174 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
MEASURING CORN IN BUEK. 
Editor Southern Cultivator — I see you continue to 
admit articles on Measuring Corn in Bulk, so let me give 
you the following, which exhausts the subject: 
Multiply together the dimensions in feet (or feet and 
fractions, if there are fractions) and from the product de- 
duct (me-jifth. Now, this gives the bushels of matter — 
corn, cob and shuck. If the corn is shucked, divide by 2, 
according to the old rule, which says shucked corn on the 
cob turns out one-half. If the corn is unshucked, divide 
by 3, according to the old rule, which says corn unshuck- 
ed turn out one-third. 
Explanatisn . — The reason why you deduct one-fifth is 
simply because a cubic foot is almost exactly four-fifth of 
a bushel— 1728 : 2150:: 4 : 5. 
The above rule only makes a error of about 3 bushels 
in 800. In reducing the gross contents to bushels of grain, 
of course, there can be no fixed rule to go by ; but I say 
divide by 3 for unshucked corn because it is the most 
prevalent opinion that unshuched corn turns out one-third. 
But this must vary with the quality of corn. My own 
opinion is that heavy corn close slip-shucked turns out 
more than one-third, and, therefore, the gross contents 
shuld not be divided by 3, but probably by 2 1-2 or 2 3-4. 
Small-eared corn, with much shuck on it, does not yield 
one-third, and probably should be divided by 3 1-4 or 
3 1-2. The gross contents in bushels is ascertained by the 
above rule on a plain and unquestionable mathematical 
fact — and as to reducing the gross contents to bushels of 
grain, let every man divide by what he thinks proper — 
23-4, 3 or 3 1-4, according to the quality of the corn. 
OZAN. 
Hempstead. Ark., March, 1859. 
MEAT— SMOKED AND UNSMOKED. 
Editor Southern Cultivator — I have been a constant 
subscriber and reader of the Cultivator for the last eight 
years, and have gained a great deal of information from 
its pages. I think it but right that we who live by agri- 
cultural pursuits should not only gain information on the 
subject, but impart what knowledge we may gain by 
experiment, &c., for the benefit of each other. The sub- 
ject to which I would call your attention, (also your cor- 
respondents and readers,) is one which has occupied my 
mind, attention and some experiment for several years. 
It is this : Smoking Meat. What property has smoke 
in curing or preserving bacon 1 If as good or better ba- 
con can be made without smoke, why not abandon the 
practice 1 In this age ofprogress, men are puzzling their 
brains to make labor-saving machinery, and to do the 
most with least labor. Of course our fathers all smoked 
their meat, but is that sufficient reason for us to continue 1 
I trow not. I have seen and eaten as good bacon as I ever 
saw in my life, and now have some in my smoke house 
that never had a particle of fire or smoke in the house, 
entirely free from bugs or worms. - I, also, am acquaint 
ed with several gentlemen who have abandoned smoking 
their meat for the last six years, with entire success. 
It not only saves some trouble, but less danger, as I have 
known several meat houses burned down, and have fre- 
quently seen meat badly spoiled, not, I presume, by 
smoke, but by too much heat. B. F. T. 
Haywood, Tenn., 1859. 
^^To preserve a friend, honor him when present, 
praise him when absent, and assist him cordially in time 
of need. 
^^If misfortune come into your house, be patient and 
smile pleasantly, and k will soon ftalls opt again, for it 
can’t bear cheerful company. " 
SORGHO SUGAR — PEAR ON THE HAW, &:c. 
Editor Southern Cultivator — I have often been 
tempted to drop you a communication, but finding each 
buccessive paper so freighted with matter, more interest- 
ing than any I had on hand, I have heretofore been con- 
tent to be a student. Yet I know it is through the free 
interchange of thought and experience, on the part of the 
votaries of any science, that the most rapid advancement 
and highest approach to perfection can be obtained. The 
cultivation of the soil — the noblest pursuit of man — that 
which brings him most into communion with Nature and 
Nature’s God, should, and will, in the progressive develop- 
ment of the world, occupy the first position among 
sciences. There is, therefore, much responsibility con- 
nected with writing for the Agricultural and Horticultural 
world — perhaps more than is generally supposed. An 
experiment stated by a correspondent of the Cultivator 
affects the time and money of perhaps several hundred 
readers. If some writer in a newspaper should say soak 
your seed in concentrated sulphuric acid, some of the 
thousands of readers would spoil their crops, and the 
character of book farming suffer accordingly. We want 
cautious, carefully conducted experiments, distinctly ,. 
truthfully described. Then there is no danger of taking 
one step forward and two backward ; but “onward and 
upward and true to the mark.” And in the spirit of 
friendly candor, I think we should freely criticize what- 
ever does correspond with our experience and obsevation, 
— “so here goes.” 
An article quoted in the April number of the Southern 
Cultivator, from the Farmer ^ Planter, over the signature 
of “Glucose,” says: “Careful experiments made by dis- 
tinguished chemists during the last year have settled the 
point that the Sorghum belongs to the family of grasses 
which secrete “Glucose,” or fruit sugar — not crystaliz- 
able or cane sugar.” 
My experience of last year comes in conflict with the 
above. From the juice of the Sorgho I made about 20‘ 
pounds of large, sharp, well defined crystals of— must not 
it have been cane sugar 1 The only chemical difference 
between the two is a little more water in the one than the 
other; and under certain circumstances, such as the 
presence of acids, or long boiling, cane sugar readily 
passes into grape sugar, or “glucose,” 
When the Sorgho had reached a certain stage of ripe- 
ness; the heads black, but the seeds not hard, the leaves still 
green and succulenb the pith perfectly opaque, and of a 
slight greenish tint, I found no difficulty in crystalizing. 
But when the seed became hard, the blades turning yel- 
low, the pith partially translucent, with a red centre; I 
found its crystalization impracticable with my' means of 
experiment. And in the latter case, the juice contained 
a much larger amount of acid than in the former, which 
readily accounts for the difference in results. I have good 
reason to believe that a common error, botli in making 
syrup and sugar, has been in allowing the cane to stand 
too long. A neighbor of mine, against my remonstances, 
last year, spoiled his crop in thi way. He waited for 
thorough ripeness until the fodder dried up, and for want 
of lungs the cane threw out a second growth of suckers. 
The consequence was he got all juice and but very little 
syrup. 
Now, nothing can be truer than the second paragraph 
in the article above referred to. The Sorgho has suffered 
severely at the hands of its friends. The truth turns out, 
that instead of 400 gallons to the acre, one hundred is 
good cropping — and how much better would we want 'I 
I was offered last year one dollar a gallon for the syrup I 
made. No one would expect to made more than one- 
fouth of a hundred dollars off of an acre of cotton, on such 
land as I had planted in Cane. 
Another writer in the CvXtivator has met with dis- 
