292 . THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



in snch lands ; but the two may be com- 

 bined. 



After the second working, one or two 

 slight scrapings up will complete the cul- 

 tivation. 



These ?emarks, Mr. Editor, about the 

 cultivation of tobacco, are based upon 

 either experience or observation, and indi- 

 cate the mode I intend to practise in fu- 

 ture rather than that I have pursued. I 

 have either tested in my own crop or seen 

 in others the value of every part of the 

 process, except the subsoiling. 



As to the proper time of cutting tobacco 

 and housing it, or the best mode of curing 

 and ordering it, I shall say nothing. 

 Thsse are m itters, in my opinion, which 

 every one must learn for himself by actu- 

 al experiment. General instructions in- 

 deed may be of some service, but would 

 mislead as often as not. 



Yours, A Planter. 



Prince Edward, January, 1853. 



Chinese Plants. 



With regard to the Sorgho Sucre, or Chinese 

 Sugar Cane, the New Orleans papers, published 

 iri the midst of the only sugar section of the 

 United States, contains facts that look favora- 

 ble to its introduction. Thomas Affieek, Esq., 

 of Mississippi, writes that he has closely stu- 

 died the plant, and watched the results of the 

 various experiments made, from its first intro- 

 duction into France until this time, and thinks 

 it possible that it may supplant the sugar cane, 

 but thi iks the sugar-growing State cannot lose, 

 even if that be the result, as it will yield more 

 sugar there than further north, beside attain- 

 ing a vastly larger growth. The South will 

 have an additional advantage in its supply of 

 machinery perfectly adapted to the purpose, 

 and its thorough knowledge of sugar making. 



Mr. George W. Kendall of the New Orleans 

 Picayune, writes a letter to that paper on the 

 same subject from his plantation near New 

 Braunfels, Texas. He has made partial expe- 

 riments with its culture, and says that of its 

 properties for the production of sugar, he can 

 as yet say nothing; he only knows that it tastes 

 like the common sugar cane, and is full of juice 

 about the time the first heads ripen. He adds 

 that as a green fodder it beats everything that 

 grows ; horses, sheep, and hogs are inordinate- 

 ly fond of it, and so full are the stalks of sac- 

 charine matter that they must be both nu- 

 tritious and nourishing. Mr. Kendall says it 

 stands a drought better than any thing he has, 

 and does not seem to require rain after it is 

 once up. 



Prof. Bacon, of Boston, said in a lecture at 

 the Medical College, that the saccharum of the 

 Chinese sugar cane is not cane sugar, but 



what is well known as grape sugar or glocose — 

 the same kind of sweet substance that is ob- 

 tained by boiling starch in diluted sulphuric 

 acid. • 



We presume most of our readers are aware 

 that the sugars -from beets, maple trees, corn 

 stalks, and sugar cane appears to be alike, and 

 naturally inclined to granulate in solid hard 

 crystal, while grape sugar is more inclined to 

 remain in a soft mass, without granulating, and 

 is much weaker in saccharum, though rich as a 

 food. 



Grape sugar is abundant in fruit of all kinds, 

 hut does not crystalize, except imperfectly. 

 The white sugar in raisins, however, is of this 

 kind, as is also that portion of honey which 

 solidifies. The chemical constitution and the 

 practical values of the two sugars are very dif- 

 ferent. Two ounces of cane sugar, according 

 to the text books, are equal in sweetening 

 power to five ounces of grape sugar. 



For the Southern Planter. 



Bedford County, April, 1857. 

 Mr. F. G. Puffin: 



In perusing the first article in the April 

 number (Southern Planter) on "the plan of in- 

 struction in the principal and auxiliary depart- 

 ments of the school of agriculture," &c, we 

 felt convinced that the maturity and precision 

 of the writer deserve the cordial approbation of 

 the farming community of this State. Yet we 

 beg leave to offer to your readers a sketch of dif- 

 ference of opinion, which, although at first 

 sight of seeming unimportance, yet attacks the 

 very vitality of all institutions, but especially 

 that of agriculture. 



Virginia, the " farming State," as emphati- 

 cally termed by a great European orator, has 

 need of a not only "nine months preparation" 

 for agricultural purposes, but of a thorough 

 scientific agricultural school. The mere "abili- 

 ty to read the English language, &c, to write 

 a fair hand, to compose upon the occasion an 

 essay in English twenty or more lines in length, 

 correctly spelled and dictated," and the "ac- 

 quaintance with the theory and notation of 

 arithmetic, with addition, subtraction, multipli- 

 cation and division, &c, &c," are far below 

 the "dignity and importance" of that science, 

 which is followed by a majority of our citizens. 

 Even the subsequently calculated extension to 

 two sessions will upon such a basis prove in- 

 effectual. The numerous Academies and 

 Colleges of this State would labor in vain 

 to attract the young student to the literature 

 of Greece and Rome, their halls would 

 soon be deserted (should the above plan 

 succeed) and intrinsic learning exchanged with 

 a one-sided, superficial and unstable acquisi- 

 tion of empiric suggestions. For, although 

 agriculture is at once the mother and offspring 

 of science, yet it is the only social calling that 

 has proportionally least profitted by its pro- 

 gress. 



