22 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1344. 
THE BACK VOLUME. 
All new subscribers who may desire it, can 
obtain the first volume, neatly bound in boards, 
at one dollar the volume. 
SEND IN YOUR LISTS. 
As it is very important in regulating our edi- 
tion to know what number of subscribers will 
probably be obtained, we bes our friends to send 
in their lists at the earlie.st possible day. 
Plowing. — In welcoming '^Georgian'’ to our 
columns as a contributor, we cannot omit to in- 
vite the reader’s attention to his article on plow- 
in?, which will be found in this number. There 
is no portion of agricultural industry requiring 
greater attention and care than the manner in 
which the plowman discharges his duty, and 
yet we believe that lew, very few, of our plant- 
ers regard it of sufficient importance to bestow 
that attention so necessary to its proper execu- 
tion. To all those, therefore, who think it of 
little consequence whether their lands be well 
or imperfectly plowed, we commend the re- 
marks of “Georgian;” nor indeed are there any 
portion of our planters who may not be benefit- 
ed by the learning and practical observations of 
such a writer, who, we sincerely hope, may 
continue to enrich our columns with his views 
upon all subjects pertaining to agriculture. 
Observations on Sweet Potatoes.— I have 
observed in using my potatoes out of the hill or 
bank, that those in the north side of the hill had 
sweated the most, the east and west sides did 
not sweat quite so much, while the south side 
was perfectly dry, and much more rotten than 
any other portion of the hill. 
JNow for my mode in putting the potatoes in 
the hill: In the first place, I excavate to the clay 
or subsoil, in a concave form; I then place pine 
bark so as to cover the bottom of my excava- 
tion, with the outside of the bark upwards; 1 
then fill up with potatoes until the hill, which is 
about five feet in diameter at the surface, is 
about two feet above the surface; then cover the 
potatoes with pine bark, taking care to put the 
inside of the bark next to the potatoes; out side 
of the bark I place a layer of crop grass, and 
then cover up the hill, three or fourinches thick, 
with dirt, leaving a hole at the top of the hill 
sufficiently large as a ventilator, say six or 
eight inches in diameter. Generally my pota- 
toes keep tolerably well. 
This IS one mode; now for another which 1 
have sometimes tried. In the first place, I 
throw up the dirt so as to raise an embankment 
some six inches high, then cover with pine 
bark, and go through the same process as with 
the hill above. In putting my potatoes away in 
this manner they dry rot, an.l 1 cannot succeed. 
My object is now to cause my potatoes to sweat 
on the south side of the hill, and then there is 
no difficulty in keeping them sound. 
'Will you, through some of your correspon- 
dents, infartn me upon this subject. My own 
opinion is, when the potatoes are placed in the 
hill they should be made entirely wet before 
hand, or after being put in the hill, by pouring 
water on them. ^ 
If I have missed the mode of putting up po- 
tatoes, I hope to be informed through the col- 
umns of the Southern Cultivaior. 
Yours, &c. J. W. Moody. 
Locust Grove, Ga., Jan. 15, 1844. 
Remarks by the Editor . — We acknowledge 
ourself quite at a loss to account satisfactorily 
for the causes which produce the difference no- 
ticed by Mr. Mood}", in the different sides of his 
heap. Nor, indeed, would we be justified in 
entering into a disquisition, without more data 
upon which to base the argument lor any opin- 
ion we might entertain. We incline to the opin- 
ion, however, that either excavating or em- 
banking for the location of a heap is not so de- 
sirable, or so apt to secure the potatoes, as plac- 
ing them on the surface of the ground. This is 
a very important subject to all planters at the 
south, and with a view to have all the informa- 
tion possible, we last spring opened our col- 
umns to its discussion, which elicited several 
interesting communications from different gen- 
tlemen, containing their mode of saving pota- 
toes, to which we beg leave to refer Mr. Moody, 
at pages 71, 81 and 95 of the first volume of the 
“Southern Cultivator,” as also one or more ar. 
tides on the same subject, which were copied 
from some of our exchange papers. 
The Cultivator. — The reception from the 
editors, of the London '^Pictorial 'Times,'' for 
December, has served to remind us that we have 
heretofore omitted to notice the change in the 
form of publication of this most excellent agri- 
cultural journal. With the new year it doned 
an entile new dress, and instead of the quarto 
form in which it has won so many laurels, it 
appears now in a large octavo of 32 pages, 
monthly. It is now, therefore, one of the hand- 
somest (it has always been one of the ablest) 
agricultural papers we have the pleasure of 
reading. 
CORN STALK SUGAR. 
The following letter of Mr. Webb, which 
was read at the meeting of the Agricultural So- 
ciety of New Castle County, Delaware, in Sep- 
tember last, is highly interesting; the more so as 
it gives the result of an actual experiment m 
the culture of corn stalk sugar. The produc- 
tion of 3 tons of fodder, 500 lbs. of sugar and 
50 gallons of molasses, from one acre of land, 
and that too by one not a regular sugar planter, 
versed in all the minutiae of the busine.ss of 
grinding, boiling and granulating, is in the high- 
est degree satisfactory, and, we doubt not, will 
encourage others to embark in making the ex- 
periment of raising sugar from corn stalks. — 
The enterprise is yet in its infancy, and it is 
reasonable to suppose that, as it advances, the 
spirit of improvement will simplify the whole 
process, so as to enable the planters generally to 
raise a large portion at least of the sugar con- 
sumed in their lamilies. Nor will it stop here; 
for if subsequent experiments should prove that 
the cultivation is profitable, the sugar equal to 
{hat produced from the sugar cane, instead of 
being large importers of sugar, the U. States 
will become exporters. • The subject is certain- 
ly one of importance to our planters, and we 
hi pe they will give it a lair test by patient in- 
vestigation. 
The American Farmer introduces the let- 
ter of Mr. Webb w’ith the following remarks: 
— “We shall direct the reader’s attention to 
to the following letter from Mr. William Webb, 
upon a subject of growing interest to the agri- 
cultural community. We say growing inter- 
est, because we find that the ball set in motion 
by Mr. Webb, is rolling onward over hill and 
dale throughout our land; and we do hope, and 
that before many years, to see the manufacture 
of sugar from cornstalks made a branch of the 
economy of eveiy farm— we mean, so far at 
least, as ihe home consumption of the article of 
sugar may be concerned. Why, w"c w"ould ask, 
should a farmer buy any thing which he can 
make on his own farm! It then, by devoting 
an acre of ground to the culture ot corn, to be 
manufactured into sugar, he can secure a sup- 
ply of sweetening fur his family, why should he 
not do so, and thus save so n uch annual outlay? 
The saving of the money expended for this sin- 
gle item alone, would, in a life time, amount to 
a very handsome outfit for either a son or daugh- 
ter on commencing house-keeping. And by 
the way, it should be the object of all farmers 
and planters, to keep these truths constantly in 
view — that true economy consists in, selling 
more than you buy; buying nothing w'hich you 
can make at a less cost than you can purchase 
it; buying nothing that you have no use for, no 
matter how cheap it may be; saveing wherever 
you can do so, w'ithout resorting to meanness; 
and taking care of whatever you may have 
earned or possess. But as we did not intend to 
read a homily, but merely to introduce Mr. 
Webb’s letter, we w'ill quit sermonizing, and 
present to our readers the letter itself. Here 
it is:” 
Wilmington, Sept. 13, 1843. 
To Dr. TV. Thomson, President of the New Castle Coun^ 
ty Agricultural Society: 
Dear Sir — Since my last communication to 
you on the subject of manufacturing sugar from 
corn, a sufficient time has elapsed to bring the 
ideas then advanced to the test of experiment. 
This has been done to. a considerable extent by 
many individuals in different parts of the coun- 
try; the results (so far as known) have confirm- 
ed every reasonable expectation, and given con- 
fidence to all interested in a successful issue. 
Notwithstanding the disappointments and fail- 
ure necessarily attendant on all new enterprises, 
enough has been developed by the efforts of ex- 
perimenters to show beyond a doubt that this 
manufacture can be profitably carried on. 
If any one skeptical on this subject, will take 
the trouble to chew the pith ofa corn stalk wffiich 
has ripened without producinggrain, his doubts 
will vanish. Indian corn and sugar cane be- 
long to the same family of plants, and offer ma- 
ny points of resemblance. The sacchariEe 
matter found in their stalks, is exhausted by the 
process of vegetation in the formation of seed; 
and the sugar cane will no more yield sugar after 
it has perfected its seed, than will corn under 
the same circumstances. From analogy then, 
we must conclude, that the plant most produc- 
tive in seed, will be most productive in sugar. 
This plant is Indian corn. That such a result 
has not yet been fully confirmed by experiment, 
is no proof of its incorrectness. The best mode 
of preventing the formation of grain upon the 
