174 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
Florida Sugar— Letter from F. P. Miller. 
From the Floridian. 
We have been shown a specimen of Sugar 
manufactured by F. P. Miller, E«q , ot Jeffer- 
son county, (referred to in the letter below,) 
which IS by far the finest sample of Florida su- 
gar we ha ve ever seen. It is nearly equal in 
whiteness to the Havana box, and is superior 
to ihe sugar broushl here froiii New Oilcans. 
Liad vve the capital to erect proper works, sugar 
would soon become no snrall item in our ex- 
ports, As it is, however, our planters will soon 
be able to manufacture not only sufficient for 
their own use, but to supply the demand of our 
home markets. The annexed letter from Mr. 
Miiler, which has been kindly furnisiied us by 
Gov. Mosely for publication, contains some 
hints which may be u.sfeul to those engaged in 
the cultivation of the cane. We would re- 
spectfully suggest to those of our planters who 
have had experience in the manufacture of su- 
gar to communicate tlie result of their observa- 
tions to the public. We should be happy to ex- 
tend the use of our columns to any one who 
would favor us with ai tides upon sugar as well 
as upon the culture of tobacco, &c. 
Jefferson Co., Sept. 1, 1845. 
Dear Sir; — In a communication which I re- 
ceived from you a few days ^nce, you request- 
ed of me to furnish you with an article on the 
cultivation and manufacture ol sugar. 1 have 
had some hesitancy in complying with your re- 
que.st, only from the fact, that my opinions 
would possibl}' differ with some of the farmers 
of the country, and some, too, of experience. 
But, after giving the subject due consideration, 
and thinking [ might be of service to some in 
my communication, i have yielded to your re- 
quest ; and, so far as I am capable of giving 
my opinions, you shall have them freely. As 
1 am more accustomed to using my farming 
utensils than wielding the pen, and knowing 
better how to make sugar than to describe the 
operation, you must allow me to give my opin- 
ions in my own plain way. In the first place, 
I prefer the ribbon cane for this climaie, for the 
reason that it will stand the cold spells, which 
we are sometimes subject to in the fall season, 
much better than the green. I have noticed in 
'some crops that I have made, where my cane 
has been mixed, that the green cane has soured 
after a killing frost, when the ribbon cane would 
be perfectly sweet. This I consider a great ad- 
vantage by giving the planter more time to ga- 
ther in the other products of his farm. The 
sample of sugar which I send you, was m^.de 
from the ribbon cane after a severe freeze, 
which 1 consider a good test of its preference. 
1 have been accustomed to banking my seed 
cane in low, flat beds, say about lour feet deep, 
with the toots inclined downwards, and leav- 
ing them entirely uncovered with earth until af- 
ter the first frost, or until the blades are entirely 
cry. The advantage to be gained by this mode 
of putting up seed cane, I consider a great one, 
from the fact that the cane will remain in a 
warm, moist slate, during the winter, and the 
roots and eyes will not only be perfectly sound 
by the usual planting time, but will have put 
forth their sprouts, and secure to the planter an 
earlier and better stand. The usual mode of 
banking up seed, by drawing the bed to a nar- 
row ridge on top and covering with earth be- 
fore the blades are thoroughly dried, causes the 
cane to heat, and consequently a great ma- 
ny of the sprouts will perish from dry rot. 
The kind of .soil from which I raised my 
cane last year is of good quality pine land, 
about fourteen or fifteen inches deep, of a very 
light east, and has been in cultivation several 
years. Cane should never be planted on first 
year’s ground, from the fact that the juice ex- 
tracted from it will not granulate. The most 
favorable time for planting, in my opinion, is 
about the middle of February, provided there is 
a suitable warm spell ; for I consider the cane 
to be doing much better by remaining in bank, 
where it will sprout and remain sound and not 
exposed to the cold until the earth has become a 
little warm. My own observation has convin- 
ced me that cane planted about this time, will 
grow off faster, be equally as forward, and the 
stand much belter than when planted earlier. 1 
have usually planted my cane four feet between 
rows, and very thick in the drill: a stalk of 
cane six feet long, should lap or be touching. 
The seed should be planted deep and covered 
with a turning plow. 
The first working which it receives should be 
done with the hoe, what is commonly called by 
the farmers flat-weeding. This will break the 
crust which may have been formed on the sur- 
face of the bed, and forward its coining up. 
The first plowing I usually give my cane is 
with the turning plow, but after it becomes ol 
any size, I use the sweep. The usual lime for 
laying by, is the first of June, t ut should it be 
growing rapidly, I would advise later and deep- 
er plowing, which will check the growth and 
cause it to mature betler. 
It will have been noticed by all who are in 
the habit of using it, that the saccharine matter 
is greatly increased alter the growth has been 
checked by the first frost : and nniil then should 
never be cut for grinding:. lam convinced that 
a great many of the failures in making sugar is 
caused from the fact of the cane being topped 
too high, and consequently a good deal of the 
juice is extracied from cane that is not matured. 
The best criterion to be governed by is from the 
blades drying up, and leaving the stalk exposed 
only so far as the cane is matured ; and 1 make 
it a rule to cut my cane at the joint above the 
first green blade, by which means you are cer- 
tain not to have any cane unmatured. I have 
found a great advantage in cutting iny cane and 
exposing it to the sun about two or three days 
before grinding. A good deal of the watery 
particles will evaporate, without any loss of the 
saccharine matter. The process of boiling will 
depend a great deal upon the quality of the cane 
and its maturity. A person would learn more 
from seeing a lew boilings taken off than from 
all he might hear or read on the subject. In 
the first place, I would advise the use of lime, 
which assists a great heal in clarifying, and 
causes the grain to be much firmer. My plan 
ol using it is to mix a halt gallon of the cane 
juice with a half pint of lime; after setting a 
while pour it off. This quantity should be put 
into a hundred gallons ol the cane juice. It is 
best not to commence skimming until it is near- 
ly in the act of boiling, at which lime most ol 
the scum has risen to the surface, and is much 
easier taken off. There are so many marks by 
which the sugar maker ascertains when his 
boiling has arrived at the sugar state, that it 
would be difficult to describe them all. I will 
give one or two which I consider most certain : 
It is known by all who have any experience in 
sugar making, that, as llie boiling approaches 
the sugar state, the froth or foam is greatly in- 
creased, and the bubbles become much smaller, 
by constantly dipping up and pouring it of! from 
the cooler. It will be seen that the quantity of 
liquor or .syrup decreases very rapidly after the 
boiling has turned down: this should be con- 
tinued until there is hut a small quantity of sy- 
rup left, which will be seen in the drainings 
from the cooler. Another criterion to be gov- 
erned by is, when it is ready to be taken off, the 
bubbles, instead oi rising and falling out from 
the centre, will turn in, when it should be taken 
off and put into the cooling vessel as soon as 
possible. 
With regard to the process of dripping, I 
would .say that it is all-important to have the 
molasses well drained from the bottom of the 
barrels ; to effect v;hich, it is necessary to have 
two or three holes bored in the bottom, into 
which should be in.serted stalks ot cane, which 
will gradually wither and leave the orifice larg- 
er at the lime when the draining is most needed 
from the bottom. The hoops should be well 
loosened after the sugar has been in the barrels 
a few days. 
In conclusion, I would say, that I believe as 
S'ood sugar can be raised here as in any coun- 
try, from the fact, that I have seen samples ol 
sugar made in this country, that wouki compare 
with tlie best quality of imported sugar, and if 
not cultivated as an article for market, should 
be made by all the farmers for their ov n con- 
sumption. Yours, truly, 
Fr.ancis P. Miller. 
To Gov. Wm. D. Moseley. 
Silk Culture iu the United States. 
From the National Intelligencer^ 
3Iessrs, Gales cf- Seaton; — In your European 
Correspondent’s letter of August 20, published 
in the Intelligencer of September 13, 1 find the 
following para;..’aph : 
“ in the Journal des Debals of the 12th inst. 
(here isacolumn of American statistics derived 
from the last report of your Commissioner of 
Patents. Towards the end, it is said that the 
culture of ibe mulbeiry and the raising of the 
silkworm have utterly and ruinously failed in 
the United States. ‘ Let France, ‘ it is added, 
‘cease to fear American competition ; the Union 
will be for her an immense market.’ We may 
hope that the silk case is not so forlorn with you. 
What are the natural obstacles to perseverance 
and success.” 
1 assume the duty ol answering the very in- 
teresting interrogatory at the close of this para- 
graph. There are ^o nalnral obstacles to jser- 
severance, much less to success, in the silk busi- 
ness in the United Stales. The obstacles to its 
progress at present are purely artificial and 
ephemeral. I have had my eye upon this sub- 
ject now twenty-one years. That I might be a 
disinterested witness even in thepublic opinion, 
I have kept myself clear ot any pecuniary inie= 
rest in the culture of silk. I have witnessed its 
progress, its experiments, its successes and its 
failures; have scrutinized all the details of each 
and all ; and have never yet found the slightest 
reason to drmbt its ultimate successful estab- 
lishment as one of our main staple productions. 
The reason of its apparent depression at this 
time is to be found in the very place where it 
should be most rationally looked lor. The late 
speculation in mulberry trees, called the multi- 
caulis speculation, which I never failed to op- 
pose, and which I never in the slightest degree 
advanced, caused expectations oUmfits from 
the silk business that were not only unreasona- 
ble, but wildly extravagant. The failure to re- 
alize these expectations by the many that 
began the culture ol silk, and although a rea- 
sonable profit was at hand, induced its aban- 
donment by thousands. They expected to re- 
alize a thousand dollars from an investment 
of capital and labor that in any other agri- 
cultural employment would have been sat 
isfactorily compensated by fifty or a hundred. 
Disappointed in this extravagant expectation, 
they abandoned the enterprise. Another obsta- 
cle was found to its progress in the go-ahead 
character of our people, and their want of fore- 
sight. They raised large quantities of cocoons 
before there were means provided for their con- 
version into any useful article, and had not pa- 
tience to preserve them till these means were 
provided. This v/as a great error, and placed 
one of the most insurmountable obstacles in the 
way of our progress. 
Let everybody understand that the late multi- 
caulis speculation had nothing to do with our 
capability to produce silk; that the true friends 
of the silk culture were always opposed to that 
speculation, and did all they could to restrain 
and suppress it, (the writer ot this among them,) 
but that it had the effect of proving conclusive- 
ly that the United States, from 32 to 42 degrees 
of north latitude, (longitude without limit, ) is 
well adapted to the silk culture, equal in climate 
to China, superior to China in the enterprise, 
industry and intelligence of our people, and su- 
perior to France or even Italy in every requisite 
for the successful culture ol silk. I may not 
live to see it, but the time is not far off when 
even France shall be supplied with silk from 
this country — all Europe of course. The germ 
of this great interest is already firmly imbeddpd 
in our physical condition, and nothing can ar- 
