50 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



through the hands as it is done, to make it oc- 

 cupy less space, by which it will exhibit a bet- 

 ter appearance when it is opened for inspection. 

 To make it descend always on a level in the 

 hogshead, by never suffering the beam to be de- 

 pressed below a horizontal position, and to cause 

 the tobacco in prizing, not to leave the inside of 

 the hogshead, which can only be effected by 

 having different sets of press boards, correspond- 

 ing to the different dimensions of the hogshead 

 between the bulge and the head. 



Your friend, P. Minor. 



CORN-STALK SUGAR, POUDRETTE AND 

 CINDERS. 



To the Editors of the Southern Planter: 



Gentlemen, — While looking carelessly over a 

 political paper some time since, I accidentally 

 came across an extract from some southern agri- 

 cultural journal, relative to the subject of making 

 sugar and molasses from the sap of green corn- 

 stalks. Since reflecting upon it, I have a desire 

 to try the experiment, merely for the sake of 

 gratifying my curiosity. This little extract 

 stated that the stalks were ground, but I should 

 think " beating" them, in the manner of beating 

 cider, would be a good substitute in a small 

 way. If you have any knowledge on the sub- 

 ject please give us a piece in } r our next number 

 of the Planter, showing the whole process. 



The "Poudrette" has been discussed with con- 

 siderable animation, in our county and I am 

 glad to see you design affording us an opportu- 

 nity of testing its value. 



I tried an experiment last spring with the 

 cinders from the charcoal of a blacksmith's shop, 

 and was greatly surprised at its effects. I 

 placed them upon a small red lot, which was 

 put in tobacco, and could see the difference, to a 

 row, between that and the stable manure. The 

 tobacco w T as larger and heavier where the cinder 

 was placed, than the other portion of the lot. I 

 cannot attribute it to any strengthening quality 

 in the cinder, but it must have changed the na- 

 ture of the land, so as to adapt to the wet sea- 

 son we had during the whole summer. Do 

 you think there could be any intrinsic worth in 

 the cinder ? 



This is not written for publication, but merely 

 to satisfy my own curiosity on the subjects al- 

 luded to. I hope the interest I take in farming 

 will be a sufficient apology for troubling you. 

 There is no subject which the people of Virgi- 

 nia should be more anxious to investigate than 

 the science of farming and planting, and no 

 subject on which the laws of natural philosophy 

 would act with a happier and more interesting 

 effect. 



Wishing your useful periodical an extensive 

 circulation for the good it may do, and as a 



meed for the interest you take in the farmer's 

 welfare, 



I am your subscriber 



And obedient servant, 



C. Baskerville. 

 Mecklenburg, Jan. 16, 1843. 



We have taken the liberty of publishing 

 what was "not meant for publication," and 

 will, in the first place, assure our correspondent, 

 that no apology is needed for " troubling" us 

 upon any subject connected with agriculture. — 

 It will always afford us pleasure to respond, to 

 the best of our ability, to his inquiries, either 

 publicly or privately. 



We sincerely hope that the Poudrette will 

 receive a fair trial in Virginia this year, not that 

 it is, as some have ridiculously imagined, to 

 take the place of farm yard manure, but after 

 all has been raked and scraped from every 

 hole and corner, then we belive it may be 

 well eked out with Poudrette. In other words, 

 we believe the fanner can make two or three 

 hundred per cent, by manuring with Poudrette 

 that portion of his land, that would, otherwise, 

 go unmanured. Its effect upon garden vegeta- 

 bles is undoubted and most extraordinary. 



The cinders from the blacksmith's shop, 

 we have no doubt, were highly advantageous 

 during the wet summer of the last year, in their 

 action as mechanical receivers and dischargers 

 of the gases obtained from the atmosphere, over 

 and above the carbonic acid gas they may have 

 assisted in forming. 



With respect to the corn-stalk sugar, we have 

 seen specimens of it equal to any we have ever 

 beheld. Whether it can successfully compete 

 in the market with that from the sugar cane, 

 has yet to be settled, and is certainly worthy of 

 trial. The following directions for its manufac- 

 ture, furnished by Dr. Naudain, of Delaware, 

 are the most clear and precise that we have 

 seen : 



" The fact that sugar can be made from the 

 stalk of corn is one of recent discovery. It has 

 already excited a deep interest in the public 

 mind, and every thing relating to it is looked 

 for with much interest. 



"The writer has become possessed of some 

 facts which may materially aid others in the 

 present experimental state of ihe business. For 

 as yet it is experiment, although enough is 

 known to convince the most sceptical that the 

 probability is that sugar from Indian corn will 

 be, at a future and not very distant day, one of 

 the great staples of the country. 



