338 
CUTTING AND CURING SUMACH, ETC. 
account in the experiment largely in his favor. At 
any rate, he obtained upwards of 21 hogsheads of 
good sugar from seven acres, which was a much 
larger yield than any other acres gave. The strip- 
ping was done by children, whose labor was not of 
much value at that season for any other purpose ; 
and even if it had been valuable, he thinks that 
the labor was not lost, because the work of the 
cane cutters was greatly facilitated. I forgot to 
inquire whether he used the leaves for fodder. 
The cane experimented upon, was first-year rat- 
toons. It is needless to say that it was good, inde- 
pendent of the stripping. -\ >. 
The bishop also tried an experiment, last season, 
to ascertain the quantity of juice obtained. He 
weighed 2,300 pounds of cane, which gave 163 
gallons of juice, weighing 8& lbs. to the gallon. 
He then reground the bagasse, and got 5 gallons 
more. Another experiment gave 67 lbs. of juice 
to 100 lbs. of cane. To do this, the mill must be 
first rate. 
Bishop P. has made an improvement upon his 
mill that I like. Instead of elevating the cane on 
the carrier, so as to pitch it down into the mill, he 
"brings it up to a level, and there it is seized upon 
by two rollers that feed it to the mill in a very 
regular manner. All the bagasse is put in a pile 
to rot, for manure, as he is satisfied that, however 
rich the soil may be at first, manure will be of great 
advantage after a few years. 
The amount of team required upon this place, 
besides oxen, is about 75 mules or horses, the latt.er 
being preferred. Upon this point, there is great 
difference of opinion. Many contend that, as 
horses only cost about half as much as mules, 
will do more work, and live nearly as long, that it 
is economy to use them. 
The annual expenses of this plantation average 
about $8,000 ; and yet, they make a full supply of 
corn and hay, and manufacture almost everything 
that can be done upon the place. The wool and 
cotton are purchased in the bale, and cloth is spun 
and wove by the feeble portion of the people. 
Carts, wagons, plows, spades, hoes, &c, are all 
made upon the place. So are the shoes. But 
there is half a pound of pork for every mouth, 
every day, to be paid for, which swells the amount ; 
hut it is the intention of the bishop to try hard to 
obviate this by raising his own hogs. This is an 
experiment I doubt the policy of. The difficulty 
of curing pork in this climate, is one objection, but 
the main one is, that the labor bestowed upon cane, 
instead of corn, will buy more pork than the corn 
will fatten. Then why try to make it 1 I also 
doubt the policy, upon most plantations, of manu- 
facturing cloth ; though the bishop says that his is 
spun and woven by old people, and by mothers, 
just before and after giving birth to children, and 
by invalids, or convalescents, who are unable to go 
to the field. The whole business of manufacturing 
of the materials and clothing all the people, is in 
the hands of one negro, who receives a certain 
number of bales of wool and cotton, and there- 
from provides all the clothes required by the peo- 
ple, without ever troubling his master, or overseer, 
about the matter. 
It is worthy of note here, that all labor ceases 
upon this plantation, even during the rolling season, 
upon the Sabbath. As the bishop himself is neces- 
sarily absent much of the time, he employs a curate, 
who preaches to his people, every Sunday, and 
conducts a large Sabbath school, and performs all 
the marriage and sepulture rites required. About 
one third of the whole number are members of the 
church, and are as consistent Christians as are 
usually found in any community. 
The average yield of corn upon this place, is 
about 26 bushels to the acre, and the amount 
required for plantation use, about 11,000 bushels. 
Mr. Botner, the very intelligent overseer, is of 
opinion that green bagasse injures land ; but when 
rotten, is the best manure in the world. 
He is also of the opinion that subsoil plowing 
won't pay cost. In this, of course we differ. But 
I give opinions as I find them, for what they are 
worth, for the use of others. He uses the "Beran- 
ger plow," but thinks the "Jacob plow" the best 
of any ever tried in stiff land. He also thinks the 
" sidehill plow" one of the most labor-saving kind 
of tools in plowing back ditch banks. Much of 
the land in cultivation is newly cleared, and, of 
course, full of vegetable matter. Upon this, he 
thinks it absolutely necessary to burn the cane 
leaves and tops, as it would be very troublesome to 
attempt to plow them under, and would be of no 
real benefit. The distance apart of cane rows, 
upon this place, is eight feet. 
I am not willing to close the sketch of my visit 
to this place, without bearing testimony to the high 
character, both as a gentleman, an improving agri- 
culturist, and a kind master to those whom Provi- 
dence has placed him in charge of, which is univer- 
sally accorded to Bishop Polk. As to his most 
excellent wife, she is certainly such a one as a 
great many planters' ladies might well imitate. 
Cutting and Curing Sumach. — Mr. Barclay,, near 
Newburgh, N. Y., who has had much experience 
in the use of sumach, says, it should be cut when 
the leaf is in full vigor, which, in that vicinity, is 
in July. It is the sprouts of the first year's 
growth, only, that are cut. These are cured like 
hay, and are then threshed, the large stalks raked 
out, and the leaves sacked for market. If culti- 
vated, he thinks the produce would be from three 
to five tons to the acre. It is worth from $30 to 
$60 a ton. Sicily sumach is worth from $50 to 
$100 a ton. Sumach is also prepared by grinding 
the stems and leaves altogether. Mr. B. relates 
that he bought, this year, four tons, that had been 
gathered in six weeks, by a man, his wife, and boy, 
besides doing their other work. For this, he paid 
them $140, cash. 
Mr. Barclay dresses about 300 skins a day, and 
uses from $3,000 to $4,000 worth of sumach in a 
year. This plant is also used largely by dyers. 
^ 
Raspberries. — Mr. Charles Downing, nursery- 
man, near Newburgh, relates that one of his neigh- 
bors, this season, sold the product of three acres of 
raspberries for about $1,500. They were of the 
large, red Antwerp variety. To grow them in this 
latitude, Mr. D. says, the canes must be laid down 
and slightly covered with earth, say one or two 
inches deep, before the ground freezes, and thus 
kept till the spring opens. 
