84 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
CHINESE SUGAR CANE EXPERIMENT. 
The following (says the Germantov-n Telegraph) is one 
of the fairest tests we have yet seen with the Chinese 
Sugar Cane, indeed it is less than a fair test, as it 
was made, as will be seen, under disadvantages; but 
the result was the same as with others. Mr. Bulkley’s 
horse eat the leaves and stalks greedily. Cows cannot 
eat portions of the stalks unless they are chopped in small 
pieces, on account of their inability to bite them in two. 
Hogs are known to be fond of the stalks. A gentleman 
from Massachusetts, informed us a few days ago, that as 
provender for cattle, the fodder — stalks and leaves — pro- 
motes the secretion of milk — increases the quantity and 
qualty of butter — and in fat cattle gives a fine flavor to the 
beef! At any rate, and under al circumstances, the plant 
may be regarded as an acquisition of no mean importance 
to the countiy ; and as there can be little or no speculation 
inthe seed, there is not the least motive in any one to at- 
tempt to mislead the public, Mr. Bulkley’s commtinica- 
tion, we repeat, is valuable. We copy from the Scienlijic 
American : 
EXPERIMENTS WITH THE CHINESE SUGAR 
MILLET. 
Messrs. Editors : — Knowing that you take a deep inter- 
est in anything which promises to be valuable for our 
country, I send you the result of an experiment which I 
made with the Chinese Sugar Millet — Sorghum Sacchara- 
twm. 
Having received from the Patent Offlce a paper of seed, 
I planted it as a matter of curiosity, though not having 
the least confidenc that it would prove to be worth any- 
thing, The seeds and stalks so nearly resembled our 
common broom corn as to make me feel quite sure that 
they were these. 
I planted it in hills, about % feet apart, with G to 10 
seeds in a hill. It was greatly neglected during its growth, 
from an impression of its worthlessness. 
Some time in August, there was a chance frost which 
nearly terminated its growth, and, in fact, completely des- 
troyed some sweet corn growing in the same garden. 
The millet was just putting forth its seed stalk, and the 
seed was consequently, all destroyed. The stalks, how- 
euer, were left standing until some time in October, when 
— still supposing them to be worthless— I had them cut 
and thrown into piles, to get them out of the way. 
After they had Iain upon the ground for some time I 
took a handful of the stalks and gave them to my horse, 
who eat them greedily— eating both leaves and stalks. 
About this time, I saw a statement in the papers that 
some person had made some molasses from this plant. 
This led me to make the following experiment with mine, 
although I had reason to suppose that the frost and the 
exposure on the ground would have destroyed any good 
qualities which it might have originally possessed. 
I took some of the canes and cut them into pieces about 
three inches long, when they were readily ground through 
one of Hickok’s Portable Cider Mills, with cast iron grin- 
ders ; and then pressed with the powerful pressers at- 
tached to the mill. The quantity ground was about half 
a bushel of the pieces, and the juice expressed was about 
^ven quarts. This juice, when evaporated, made one 
quart of molasses, that is pronounced, by those who have 
tasted oi it, to be superior to the New Orleans molasses, 
and some say, equal to the flavor of the maple syrup. It 
is, at all events, good molasses. 
From an estimate made, I judged that the square rod of 
ground planted — if the canes had all been used — would 
have produced four gallons of molasses, or at the rate of 
640 gallons per acre. Such a crop would have proved 
valuable the last year, since sugar and molasses are sO' 
high. 
There is little doubt in my mind that any person who 
has a small piece of land may manufacture his own mo- 
lasses and perhaps sugar. 
I cultivated on so small a scale as not to warrant the 
expense of erecting the rollers for expressing the juice 
from the cane ; they may be cut in a straw cutter, and 
ground in one of Hickok's Portable Cider Mills, with 
such facility that two men could obtain five or six bar- 
barrels of the juice per day by hand, and proportionally 
more if horse or other power is used. This juice could be 
cheaply boiled in one of the evaporators with which you 
are acquainted, without burning the syrup or wasting any 
fuel. 
Besides the molasses obtained frofti the stalks, the 
leaves will make good forage, the seed will nearly equal 
that of a crop of corn or oats, and the tops will make 
brooms. 
With all these advantages, may not the Sugar Millet 
prove of great value to the community '? Every family 
in the country can make their own sugar and molasses, 
while at the same time, the seed, forage, and brush for 
making brooms will pay all the expenses of raising the 
crop. 
Those having seed to spare, will do well to make it pub- 
lic, that more experiments may be made during the next 
summer. H. G. Bcjlkley. 
Kalamazoo, Mich., 1857. 
COTTON — CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — In reading your jour- 
nal (and I love to read it) I have sometimes been surprised 
to see what uniform rules, some of its contributors lay 
down for the preparation of land in which to plant cotton, 
without considering the old and important adage that “cir- 
cumstances alter cases.” This adage must not be over- 
looked by farmers, if they would be successful in their 
avocation, plant what they may; and the disregarding of 
which has often caused failures, discouragements and loss. 
True, there are things in the management of cotton as well 
as other products that will apply wherever it is cultivated, 
but no rule for preparing the land will apply uniformly, 
with equal success, all over our vast cotton growing re- 
gion with its varied qualities and states of soil, that is to 
say : that some kinds of land need more preparation than 
other kinds. Planters must learn to regulate their opera- 
tions according to what they are operating upon. Some 
planters contend that it is useless to break up cotton land 
before bedding. Yea, that it is best not to do it. 
This may do on cortain kinds of land where the soil 
is inclined to be loose, sandy and mellow, but where the 
soil is close and stiff, cotton will always grow better and 
yield a more remunerative crop if the land is broken 
thoroughly and deep. This theory is often made to look 
very plausible, and may perhaps be correct so far as its 
advocates own farm or section of country is concerned, 
and hence some person living in another part of the coun- 
try and cultivating a different kind of soil, embraces it and 
tries it without remembering that “circumstances alter 
cases,” and finds that its practical effects don’t turn out so 
well with him ; but forgetting to call into question the 
false theory which he has embraced, he attributes his fail- 
ure to unfavorable seasons, bad kind of seed or some 
other accident, fails to think that “circumstances alter 
cases,” and pursues the imbibed theory and runs the round 
of disappointment again. 
The easiest and the cheapest way in the outset is often 
the hardest and most expensive in the end. Not only in 
