»s.;*-WT'3^ijwj 



^1-t 



Tiii^ iLLiisroiis fa.rme:r. 



making new bills on their new proniisi s 

 'J lio time Ins come in Illinois when we 

 must not ('cp Mid on the "hit" of the sea- 

 son to make crops:. ^Ve nm^t thoruujihly 

 cultivjito. If our land is wet, we must take 

 lUvians to carry off the water. We must plow 

 well, smd deep. We must keep clown the 

 wced.«. We must put in our seed well — 

 cultivate well — and when all this is done, 

 we are all but certain of fair crops. Knix- 

 1 aid is a irreat a:;ricultural country. Tliore 

 productions per acre are immense. Our 

 system of cultivation there, would rarely 

 return the seed .'^own. Our cultivation there 

 Would desolate the country. I repeat, th.it 

 w.^ must adopt the system of tlioruiuih fiilti 



vation, if we would soeiiro good crops. AVe 

 must not dejicnt upon the seasons for crops. 

 We must, depend more upon ourselves, and 

 God will help us. 



liCt our neglectful farmers think of these 

 things — some do think of them, and adoj)t 

 an imj)rovcd system of farming, and their 

 improved system pays well. Tlie time was 

 wluii a partial failure of a crop in Illinois, 

 worked no great evil. It is not so now; 

 our people are not content with the same 

 m >de of living that was in fashion here 

 twenty years ago. A little hog and harmony, 

 and the courest and cheapest clothing satis- 

 tied (hem. Now our farmers want all the 

 comforts and luxuries which farmers enjoy 

 elsewhere; and to have these requires con- 

 stant vigilance in farming. This vigilance 

 — this exercise of enlightened judgment. 

 This use of " mind with muscle " — this 

 habit of doing our part in the thorough eul- 

 tervation of our land, will secure all the ends 

 wc may reasonably ask for. 



"One who intknds to practick 



WHAT HE PREACUES." 



1—- 



The Sugar Question. 



The importance of this subject, demands 

 all the light that can be thrown upon it. — 

 The following communication states some 

 now facts which should be considered by 

 cane L'rowers. The ofi'er of the writer to 

 superintend a sugar establishment, we hope 

 will meet the eye of some man who is dis- 

 posed to engage in the business. 



TL.scoLA,Coles Co., 111., Jan, 15, 1859. 

 aS'. Francis, Ei^q.: 



Dear Sir : Yours, of Dec. 22d, was duly 

 received. I have mostly i'orgotten the con- 

 tents of my former letter, though I believe 

 that I stated, that I intended planting some 

 30 acres of cane the ensuing season. 



I am not a freeholder in this state. My 

 profession is that of a practical engineer and 

 millwright. I was some six years in Louis- 

 iana and Florida, erecting sugar mills, and 

 taking off crops of sugar. The climate was 

 was so sickly that 1 was obliged to come 

 north. While there I had the best of ofipor- 

 tunities, posted myself up well, as I think, 

 in all that pertains to the manufacture of 

 raw su;.rar. 



.Siiiee coming north, 1 have had two soa- 

 BOns experiince (in a small way, and with 

 miseral)le materials,) with the Chinese Cane, 

 and know vi-ry well what can be made (mt 

 of it, by correct management, and skillful 

 plans from the start. 



Though the Sorgho is a difficult, juice to 

 work — or difficult to one accustomed to the 

 Southern cane juice; yet it is perfectly easy, 

 when once the hinh-x are fairly understood ; 

 but 1 have no hesitation in saying, and time 

 will prove me correct, there is less known at 

 the north /'// nynni to the nine vulture., than 

 there is in regard to working it up. 



It was not owing to any skillful manage- 

 ment, that some few succeeded the past sea- 

 son, in making sugar, or a fine article of 

 syrup, as 1 have their published, or written 

 statements, and some of them were as un- 

 skilll'ul as possible, almost. It was owing to 

 good juice. The cane was planted on dry 

 or rolling sandy land, and Itwas attended to. 



I came here the second week in November 

 last, to take off a crop of cane, of 40 acres, 

 and Ibund the cane good for nothing; it 

 having been planted the lOth of June. It 

 looked so sp'ndling, and feeble to Mr. R., 

 he never having had any experience with 

 cane, that he gave it up for a bad bargain. 

 After harvest time, early in August, having 

 lost nearly all his crops, bethought he would 

 make some fodder out of it, any how. So 

 he turn<^d to and ploughed it once, and that 

 was all the cultivation it ever got ; but it 

 started off at sueh a rate, and grew so rap- 

 idly, that late in the season, (^too late,) he 

 coneluded to work it up into syrup. The 

 leaves were all killed by the heavy frost of 

 the 7th October, and it stood in the wet 

 ground, till in November, in constant rain 

 and water. The highest the juice stood was 

 5° or h\°, and even that strength was made 

 up of gum, and not sugar, and though we 

 had uH.serable fixtures for the business, and 

 nothing but constant rain, I made an arti- 

 cle which, if not the best, sold quite readily, 

 and we make a constant and free use of it at 

 our table. But one gallon of juice at 10° 

 is worth more than two gallons at 7°, or four 

 gallons at 5°. When it is low, its juice is 

 nnide up almost entirely of gum, and it takes 

 so long to boil it down that what little sugar 

 there is iti it will undergo decomposition. 



Propositions have been made to me by 

 several in this neighborhood, to superinteud 

 cultivating; and taking off' a crop of cane, the 

 ensuing season, on shares, and I had made 

 up my mind to do so; but on more mature 

 reflection, think I had better seek a more 

 congenial soil, if not climate. The borders 

 of the large river, and the southern part of 

 the State, are the places for cane culture. — 

 There will be no trouble at all in making 

 good cane on the borders of the Illinois riv- 

 er, from Marshall county down, or on this 

 side the Mississippi, all the way, or in the 

 vicinity of the Wabash. But these low flat 

 prairies have too tight and impervious a sub- 

 soil for good juice. 



Much better or handsomer sugar can be 

 made in Florida than can be made in Louis- 

 iana, any way they can tix it. The last sea- 

 son I was with Mr. Yulee, (Hon. I). L. 

 Vulee,) we made 143 hhds — jironounced the 

 handsomest American sugar that ever came 

 to New York market. It .sold within } cent, 

 per It) of what the very best Porto Ilico did. 

 And on all the plantations I was on at tlie 

 South, I invariably found the best juice, and 

 that the most easily worked, on a dry sandy 

 soil. 



I would like to meet with a party having 



suitable land and some means, to superintend 

 cultivating and taking off a crop of 30 or 40 

 acres. I am ready to guarantee, in writing, 

 a net profit of SlOO per acre, over and above 

 the cost of cultivation, and taking off; but 

 not including cost of machinery. Thfs, for 

 engine, mill, kettles, (fee, would cost from 

 12 to 1400 dollars, half cash, balance in G 

 months. 



I had thouglit, that perhaps, among yonr 

 numerous subscribers, or correspondents, 

 some one might be in the vein for such an 

 enterprise. As I said before, I know very 

 well what can be made out of the Chinese or 

 the African cane ; and from the first I have 

 said the latter was the best ; and I will enter 

 iuto written stipulations, either as to qual- 

 ity, or quantity, of the syrup I will pro- 

 duce. 



Syrup that shall command, at the lowest 

 figure 75 cents per gallon, can easily be 

 made, and at a cost not to exceed 20 cents; 

 and 300 gallons, or even 400 gallons can just 

 as easily be made from an acre, provide 

 you have the right land, aud set out for it 

 from the start. 



Cane is cane, as much as cotton is cot- 

 ton, or peaches are peaches. To be sure, 

 the juices of the different varieties vary 

 much; yet their cultivation requires the 

 same soil and treatment. 



I have never yet seen a set of kettles fit 

 to make a fine article of syrup from either 

 the Chinese or African cane. I shall get 

 up a set next season that shall tell a differ- 

 ent story, from any I have ever yet seen or 

 heard of. Not a particle of iron shall there 

 he about them. 



Should any of your acquaintances be in a 

 mood for the "sweet business," if you will 

 inform them of my wishes, or intentions, I 

 will reciprocate the favor to your satisfac- 

 tion. Should no njore advantageous proposi- 

 tions be made to me, than I have received 

 here of course I shall remain. 

 Very truly yours, J. S. W. Badger. 



P. S. I notice that Mr. Griffith, of San- 

 gamon connty, offers to cultivate 200 acres 

 of cane for §9,00 per acre, provided he can 

 find a responsible party to take it off. 



Is he aware that a suitable establishment 

 for such a job could not be erected for less 

 than from six to eight thousand dollars. It 

 would take a 40 horse engine, mill and ket- 

 tles to match, nnless it was calculated to be 

 six months about it. I could not cultivate 

 cane, and cultivate it as it should be, to 

 have good juice, short of 12 or 15 dollars 

 per acre. 



If he could come down to thirty or forty 

 acres, to cultivate and take off", I can give 

 him a chance to make something, but no 

 one who knows any thing about cane cul- 

 ture, will undertake to w..rk up a field of 

 slip slop — cultivated cane. 



It is not the seed we are after, it is the 

 juice : farmers do not seem to comprehend 

 the difference. 



T was up in Wisconsin in the early part 

 of the season — every body h:id a half acre 

 or so, but they were all going in next year 

 for 50 or 100 acres, and the majority could 

 not raise 8500 to save their lives. At the 

 South they always allow from 75 to 100 dol- 

 lars, ibr their sugar works, for every acre 

 they intend to cultivate. 



