;ifW»BftW^'JSW?9^HWW'4!«?11^^^ 



*w«al?wt'!^*^."!'^K4iSS*~ "*^^^^ 



^'tp^^' 



THE ILI^IlSrOIS FARMER. 



169 



The Springfield Sugar Mill. . 

 Our readers have read in this paper 

 some notice o£ the proposed establish- 

 ment, in this city, of a mill for expres- 

 sing the juice from the Chinese sugar 

 cane, and the manufacture of it into 

 syrup and sugar. In some correspon- 

 dence with Isaac A. Hedges, of Cincin- 

 nati, last spring, we suggested this as 

 the only plan to determine the value of 

 the Chinese sugar cane as a saccharine 

 plant. Mr. Hedges replied that i£ we 

 would induce our farmers to plant 200 

 acres of the cane, he would come or send 

 competent persons here to put up such a 

 mill as we had suggested. We went to 

 work, and notwithstanding the unfavor- 

 able character of the spring, many of our 

 farmers viewing the matter in the same 

 light that we did, agreed to plant cane. 

 Two hundred acres, probably, were plant- 

 ed. We do not know exactly how much. 

 Many who intended to plant were unable 

 to do so on account of the continued 

 rains and the submerged state ot the 

 soil. 



Some fields of cane have grown and 

 matured well. That which was planted 

 early and on dry ground, is very good j 

 but a considerable portion has not ma- 

 tured — we hope that enough matured, 

 however, to be used in making molasses. 

 The juice of late planted cane can be 

 worked up into molasses for distilling, if 

 desired, and a valuable alcohol can be 

 made of it. 



Messrs. Depew & Hedges have now 

 put up their mill, near the junction of 

 the two rail roads, south of this city. 

 They have a great supply of cane at the 

 mill. It is brought in on wagons from 

 the country, and on cars upon the Rail- 

 roads. Gov. Matteson, with the view of 

 furthering the great experiment, is bring- 

 ing on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis 

 Road, small parcels free of charge, and 

 large lots at a small charge. Cane is 

 coming from as far north as Atlanta — 

 indeed, we heard that it was intended to 

 bring a lot from Will county. From 

 the south, cane has been sent by railroad 

 from Virden. 



We trust the mill will have full em- 

 ployment. It is now running day and 

 night, giving employment to two setts of 

 hands, 'it will turn out from 250 to 300 

 gallons of syrup per day. No attempts 

 have yet been made to make sugar. The 

 cane does not show as high a per cent, of 



saccharine as last year — when it reached 

 10 per cent. Lots of ripe cane now aver- 

 age but T per cent. The difference, no 

 doubt, was caused by the peculiar char- 

 acter of the last season — the ground, 

 during two-thirds of it, being entirely 

 saturated with water. ■ 



The syrup made is a good article. 

 Messrs. Depew & Hedges are thoroughly 

 satisfied, that in good seasons a fine ar- 

 ticle of cane can be grown here, and the 

 juice manufactured to good profit. We 

 presume that cane mills will be common 

 throughout this portion of the State the 

 next season ; and after next fall the de- 

 mand for molasses will be fully supplied 



by the domestic article. 



— .•. 



Fall Plowing. 



Some of our correspondents have re- 

 commended fall plowing for oats. Wc 

 think the plan would work equally well 

 for spring wheat and barley. In the 

 fall we are not as much hurried as in 

 spring, and the ground is in much better 

 order for plowing. We would recom- 

 mend, if the work is undertaken at all, 

 to do it well. PloAv deep, and cover up 

 the weeds deep, and bury the larvae of 

 worms and insects (which are generally 

 within two or three inches of the surface) 

 so deep that you will not hear from them 

 in time to enable them to do much harm. 

 Plowed ground will be advantageously 

 afiected by the freezing of winter, and 

 in spring the soil will be light, and with 

 a good harrowing, will be ready to re- 

 ceive the seed. 



If this fall plowing for spring crops is 

 something new to you— and is not re- 

 cognized by old farmers — try it on a 

 small scale, on ground drained and dry 

 — and see if it will not pay. The best 

 gardens are those where the earth is 

 trenched deep and thrown up in the 

 fall. 



and cuttings of the grapes of New Mex- 

 ico and Texas, with the view of testing 

 their adaptation to wine making and table 

 use. Writing from El Paso, in the val- 

 ley of the Rio Grande, he speaks in high 

 terms of the grapes in that region, which 

 he says are mainly of two varieties, the 

 blue and white. Of the blue grape, he 

 says: "In size of bunches, in size of 

 berries, in exalted sweetness as well as 

 delicacy of flavor, it is unrivalled by any 

 in cultivation in the United States. It 

 tastes like the Isabella, sweetened with 

 loaf sugar. The white grape is a large 

 delicious grape, preferred by some for the 

 table, but the blue grape is supposed to 

 be more hardy and prolific. The El 

 Paso grapes are already successfully cul- 

 tivated in Pennsylvania. Major Wil- 

 liams will send in samples of plums and 

 apricots, and seeds of other valuable 

 fruits. 



-«•»- 



That Seed Corn! 

 Have you saved that corn for seed ? 

 Have you selected those varieties — late, 

 early and earliest? If not, do it at 

 once. Don't let us see you next spring, 

 when mud is knee-deep all over the 

 country, hunting about, as if mad, to 

 find seed corn! "Now's the time" to 

 select your seed. 



Fair Regulations. — We find the fol- 

 lowing among the regulations for the U. 

 S. Fair. It should be adopted at all our 

 fairs, and awarding committees by being 

 especially careful to place their ribbons 

 as required, would save the officers of 

 societies from much trouble. Miscella- 

 neous articles are entered for commen- 

 dation, and not for premium ; and no 

 premium can be awarded on such articles 

 without a violation of the rules.- If there 

 be an article on the miscellaneous list es- 

 pecially deserving of a premium, the 

 white ribbon should be placed upon it, 

 as upon all articles deserving commenda- 

 tion, and the case especially reported to 

 the officers of the society. 



*' The books of entries will be deliver- 

 ed to the judges by the Secretary, on the 

 morning of the day on which the awards 

 ] are to be made ; with the ribbons which 

 are to denote the premiums, viz : 1st 

 premium. Blue Ribbon; 2d premium, 

 RedRibhon; 3d premium, FThite Rib- 

 bon; commendation, Green Ribbon. 

 Animals or articles thought worthy of 



"commendation" will be reported to the 

 executive committee, who alone have 

 authority to award discretionary pre- 

 miums in such cases." 



-—»- 



g@°'The Patent Office has sent Major 

 H. 0. Williams to New Mexico and 

 Texas, for the purpose of collecting seeds 



••.- 



g^^The Patent Office has commenced 

 the establishment of a propagating house 

 and grounds at Washington. The object 

 is to make trial of foreign and native 

 plants, fruits, grasses, vegetables, Ac. 

 This is doing something for the agricul- 

 tural interest. , V , .... 



