66 THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
good coating of fresh bark, of say an inch thick, 
on the top of the water, on which it will float ; lay 
on this a side, spread out evenly; and if it has to 
be lapped over in any part, lay on more bark until 
it is all well coated, taking care to place those 
at the bottom of the vat now, that were at the top 
last tinie. On this side lay an inch coating of 
bark, and on that another side, and so on, with 
alternate layers of bark, until the vat is full, or the 
sides all laid away. 
In this, which is called t\\e first hark, the sides 
must lie four weeks. They are then drawn out, 
and the spent-bark, taken out with a skimvier or 
drainer. The sides are then replaced as be- 
fore, with alternate layers of fresh bark, in the 
same ooze, which has acquired some additional 
strength, notwithstanding the amount of tanning 
and extractive matter contained in the bark, that 
has become intimately combined with the animal 
fibre of the hide. In this second bark they re- 
main six weeks undisturbed, when they receives 
third bark, in the same way, in which they are 
left another six or eight weeks. Three barks will 
suffice to tan deer, hog, calf, and other small 
skins ; four barks will make good sole leather, bat 
five are preferable. 
The tanning process being completed, sole lea- 
ther is taken out of the vat, rinsed eflectually, and 
dried in the shade, hanging the sides up by two 
of their corners to joists, where they remain un- 
til wanted. Those sides Intended for upper and 
harness leather, (which are those of cows, &c. — 
the largest and thickest bullock hides being used 
for sole leather,) as also deer, hog, and other small 
skins, being thoroughly rinsed, are spread out on 
a stiong table, with the grain or hair side up, and 
scoured with a stiff brush, like a very stiff horse- 
brush, occasionally throwing on pure water, un- 
til oZZ f/ie oo^e is scoured out. Tanners use the 
edge of the stone, made smooth, to assist in rub- 
bing out the ooze, and all the water that can 
possibly be rubbed out. They also use w'hat they 
call a dicker, being a dull edge of copper of about 
six or seven inches long, set in a piece of wood, 
to serve as a handle. 
After they are all served thus, and rubbed as 
dry as possible, the table is cleaned off, and the 
skins thrown back upon it, grain side up, and are 
rubbed with tanner’s oil (cod-fish oil) as long as 
the leather will receive it. Harness leather must 
be completely saturated. As they are oiled, fold 
them up and lay them aside. When they are all 
gone over, lay one on the tabic at a time, flesh 
side up, and with a rag rub on all the cZwbbing that 
the leather will absorb. Thin hides require but a 
small quantity; harness leather must have a 
heavy coating.’ 
Dubbing, which consists of equal parts of tar 
and tallow, melted together, and well mixed, must 
be made the day previous to being used. Lard 
may he used in place of tallow, but will require a 
lesser proportion of it. Each side of leather is 
then hung up by two corners to joints, there to 
remain until perfectly dry, or until wanted. If 
iron or steel touches a hide during the process of 
tanning, when in the least w'et, or even moist, it 
will discolor it, forming an indelible black mark. 
To blacken harness or other leather, take the 
skin when completely dried, and if any greasy 
spots appear, showing that more oil or dubbing 
has been applied than the leather could absorb, 
wet the spots with a little strong ooze, and scrub 
them out with a brush. Then apply a good coat 
of copperas, (sulphate of iron) dissolved in ooze, 
until the leather has a good color all over. After 
this, when dry, put on another good coat of oil. 
The leather may then be smoothed off with a 
rounding edge of polished steel, or glass, or 
stone. T. Affleck. 
Ingleside, (Miss.) Sept. 19, 1843. — [Am. Agr. 
Yellow Locust. — If you have but little 
fencing timber fit for posts on your farm, sow a 
few pounds of yellow locust seed, and when the 
plants are two years old they may be transplan- 
ted. In twelve years from the time the seed is 
sown you may begin to cut them for posts. Say 
you, twelve years is a longtime to wait; but 
you should recollect, that every farmer has some 
spot where they might be grown, and that, as 
fencing is a dear article, every farmer should 
endeavor to grow his own timber. 
In Setting Trees, do not place them deep, and 
let the earth around them remain concave that 
it may catch the water. 
Corn-Stalk Sugar. 
To Ccl. A. G. Summer, Editor South Carolinian : — 
Dear Sir— When I saw you last, you asked 
me for some directions for cultivating Corn- 
stalks and making Sugar. 1 transcribe you an 
article, containing much useful information on 
the subject, from the Saturday Courier, publish- 
ed in Philadelphia. I now take pleasure in 
coihplying with ray promise, to furnish you with 
my own experience. 
DIRECTIONS FOR CULTIVATING THE CORN- 
STALKS, AND MAKING SUGAR. 
“In various portions of the country, the cul- 
tivation of Corn for the manufacture of Sugar, 
continues to excite attention. The public are 
seeking information upon the subject, as the dis- 
covery that Sugar can be made from the stalks 
of Coin, is of recent date. We take pleasure 
in presenting our readers any facts that may be 
of importance, upon the subject. Dr. Naudain, 
of Delaware, who has had opportunities to gath- 
er knowledge upon the various experiments that 
have been made, presents some views which will 
not fail to be regarded with interest. 
“ With regard to the culture, it is stated that 
Corn should be planted as Broom-corn is com- 
monly planted, very close in the row, probably 
a stalk every three or four inches. The tillage 
will be the same as for Broom-corn. When the 
young ears begin to appear, it is necessary to 
pluck them off carefully, and to repeat the gath- 
ering as often as necessary, so as to prevent the 
formation of any grain. Because, if grain be 
allowed to form, it takes all the Sugar from the 
stalk. About the time the corn begins to har- 
den, the making of Sugar should be begun. 
“ It is not necessary to say anything about a 
proper mill to crush the stalks and separate the 
juice, because mills of the cheapest kinds only 
should be employed now, until the business 
would, fully warrant an expensive outlay. It 
would probably be found that the common cider 
mill, with plain cylindrical nuts, would be quite 
sufficient for the farmer who would raise a fourth 
or halt an acre of Corn for Sugar, for his fami- 
ly, and this quantity would be quits sufficient 
for satisfactory experiment. 
“When the juice is separated from the stalk, 
about a tablespoon full of whitewash, made of 
the best quick lime, and about the consistence of 
thick cream, should be added to each gallon of 
the juice, and then the boiling should commence. 
The scum that rises should be careluily re- 
moved; and the juice, if this process has been 
properly conducted, will be quite clear, nearly 
colorless. Then commences the process of 
evaporation ; and when the juice has boiled 
down in about the proportion of eight gallons to 
one, the boiling will be completed, and it may 
be poured out into a shallow, tight wooden box 
to grain. 
“It has been ascertained, although as yet the 
reason is not known, that if the juice be boiled 
in a deep vessel, like the common cooking ves- 
sel, Sugar will seldom be obtained; while, if it 
be done in a shallow vessel, so that the juice at 
the commencement of the boiling shall not be 
more than three to five inches deep, Sugar would 
be obtained without difficulty. It has been as- 
certaineu, also, that the Sugar from Corn will 
not grain so readily as that from the Sugar- 
cane; and in some instances, it has remained 
more than a week after the boiling, before the 
Sugar was formed, and yet excellent Sugar was 
made. 
“It should be particularly remembered, that 
the juice should be boiled as soon as separated 
from the stalk. It becomes acid very soon, and 
no Sugar can be made if the juice be allowed to 
stand two or three hours before it is boiled. The 
juice will even spoil in the stalk before it is 
ground, if the stalks be cut oft' a few hours be- 
fore grinding, it is necessary, then, that every 
part of the process should be done with the 
greatest despatch. The stalks should be brought 
to the mill as soon as cut, and ground immedi- 
ately. The vessel for boiling ought to be pro- 
perly filled in two hours grinding, and the pro- 
cess of boiling down should immediately com- 
mence, and be continued until completed. 
“ Excellent Syrup, superior to the best Mo- 
lasses, will be obtained by observing the above 
directions, and boiling five gallons of juice to 
one gallon. 
“ The juice of the Corn-stalk is very rich in 
Sugar, when cultivated in the manner suggest- 
ed. Tested by Beaume’s Sacharometer, the in- 
strument used to measure the strength of syrups, 
the juice ol the Corn-stalk weighs 10 to lOj de- 
grees, which is about the weight of the best 
cane in the West Indies, and is richer than the 
juice of the cane in Louisiana, which is seldom 
heavier than degrees. 
“ One gallon of juice will produce nearly I J 
pounds of Sugar ; and one acre of good Corn 
will yield, if carefully expressed, from 700 to 
1000 gallons of juice.” 
I have but little information to add to the above 
article. My kettle holds eighty gallons, though 
a sixty gallon kettle might answer the purpose, 
but probably it would be best to procure a shal- 
low vessel, as above recommended for making 
Sugar. I made three boilings before I made 
good syrup, not boiling down sufficiently the two 
first boilings. Prepare yourself with a skim- 
mer, a gourd with a long handle will do to re<. 
movej:he scum when it begins to boil, and lor a 
short time after. Leave off skimming when 
you see the dark glutinous scum is pretty well 
removed. Also, prepare yourselt with an iron 
ladle, with an iion handle attached to it about 
three feet long, (which any blacksmith can 
make,) perforated with small holes. Whoever 
attends the kettle must use this ladle, in raising 
thejuice with it, whenlikely to boil over. When 
the juice boils down considerably, you will see 
the bubbles begin to show and burst on the sur- 
face. When you see a few such bubbles, if it 
be your object to make syrup, I think then is 
the’time to take it out ; but if you wish the syrup 
to granulate, boil till the bubbles become gene- 
ral on the surlace. You can also test it, by dip- 
ping oat some syrup with a tablespoon, and 
when it cools sufficiently, by taking it between 
your thumb and lore linger; and if it inclines 
to rope, it is syrup, but if it will rope about an 
inch it will granulate. You can boil rapidly at 
the commencement while the juice is thin, but 
as it thickens boil vdlh more moderation. If 
you boil too rapidly after the bubbles begin to 
burst on the surface, you will certainly burn it, 
and it will give it a candy taste. If you cannot 
get lime conveniently, lye will answer the pur- 
pose. I should say, put in about a half a pint 
of lye to every fifteen gallons of juice. Throw 
in the lye or whitewash made from the lime, im- 
mediately after you quit removing the glutinous 
scum. "Vyhen you have boiled to satisfy your- 
self, take out the syrup and put it in some shal- 
low vessel tocool. I am inclined to think, when 
the juice has been extracted from the stalks by a 
w’ood mill, that if they were chopped up and 
boiled in water, good vinegar could be made 
from them. 1 advise you to build a wood mill. 
The expense is trifling. You can get a me- 
chanic in my neighborhood, who will build you 
one for twenty dollars, by furnishing him two 
assistant hands; otherwise, send over a common 
mechanic, and alter looking at mine, w'hichis a 
good model, you can have one made at home. 
I advise y ou to plant your Corn for experiment 
in bottom land (if not rich, make it rich by im- 
provement) in drills, from four to six inches in 
the drill, and the drills from thirty to thirty-six 
inches wide. Now, sir, I close my crude direc- 
tions, by wishing that you may win in this race, 
and that we may all win, and that another arti- 
cle of general consumption may be added to the 
products of South Carolina. 
Yours respectfully, James S. Pope. 
Island Ford, Edgefield Dist., S. C., Feb. 1845. 
We sow half a bushel of corn (cost 33 
cents) on two acres planted w’ith corn — on the 
surface. "We thus coax the birds to come and 
see us, and we make it their interest to meddle 
with nothing that is planted. It costs us less 
than twine, or tar, or feathers on a pole.— PW. 
