond iuy Srereturi/ of 

 the State A;/ruutti(ral Soeieti/, Spriiaj- 

 fiiid, Illinois. 



Siu: — With great interest I have noticed 

 the proceedings of the Convention of the 

 Sugar Planters of the Northwest, and 1 hail 

 with joy the culture of the Chinese Sugar 

 Cane or Sorghum, and the presentation of 

 the ex})erience of sugar making from this 

 plant, and the desired results. 1'hese results 

 are as yet snuill and various, as I .'^ee from an. 

 article in the Chic;i<:o Trihunr the reason of 

 which lie^ herein, that farmers could not 

 have the neces.sary knowledge of the manu- 

 facturc of sugur, and hence we Inivr some 

 wcmderful experiments in this matter as 

 follows: — where the operations lia<l licen in- 

 terrupted for several hours, so that, as the 

 juice became cold, and coming into contact 

 with even the snudlest amount oi'air. buime 

 sour: or the experiment of clarifying with 

 milk and eggs, an operation which confec- 

 tioners find too exj)ensive and unsatisfaelory 

 even with the raw sugar itself. The proce.-s 

 of clarifying with the white of tlie egg or 

 with Idood, wh'ch answers the same jiiir- 

 poses, namely, to gather these slimy parii- 

 cles vrhich have run into the juice imm tlie 

 press, and c::use them to rise t(j tlie surface 

 as scum, is not of itsulf suffu-ii iit; ibr tiic 

 oliject of cJariiyintr is j;ot lucreJv to iVee the 

 syrup from these slimy particles and thus 

 facilitate crystalization, but we mu-t ;!t the 

 same time seek to change its color, wliirh is 

 done by the addition <A' Jjeii}srhi':ar,~, (liono- 

 black.) ]3ut befJjro we proceed to this clari- 

 fying process, the juice, obtained by press- 

 ing or maceration, should be purified with 

 hydrate of lime, in order t;) live it IVoin tliose 

 chemical and other im]»urities th;;t it n).'.y 

 contain, and then it should bo liUcred tlivfjuidi 

 ground or broken Jjeinschtrarr:, (^JJone- 

 black.) in order to get oiit again the remains 

 of the lime, and to ch.inge the color of ^.he 

 juice. After the illtrat;on. iioii <Iown to 

 2(3° Bourne, clear with blood ami charcoal, 

 filter the second time, atul then boil lo the 

 ]ioii;t of erystali/.atio'i, tlien h-t the nsash be 

 set away in a moderate vvaiiii room, to bo 

 left undisturbed hn- three (u* lour days, when 

 you will obtain a beautiful clear suga;-, from 

 which the syru]) can easih- be separated. 



Tb.ese o})erations, from the ])ressiiig (;ut of 

 the juice to the last boiling, must bj cairied 

 on without interruption, and as rapidly as I 

 possible, to preveiit the danger arising f]-(,m j 

 contact with the air, of. the juices beroming | 

 a syiup, (to which it is inclined,) or even to 

 turn sour. 



As I do not possess the means on niy own 

 account, to cultivate and minufacture the 

 Sorghum, and yet wish to benefit this new 

 new branch of indu'-t;y, by means (d'the 



knowledge and experience of the making 

 and refining of sugars, Avliich I acquired as 

 foreman (jf scientific labors in several of the 

 largest sugar manufactories of Germany and 

 lUissia, 1 have bicn so free as to attempt 

 hereby to puinl out to you, Sir, the mode of 

 ])rocedure, ac-eording to my opinion, and I 

 will v.ith plctisure, if you wi.-h it, give addi- 

 tional facts in regard to the a])paratus to be 

 used, aii'l describe more minutely the opera- 

 tions also, and should the ojijiortunity offer, 

 I should be willing to conduct the business 

 vrhere the manufacture of sugar from the 

 Sorghum should be carried ou upon aa ex- 

 tensive scale next iall. 



Your obed't servant, 



W. (lOTZELL. 



[The ab')ye letter caitio to us in German 



and was translated by a friend. — Ed,] 



From tUo Ohio Former. 



Artesian Wells. 



By Cr'l. Cluts. H7.(7,'/fs/-y, Ckceland, Ohi«. 



These -wells arc sunk, Lot with a pick 

 and shovel, but consist of a small hole 

 drilled into thQ earth and rock by a drill- 

 chisel, in the same way that rocks are 

 blown by \>owder, only the weight of the 

 apparatus docs not require any blows. — 

 They are the same in form and construc- 

 tion as the borings for salt water, or for 

 coal, ^Yhcn the dnll-chisel, with a bitt 

 of '21 or o inches across, is sunk a short* 

 distance into the soil or surface rock, an 

 iron rod is attached by a screw, and this 

 It sinks into the cartli. Bj means of 

 rods and joints tlio liolc may be sunk to 

 any depth, hundreds and thousands of 

 feet, it cannot be carried down, how- 

 ever, without water. Everv few inches 

 the rods and chisel, or bitt, must be driwn 

 out and the crushed rock and dirt pumped 

 up. This is done by an iron tube that is 

 moved up and down in the hole, with a 

 valve in the bottom through which tho 

 mud and salid enters and is drawn up. — 

 In this way tlie well is closed, and the 

 character of the rocks passed through, is 

 accurately known. Holes have been bored 

 of four and five inches in diameter. 



They are called "Artesian wells," be- 

 cause they were first used to obtain fresh 

 water at Artois, in France. In that coun- 

 try they are common, and are becoming 

 So in the United States. One at the 

 Fountain of the Grenoble m Paris, is 168G 

 FrencJi feet iu depth, and the water Hows 

 over at 87 feet above the surface. 



On the Kenhawa river borings for salt 

 water are carried down 12u0 to 13U0 ft. 

 As tho earth is cvcrvwliere saturated with 

 water, it is necessary in brine springs to 

 insert a tube of tin or copper from the 

 surface of the ground to the place where 

 salt water comes into tlic well. In Arte- 

 sian welis proper, or those intended to 

 procure fresh water, there should be a 

 sulhcient quantity' of good soft water to 

 ilow over in a continuous stream. The 

 mechanical principle which produces thii 



