THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



721 



ties to copper, as they boil after becoming 

 hot much more steadily, and are not half 

 so apt to. scorch. 



Sorghum requires about the same 

 amount of tillage as corn, and one hand 

 could easily tiil ten acres in addition 

 to ordinary faiming crops. On good land, 

 I believe the cane will yield about one 

 hundred gallons of syrup, — which, at 50 

 cts. per gallon, would amount to $500 

 Deduct $100 for expenses, and allowing 

 the seed and fodder to pay for tillage, we 

 have left $400 nett proceeds for ten acres, 

 or $40 per acre. 



Tobacco, at 4500 hills per acre, and 

 seven plants to the pound at six dollars 

 per hundred, would yield $38 58, and re- 

 quire thiee or four times the labour of the 

 cane, and give no pay above that for its 

 tillage. So if we were to reduce the cane 

 to fifty gallons per acre, it would still 

 " pay better" than tobacco. There may 

 be none of the Sorghum lost, for even the 

 stalk, after it is pressed, if dried and stored 

 away, f have no doubt would make a fine 

 winter feed for horses and milch cows, by 

 cutting and soaking them, and rolling 

 them in meal or chop. Much saccharine 

 matter is left in them, even after the most 

 effectual pressure, which, I doubt not, 

 would be fine for horses, cattle or hogs. 

 I run them under a pressure of about 

 three or four thousand pounds, and yet 

 my hogs thrive rapidly on them. 



I have no doubt that the finest quality 

 of vinegar may be made from the juice, 

 and if so, one acre that would make 100 

 gallons of molasses, would make from 800 

 to 900 gallons of vinegar equal to the best 

 apple vinegar ; — say 800 gallons, at 12^ 

 cents an acre, would give $100. This, 

 however, is conjecture, for I know not the 

 loss in making; vinegar. But reduce this 

 one half, and the ten acres (a hand's crop) 

 would yield $500 ; and the expense of 

 making the vinegar would not be half 

 that ot molasses. 



I have no doubt it might be distilled 

 into spirits profitably ; but that I shall 

 never tr}\ 



Pardon prolixity, &c. 



J. F. E. 



Good Fritters.— To a pint of good butter- 

 milk, add a little salt and a tea-spoonful of 

 soda ; stir in flour enough to make a thick bat- 

 ter. Fry in hot lard. 

 46 



For the Southern Planter. 



How to Keep Sweet Potatoes. 



Mr. Editor: 



Having noticed a call for information about 

 the "safe keeping of sweet potatoes, " not in 

 yours but in other agricultural papers, I com- 

 ply at once with the promise made some weeks 

 ago, and which you have perhaps forgotten. 



From repeated observations, made some fif- 

 teen years since, it appeared that weight and 

 moisture were the only causes of rot among 

 root crops, provided they are sound when 

 stored, and the frost excluded. 



Roots put away in rainy, damp, or foggy 

 weather, have a poor chance of wintering well ; 

 if bulked under such unfavorable conditions, 

 they should be afterwards dried by the sun and 

 wind, or by the fire. 



No damp situation will answer for the safe 

 keeping of root crops. The digging should be 

 effected, if possible, in dry weather; if you 

 must dig them in a moist condition, be sure 

 and dry them before finally storing them away. 

 All sources of moisture being guarded against, 

 half the battle is gained, but in the next place 

 excessive weight must be avoided. 



The best depth for a heap of sweet potatoes 

 is about 18 to 20 inches, and the liability to rot 

 will increase in direct proportion to the increase 

 of depth over that limit. So after laying that 

 depth of roots, have boards laid over, sup- 

 ported strongly at each end, not touching the 

 mass below, but allowing two or three inches 

 for ventilation ; this process of shelving, or floor- 

 ing, at every 22 or 23 inches, may be continued 

 to the joists. 



In very cold localities additional precau- 

 tions become necessary ; the frost is there the 

 main enemy, and sawdust, dry chaff, pine 

 leaves, or other thoroughly dry material must 

 be laid under and over the roots to the depth of 

 five or six inches, which will require that the 

 shelves, or floors, be placed 10 or 12 inches 

 farther apart. 



I have used a structure resembling an old- 

 fashioned cup-board, made of refuse plank, 

 with shelves about 20 inches apart, and found 

 it to answer well, except that a good lock and 

 key would have been a valuable improvement. 



In constructing a potatoe barn, I And it well 

 to pave with brick, on account of rats; and to 

 exclude cold, the walls are stuffed with dry 

 chaff, slats being nailed on the inside of the 

 studs, or posts, for that purpose; between the 

 interstices of the slats, or narrow boards, and 

 at intervals of about 20 inches, the shelves, as 

 above described, find support. 



Other modes of storing roots may answer as 

 well, with regard to frost, but few plans will 

 afford equal security against thieves as the 

 above, which have never failed in fifteen years 

 trial. Respectfully, 



J. LUCIUS DAVIS. 



N. B. — The above hints will be found useful 



