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118 



TPIE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



Corn Shnckrr ami Slicllcr. 



This machine is the invention of 

 Daniel Lomlard, ISo. (>, State 

 street, Bostou. It is a novel ma- 

 ehine, docs a vast deal of Avoik, 

 andis operated easily. — The A«zri- 

 cultural estahlishnients in Boston, 

 and the Agi icultiiral press of tlutt 

 city spenk in high terms of it. It 

 is obvious that a corn hnsker ■whieh. 

 woidd tto the work rn])idly and ef- 

 fectually Avould be of vast, benefit in 

 the ^^reat corn countrv of tlio West. 

 A\ e are not aware that the machine 

 i.syet on sale in the West, with the 

 exception of a few thnt -were made 

 to order for AVestern farmers. 



The Ilusker consists of n chu^;k 

 made concave on one side and fur- 

 ni^hed Avith spurs arranL'cd uithin ^ 

 its concavity. The chuck is fas- 

 tened on a tubular shaft and carries 

 two knives or cutters^ for the pur- 

 pose of reducing the stalk of an ear stea<lyini!; it, while the other retains hold 

 of corn, and separating the hi'sk from of the tip, and the moment the husks 

 the ear, after the knives have done their arc cut through, the corn is thrown into 

 oflScos; it is only necessary to insert tlu' '■ the basket, while the husks are thrown 

 car of corn into the shaft wliile it is into another, leaving the husks free 

 grasped wiili one liand in the middle for from cobs, ready for mattress bedding. 



Fr( ni tlic iApriciiltiiial I'r-iiort cf iiic U. S. riiti'iit ( 'Hi. e, iJ-'/T. 



Dr. jHrkson's Prorrss of Miikiii? Syrup and 

 Siijrar from llif fiiiiitsi' Sugar lane. 



lu the tii>t place, it is iioi-i-^sary to (iltor 

 the jiiic-e of the plant, a.s it ceiiic? fmui the 

 iiiiii, in order to rcinovo tlie ceiluluse and 

 tibrous matters and the starch, all of whieh 

 arc present in it ■when expressed. A bag 

 filter, or one iiiude of a blanket j)!aceu in a 

 basket, will answer tins jiuiposc. Xext, we 

 liavo to add a .-;ufli -ien'-y of milk of lime, 

 (that is, ll:ne slacked and iniNodwith wi.ter) 

 to tliC juice, to render it siiizlitiy alkaliMe, ua 

 sijowii by its changing tumeric })apt r to a 

 brown eokr. or redueuct' litnais p.ijier (o a 

 blue. A hUiall exeu&s o1 liiiie is not injuri- 

 ous. After this adiliti.iii, tlie juie" sliouiu 

 be boiled, say lor iiliein iiiiiiiit-. s. A liiiek 

 • 'leen seian raoiub. eol!e ts on tin' >Ui lac ■, 

 wlileh is to l)e reuioved iiy a .^kiniuier, a.i'i 

 then the liqidd .should a^aii: be iiitertd. ii 

 will now be of a pale straw eob'r, ai.d r. ;;fly 

 lor evap«'.ratiou, and may he boiled down 

 fjul*o ra])idly to about h;dl its original Imo;, 

 after which, tf.c lire must be kept low, the 

 cvaporatioc to l>e earned on witli ureal i;ni- 

 lion, and the syrujj constantly stirre.l lo ]in'- 

 Acut it IVniu burning at the hottoin i>f tl:;^ 

 kettle or evapor:iting pan. I'ortioiis (jI' t he 

 S3"rup :,re to be taken out, from tinu-tn time, 

 and alhjwcd to cool, lo see if it is dense 

 enough to crystal'ze. Jt should be about as 

 dense as sugar hou.sc molasses or tar. When 

 it hi'S reached this ci.ndition, it m;iy he 

 withdrawn from the evapi, rating % essel, and 

 be placed in tubs or casks lo granulate. 

 Crystals ot sugar will begin to form generally 

 in three or four days, and scmctiiues nearly 

 the whole nias.». will granulate, leaving hut 

 little molasses to be drained. After it has 

 solidified, it may be scooped out into conical 

 bags, made of coarse open eitithjOi- ot'eanvas, 

 which arc to be hung over some vessel to rc- 



cc'wv the molas.ses; and the drainage being 

 niueh aided hy warmth, it will be useful to 

 keep the tenijiciature of the room at SU° or 

 'MP V. After some days, it maybe removed 

 from the b;.gs, and wil! be found to be a good 

 brown sugiir. It m;iy now be reiined hy di.s- 

 .•-olviiig it in hot water, adding to the solu- 

 tion some white of eggs, (say one egg for ] IK) 

 Ihs. of sugar.) mi:;ed with cold water, after 

 which, the temper. itur<' is to be raised to 

 boiling, and the .syrup alloweil to remain at 

 ih;it heat i'nv half .ui hour. Then skim and 

 tilti r to remove the coagulated albumen and 

 t!;c impurities it h:.s extracted from the 

 ragar. 



Hy mc.ins of hoiieddiick, su; h as is prc- 

 |iared for sugar n liners, the sr.gar may be 

 decolored, by adding an oiUict; to e:ich gal- 

 ion ot the saeeli.irine .--olutioii, and boiling 

 duMvhoU tuucther. Tlmi filter,ai.d you will 

 obtain a iiettrly colorless syrup. J'lva])orate 

 M,:s. as liefore directed, biiskly, to half its 

 i..ulk, and tlien slowly uiitd dense eiiougii to 

 ciysj.dli/.e, leaving the syrup as before in 

 tulis. <.r pan.-, to granulate. This sugar will 

 he of a light hrown dlor, and Uiay now be 

 cl.iy. d. or whitened, by the usual method; 

 tiiat i-, by jmtting it into cones, and pouring 

 a , saturated .-olutii.n of wliite sugar upon it, 

 -I) as todispliiee the luolas^es, which will drop 

 from the aju'X of the eoiie when inverted. 

 It is iiuw refined or loaf sugar. 



'I'he methods here deseriijcd are the com- 

 mmi and cheap ones, Mich as any farmer can 

 eiiij)loy. it may be advantageous, when 

 operations of considerable extent are contem- 

 plated, to arrange a regular system of shallow 

 evaporating j)ans fur the cunci'Utratioii of the 

 syrup, similar to those now used in Vermont 

 for making maple sugar. 



It is evident ihat no ordinary methods can 

 compete with tle^se of a regular sugar refine- 

 ry, where vacuum pans are cm]»loycd, and 



evaporation is consequently carried on at a 

 low temperature. If the planter should 

 raise sufficiently large crops to warrant the 

 expense of sucli an apparatus on his place, 

 ho would not fail to manufacture large quan- 

 tities of sugar, and to operate with perfect 

 success, but this can be done only in the 

 Southern, Middle or Western States, where 

 extensive farming is common. Those who 

 wish to have their brown sugar clarified, can 

 send it to some of the larger refineries, where 

 the operations may be completed, and the 

 sugar put up in the usual form of white 



loaves. 



A very large proportion of our agricultural 

 people will doubtless be satisfied with the 

 pnjduction of a good syrup fi'om this plant. 

 They may obtain it by the following methods 

 described in the first part of this paper, or 

 they m;iy omit the lime, and make an agree- 

 able, but slightly acidulous syrup, which will 

 be of a lighter color that which has been 

 limed. This syrup is not apt to crystallize, 

 owing to the presence of acid matter. The 

 unripe cane can be employed for making 

 molasses and alcohol, but will not yield true 

 cane-sugar unless it is well matured. 



The Dwarfin? System. 



Editor Farmer: One of the greatest 

 acliievcmcnts made by the Chinese in 

 gardening is in dwarfing trees and 

 plants. To such perfection have tliey 

 reached in this art, that they grow an 

 oak tree, with all the appearance of 

 great age, covered with minute foliage 

 and acorns, and still it will not reach 

 six inches in hight I The Chinese rose 

 has been so dwarfed by them, that one 

 of them can be planted in the earth, full 

 of foliage, and occupy the inside of the 

 shell of a common hen's q^^. Beautiful 

 miniature buds^and roses, to bo sure ! 



But we have been told that in one 

 part of the State — though they have not 

 aimed to approach the Chinese in dwarf- 

 ing trees and shrubs — they have eifec- 

 tually carried out the idea of dwarfing 

 animals, so that the success is complete. 

 The plan is, that when a cow has a like- 

 ly calf, if it be a heifer, to raise it for 

 the drover ; if a likely bull, to raise a 

 steer for the same purpose ; but if the 

 calves (heifers and bulls) be the scrub- 

 biest of the scrubby — mere dwarfs, pig- 

 mies — to raise them to increase the stock 

 of the farm II It is by this process that 

 the true dwarf cow becomes a small car- 

 ricature of a cow, and the bull in size 

 would be inferior in all essential points 

 to the cattle raised in the Orkneys and 

 Hebrides. 



The system here noticed is carried out 

 by the natives far in the North, where 

 the horse is not much larger than the 

 billy goat. The Indians understand 

 this system, and nothing else ! 



Well, Mr. Editor, if any of this dwarf 

 stock can be had, it should be brought to 

 our Fair. We then can have before us 

 there suits of the two systems of breeding 

 cattle. We can see the difference be- 



