1861. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



359 



[For the Illinois Fartner.] 



Tha Borne Beauty. 



Ed. Farmer: Allow me to recommend lo you 

 the cultivation of the Rome Beauty. There are 

 trees in this part of the country which have been 

 set eighteen years — they produce prodigious 

 crops. It keeps nearly as well as the E-aules' 

 Janet, which, by the way, is the favorite here. 

 The tree promises to be long lived, and its 

 branches are as tough as the willow ; it bears 

 every yoar, and the fruit is of large size, some of 

 the trees hod twenty-five bushels this season. 

 They stand on the west side cf the orchard, and 

 on low ground; the orchard is on the west side 

 of the timber. The trees were set eighteen 

 inches deep, and were well cared fer ten years, 

 they then fell into the hands of one of the care- 

 less crew, who has treated them accordingly. 

 The Rambo trees are decaying, yet there were 

 specimens I have never seen equaled in theState, 

 certainly no better were ever raised ty old Peter 

 Rambo himself. 



Yours truly, 



H. Rutherford. 



— The above is the firit account that we have 

 of jthe R,ome Beauty fruiting in this State on 

 trees of some age, and we are glad to hear so 

 good an account of it from so reliable a source 

 as that of Dr. R. 



The Rome Beauty has not given satisfaction in 

 all parts of Ohio, but in the localit"es adapted 

 to it, it has become a great favorite. It is pos- 

 sible that on the prairie, it may become one of 

 our leading varieties. The location mentioned 

 above is near the north line of the county direct- 

 ly east of Okaw station on the I. C. R. R, and on 

 the west side of the Embarrass river, certainly 

 not so good a natural location for fruit as on the 

 east side of the river, on account of shelter from 

 the heavy southwest winds. We have introduced 

 this variety into both orchard and nursery, but 

 like all untried varieties, with some misgivings, 

 but hereafter we shall feel more encouraged in 

 regard to it. The Rome Beauty is one of the 

 most magnificent of the whole apple family, and 

 for market is among the most popular. In this 

 county are several thousand trees of this varie- 

 ty just beginning to show fruit, and we shall 

 soon know more of its value in prairie orchards. 

 We are at a loss to understand about the setting 

 eighteen inches deep, possibly the Dr. meant 

 that the holes were dug that deep ; will he please 

 explain ? Ed, 



Sorghum Sirup and Sugar. 



From the general silence of the local press and 

 agricultural journals of the West-on the subject 

 of sorghum, we feared that doiuestic sugar cane 

 and manufacture had had its day. Now is the 

 very time every gallon of home made molasses will 

 be needed, and we are gr^itified to learn from relia- 

 ble statistics and estimates that the sorghum crop 

 wil' go far toward sweetening the West and North- 

 west the present season. It is estimated by those 

 who are interested and have given attention to 

 the suhject, that 2,500,000 gallons of Sorgho 

 molasses were manulactured in Obio last year, 

 bringing nn average of 50 cents a gallon, and 

 that the crop of cane this year exceeds that of 

 last in the ratio of five acres to one. It is known 

 that, in round nunibcs, 300 cane mills were sold 

 in Cincinnati, 100 in Columbus, 200 in Zanesville, 

 200 in Mount Vernon, and 100 in Piqua lasi year, 

 and 100 to 200 must have been sold at other 

 points in the State. The value of the Sorghum 

 and Imphee crop last year in the States of Ohio, 

 Indiann, liiinois, [owa and Wisconsin, is estima- 

 ted at Five Milliox Dollars ! Surely the sugar 

 fields of free labor have made good progress ia 

 the very few years since they began to grow cane. 

 The capacity of our corn regions for growing 

 sorghum and imphee is unlimiie'^, and the demand 

 for sirup grows lapidly with its use. Through 

 separation of the vegetable matter from the ju'ce 

 by improvements ir: manufacture has been oltain- 

 ed, and the sorgho, with many, now ranks with 

 the best golden sirup of the tropical climate. 

 Like the use of the tomato, taste for it grows 

 with eating ; and every gallon made meets with 

 a ready sale at fair prices. 



Of the extent and profits of sor2hum culture 

 about Dayton, a few facts and figures may be of 

 interest. Mr George Hepner, twelve miles from 

 Dayton, last year manufactured 2,000 gallons of 

 molasses, which he sold at wholesale at 42 cents. 

 He kept an account of cost of culture, manufac- 

 ture, interest on land, &c., amount to $37 per 

 acre. The yield of molasses was |p00 gallons per 

 acre, leaving a net profit of $98 ; more profitable 

 than tobacco, considerably cultivated in the vi- 

 cinity of Dayton, and not exhausting the soil. 

 Mr. Hepner took the first premium on 20 pounds 

 of sorghum sugar, a fair, well crystalized article, 

 and pleasant to the taste. He finds no difliiculty 

 in making sugar from the cane with Cook's Evap- 

 orator. Mr. A. Clemmer, near Dayton, manu~ 

 factured 4,000 gallons of sirup last year, which 

 brought 69 cents. Last year he raised but one 

 acre of sorghum on his farm — this year he has 

 six, which he stated to be about the rate of in- 

 crease of sorghum culture in Montgomery county. 

 Mr. Hedae?, the former noted suear cane mill 

 manufacturer in Cincinnati, after trying Pike's 

 Peak, is going into the sorghum business at Day- 

 ton on quite an extensive scale. He has invested 

 $5,000 in sugar machinery, engaged cane on one 

 hundred acres to work up this fall, and says he 

 expects to live and die by sorghum. Belmont 

 stands at the head of sorghum counties in Ohio. 



In 1858, the sorgho experiment was generally 

 considered a failure. The invention of Cook'a 

 Evaporator turned the tide. Ty»o farraers near 



