THE RUSAL NEW-YOBKER. 
JAN. U 
Jfiflft Crop. 
SORGHUM-GROWING IN KANSAS. 
I have raised different varieties of sorghum 
or Northern cane, and manufactured a good 
deal of it into molasses, making lrom 500 to 
2,400 gallons in a season, doing a good deal of 
custom Work. I generally succeed in making 
a good article of molasses, that will not only 
keep well any length of time, but which will 
improve oy agt, and sell in ihe home market 
at an average price of 35 cents per gallon. I 
never made any attempt at making sugar, not 
having any centrifugal or other apparatus nec¬ 
essary to separate the sugar from the molasses. 
My molasses granulates freely, aud I am satis¬ 
fied that with proper appliaue.es aud proper 
treatment, sugar euu he made from our North¬ 
ern cane. To make sugar iu paying quantities 
it will be necessary to put up good buildings, 
and furnish them with good machinery aud all 
necessary fixtures and appliances to handle it 
properly. 
The maiority of the farmers hereabouts look 
at the subject favorably as a means of supply¬ 
ing thuir families with a good and wholesome 
sirup, and raise enough for their own use. 
More farmers would raise it if we had more 
good and well-arranged factories to work it 
up and make a good article of sirup close at 
home. The manufacture of sorghum molasses 
as a business here is not very flattering, Lhe 
market being limited to small quantities. 
The cultivation of sorghum is very simple 
and easy, being the same as that of corn. But 
in the selection of soli, all black and rich bot¬ 
tom laud must be carefully avoided us sorg¬ 
hum raised on sueh land invariably makes 
black and strong molasses. Any naturally dry 
or well-drained uplaud will do. The ground 
should be as free from grass and weed seeds 
as possible, and put iu good order by plowing 
and harrowing uutil it is line and mellow. Lay 
off lightly with a three or four-row marker— 
such as we use here iu the West for corn. 
Three aud a halt teet each way are about tbc 
proper distance tor hills, or, if drills are pre¬ 
ferred (which will probably yield moie per 
acre}, three aud a hah feet is die proper dis 
tance tor the drills. Iu planting the seed, 
cover very lightly. The altor-culture consists 
in keeping the ground well stirred aud free 
from weeds uutil the cane is well headed out. 
In harvesting the cane for molasses, 1 com¬ 
mence as soon as the greater portion of the 
seed lias passed, into me dough state. I then 
str'p, cut aud work up as spe> dily as possible. 
For sugar it should 0o futly ripe, iu boiling ) 
have never Used any m uu ulizmg re-agent, oui 
am satisfied such might be used lo good udvaii 
tage. Two tfiiugs are indispensable: fast bod¬ 
ing aud good skimming. The juice shoillu 
never go down after it onee begins to boil up, 
but should be kept coiling until it is ready to 
come oft. Skimming should he earelully done 
whenever and wherever scum appears. 
Coffee Co., Kans. amos Rosek. 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH SORGHUM IN 
KANSAS. 
The growing of sorghum in Kansas has be¬ 
come an industry from necessity. There are 
many farmers here who can grow every year, 
without interfering with other farm matters, 
enough sorghum to supply ificir families with 
all the sirup needed,without any oibor expense 
than their labor, as there are mills that make 
up the cane either for one-hall or for llj cents 
per gallon of sirup. As yet there has not been 
much sugar made, as to do so successfully re¬ 
quires special apparatus. There are mauy in¬ 
stances here where the sirup has made sugar 
iu the pau without the aid of auy chemicals or 
extra labor, aud all engaged in the manufac¬ 
ture of sirup think there is not the least doubt 
that sugar can he profitably made in Kansas 
from sorgfium, if the right means are used in 
reducing the juice. Who will tell us whai. 
it is ? 
The question that first suggests itself is: 
What kind of so I is best adapted to the growth 
of the plant ? My experience says ihat any soil 
that will grow good corn, wheat, or outs, will 
grow good sorghum. When should it be 
planted? The same time as com. Here in 
Kansas we plant from April 1st to May 10th; 
but I prefer to plant from April 15ib to 20th, as 
then the eaue has a long season to mature. 
The preparation of the soil should be the same 
as for a good corn crop? We plow deep and har¬ 
row well aud roll. No manure is used on the 
crop here while growing; it causes rust on and 
above the first joiut. The mode of culture is 
optional with lhe grower; hut the best resulls 
have beeu obtained by planting in drills 3| ieet 
apart aud 15 iuches in the drill. We fiud that 
it can be handled to much better advantage iu 
drills than in hills when stripping time comes. 
Stripping should uot be doue before one is 
ready to make up the cane, as it promotes the 
growth of suckers. With us these do not start 
until the cane is ripe. Cultivate the same as 
corn—well. The average yield of juice per 
acre, as far as I can ascertain from others and 
my own experience, is, on new broken sod, 750 
gallons of juice, equal to 150 gallons of sirup, 
weighing 13 pounds to a gallon; on old 
ground that produced 150 bushels of shelled 
corn the quantity was 1,000 gallons of juice, 
equal to 200gallons of sirup, allowing five gal¬ 
lons of juice for one gallon of sirup. 
The Early Amber did better; with it less than 
four gallons of juice made oue of sirup. The 
net profits from sod would be $20 25. There 
is no other crop on sod that will produce $10. 
On old ground 200 gallons, allowing one-half 
for making, would leave $35 net per acre. 
You would have to get 140 bushels of com 
at 25 cents to make $35, or 35 bu&heJs of wheat 
at $1 to equal the sorghum. 
I cannot see that there is auy more expense 
iu raising sorghum than there Is iu raising 
corn or wheat, and each can easily estimate 
the profits by the cron he raises, and the price 
he gets for the product in his own locality. 
There are several associations formed around 
the country for the benefit of those interested 
in the growing of sorghum. The meetiugs of 
these are very well attended aud much interest 
is taken by farmers generally. W. -T. Bno wx. 
Butler Co., Kan. 
EXPERIENCE WITH SORGHUM IN OHIO. 
Last spring I procured from the Department 
of Agriculture a package of seed of the Minne¬ 
sota, or Early Amber sugar eaue. I plautcd 
two paiches. Of the one that did the best, 1 
now propose lo treat. 
The patch was plauted about the 10th of May, 
aud cut about the 8th of October. It contained 
between thirteen and fourteen square rods, 
was plowed four times and hoed twice. The 
soil is a yellow clay, interspersed with a little 
sand aud gravel, and tolerably fertile, and the 
yield was, by accurate calculation, at the rate 
of a fraction over 214 gallons of thick molasses 
per acre. This was put into earthuu jars, aud, 
on uusealiug them, the lower hall is louud to 
be granulated, the mass soon becoming dry by 
exposure to the air, but containing loo much 
gum to be equal lo common Orleans sugar. 
luthe manufacture, the juice iaconducted 
til rough a tin tube from the toil! to the first 
evaporator where most ot the green scum 
arises and is tukeu off. From theuee it passes 
out over a layer of gravel aud pebbles, till ii 
reaches a second evaporator, made alter the 
blyle of Cook’s Patent, where the final boiliug 
■tud drawing oft occur. No solution to clarify 
the juice was employed m the operation. 
I ihiuk that it has been demonstrated that 
tUe Early Amber is superior iu every respect lo 
all other varieties of sorghum uow iu cultiva¬ 
tion. It ripens earlier, enabling the cultivator 
to get it worked up before any of the fall frosts 
occur; it produces a much purer, sweeter sirup 
and a larger amount per acre. The indications 
are that there will be twice as much plauted in 
this vicinity next season as there was in the 
year that has just come to a close, and nearly 
or quite all of it will be of this variety. It is 
to be hoped that some genius will so perfeet 
the construction of sorghum mills aud appa¬ 
ratus for granulating the sirup, that in a very 
lew years this nation will cease to be under 
the necessity of sending abroad for sugar. 
Iu conclusion, permit me to remark that the 
practice, onee so common, of stripping off the 
blades several days before cutting the eaue, is 1 
much spoken against here by molasses manu- 1 
facturers. They say that the juice begins to 1 
sour from the first, and that the cane should • 
be cut down on the same day that the stripping 1 
is done. And, furthermore, it is requisite , 
that it should be cut while the seed is in the ' 
dough, aud the grinding and the evapora- 1 
uon of the juice be attended to as soon there- 11 
after as possible, to obtain the best results. f 
Morrow Co., O. Joshua Morris. 1 
A POTATO QUESTION IN TENNESSEE. 
In Feburary last I bought of J. M. Thorburn 
& Co., of your city, one barrel of Beauty of 
Hebron potatoes. I raised a second crop, 
fdantiug the last time on July 23 aud 24. 1 
saw by the advertisement that they purported 
to he a week earlier than the Early Rose po¬ 
tatoes. Iu our section, our farmers have 
found that they can grow aud market a crop 
of Early Rose by 10th to 25th of June, and by 
planting the small, unmerchantable potatoes 
they can grow a second crop, which is usually 
nipped by the early frosts, though that does 
not affect the tubers, and these, dug a week 
or ten days after first frost, yield good, full, 
plump tubers, uot as large as Northern potatoes 
of the same sorts, but we, here, believe them 
superior iu mealiness of flesh and in flavor. 
I experimented this year with one barrel of 
Beauty of Hebrou (supposed to be New York 
State seed) and one barrel of second crop 
Early Rose of rny own growing. 1 planted 
both on March 12, iu precisely the same sort 
of ground—only divided by a ditch. I gave 
both the same cultivation and on the 20th of 
June marketed my Early Rose. During the 
“growing season" I several times examined 
the two kinds and each time I found the 
Hebron showed the larger tubers of the two; 
but the Rose had more in number to each 
vine My experiment caoDOt be completed 
till another spring crop shall have beeu grown 
and by planting Early Rose aud Beauty of 
Hebron, both of second crop seed and under 
the same conditions, I shall hope to settle the 
question of early maturity as butween these 
two varieties. 
A good many second crop Early Rose pota¬ 
toes are being shipped from our locality for 
seed, to points uorthwest of us, and if bur 
second crop seed shall be found earlier 
thau Northern seed of the same varieties, 
why should not the shipping of second crop 
potatoes ol this sectiou to the colder section 
where only one crop can be raised, he found 
au important industry developed with profit 
to somebody aud supplying the tables of your 
section with that valuable vegetable earlier 
than your seed will furnbh them ? 
Davidson Co., Tenn. James J. Pryok. 
4fann topics. 
HISTORY OF A POOR FARM.-No. 22. 
farmers’ families. 
Experience with feorghuin in Illinois. 
I got some Early Amber seed from the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture at Washington, and 
plauted it ou May 14. The weather was so dry 
Lhat I did not get half a stand. The cultiva¬ 
tion was the same as for corn, except that it 
received some extra dressing with a hoc. It 
commenced to ripen about the 15th of August 
aud was ripe the 1st of September, when a frost 
almost ruiued It. Theu jr, was cut and piled, 
and laid there three or four weeks before it was 
made up. It made good sirup, but this did uot 
granulate well. I made about 700 gallons of 
sirup for ipy neighbors. I made theirs before 
my own, and therefore had better success. 
Most of it granulated in the coolers when it 
was made, or soon afterwards. I think that to 
secure the best success iu grauulatiug sirup, it 
should be kept iu a warm place, iu open tanks 
or barrels. I put some in open tanks, and 
some more of the eamu kind iu tight barrels. 
That in the barrels granulated pretty well, but 
that iu the tanks did much better, all of it 
turning to solid mush sugar, with the excep¬ 
tion of a little molasses on the top. 
Bureau Co., Ill. m. A. Colby 
Our little society hits become by degrees 
L very much of a sociable family affair, aud we 
) find ourselves frequently discussing matters 
" hieh relate to our various family interests, as 
they depend upon our different farm manager 
j meuts. We have around us a peculiar sort ot 
, society. There are old families iu our neigh- 
i borhood who have owned their farms for a 
hundred years or more, aud many new-comers 
, n ’h° have bought parts of divided farms which 
have been sold to be distributed among heirs who 
have left the old homestead aud have gone 
into distaut localities to euter into business or 
into uew r associations or family ties. The old 
and the new still retaiu their distinctions and 
their different ways, and this offers unusual 
opportunities for contrasting the results of 
the varying methods of management. My old 
neighbor thinks there is nothing like the old 
style of doing things, hdU still retains full 
control of his farm and liis family, although 
hisgraudsou who works the farm is over 40 
years old and is practically responsible for all 
the work. Mr. Martin thinks this i6 not just. 
He says:— 
j “ Give the young folks a cliauce; let them 
have au interest in the farm and tlte business ; 
and make them feel they are doing something 
for themselves. I have no son, hut my daugh¬ 
ter, Mary, runs my dairy, and what she can 
make out of it. is hers to do as she thinks best 
with it. What is the result? She is thorough¬ 
ly interested: studies all about her business 
and won't be iu a hurry to give up that to go 
oft aud get married, unless she is making a 
good match; I mean by that, to choose a good, 
industrious, careful, steady husbaud, with 
some ideas consistent with her owu ; and not 
take some flashy city man, who would spend 
iu clothes aud cigars as much as would keep a 
family. It is all very well to talk of love in such 
matters as this. Love is a sentiment, and its 
direction takes the channel iu which young 
folks have been trained. There must he some¬ 
thing for love to live on, else when trouble 
comes to the front door, it will fly out of the 
wiudow. It is a more serious matter with 
hoys than with girls, because a boy is apt to 
pack up aud leave “ to do for himself" if he 
thiuks he is not justly dealt with. Parents 
should feel that they are responsible for the 
welfare of their children, and that a family, as 
far as may be, should be a partnership; more 
especially if there is but one to be taken care of. 
j I like the idea of father and son—or daughter 
if there ia no son—going into partnership and 
having a mutual interest in the home aud the 
business.” 
*• If this had been the practice years past, 
there would not be so many farms lying idle 
in the East,” said Dr. Jones, “aud many young 
folks would have been spared much hardship 
in making new homes in the West; while the 
old folks would not have been left practically 
childless in their old age, and have been com¬ 
pelled to leave the farm and live in a village, 
upon their savings, which might otherwise 
have been nursed and increased to help the 
children when the parents no longer needed 
their money.” 
“Here is Mr. Close, whose farm is in the flats, 
rich meadow land and upland, and over 250 
acres. He is over 70, and has two sons; one is 
in the Western mining region, and a thorough 
rover, and the other has a etor j in a Western 
city. Hehasseeu neither for a dozen years. 
His farm is going back to the conditiou of a 
wilderness, uud the whole feeds but five cows, 
a pair of oxcu and oue horse. The old man 
keeps pegging away as well as he can, with the 
old lady for his only companion ; and there is 
work on the farm for both the sons and two or 
three hired men, if they had beeu content to 
stay. But Close kept the boys at work, aud 
doled out a few dollars to them now aud then, 
and wanted to make a hard bargain with them 
to rent out the farm on shares when they be¬ 
came of age. (So they left; and by aud by the 
Close farm will be sold to be divided among the 
heirs. There might have been three farm 
bouses across the road in place of one, and 
two or three laborers’ cottages; 50 or 00 cows 
in place of five, and three happy families with 
uncles aud cousins and aunts, in place of a 
dull, dreary, solitary old couple; and Close 
thinks his boys used him rather badly iu leav¬ 
ing him all alone.” 
“I think that was right mean of the old 
mau,” remarked Miss Martin, who had just 
eome into their pleasant parlor, “there were 
never better boys anywhere than the Close 
boys, aud they worked very hard, early aud 
late, to please their father; and that reminds 
me ol what I read last week of a man who 
gave his hoy an orphan lamb, and the boy 
nursed and brought it up uutil the fall, when 
it went to the market with the rest of the flock 
and the boy cried and said he would never raise 
another lamb. The paper said that was the 
meanest robbery ever perpetrated. That was 
ju.-t the way the yoke of steers that the oldest 
Close boy raised from calves went, and one ol 
them he bought from us with his own pocket- 
money when it was a week-old calf." 
Here our old neighbor dropped iu, and we at 
onee changed the conversation, lest he might 
think it intended for him. Hu has, however, 
quite a different disposition from that of Mr. 
Close, and although bis grandson is simply a 
tenant on shares, without any permanent in¬ 
terest in his grandfather's farm, yet the two 
are quite well satisfied, tfiiukiug it to be a 
matter of custom, aud having no jealousy of 
each other's iuterest. Still oven iu this case it 
works to a disadvantage, and prevents im¬ 
provements which ought to he made. 
“Here is another new idea,” remarked the 
old gentleman, opening his copy of the Rural 
New-Yorker, and putting on his glasses. 
“This will suit you, MissMartin.no doubt, 
for it is just your way of doiug thiugs. They 
are getting up a Society to record tests of 
dairy cows ; 1 suppose putting the weights of 
milk aud butter in a book, and paying your 
two dollars for it. Whut good is lhat going to 
do?" 
“I approve of that.” said Miss Martin, “aud 
I shall be willing to pay a few dollars to have 
eome of our cows’ names iu that book. Why, 
we have some cows that don’t pay for their 
feed, and I never knew it until Fred showed 
me how to make and keep a record. Jenny’s 
record shows that she gave as much butter as 
three other cows together iu the six months 
they have been milking, and they have alTbeeu 
fed alike. Star gave only two pounds and a 
half iu seven day6, and father thought she was 
his best cow, because she would 111! a pail with 
milk. Jenny’s cream is three times as thick 
as Star’s, and we never kuew it uutil we kept 
a record. Father did not think Jenny worth 
half what he would have sold Star for, uutil 
we found out the old cow’s value. Now Star’s 
calves go the butcher, aud we raise Jeuny’s 
heifers always." 
“ A cow is a cow,” said the old gentleman 
“ au d you can get as much for one as another 
when you come to sell. I like an easy-keep¬ 
ing cow, that you don’t need to be always buy¬ 
ing feed for." 
*’ Of course, you like to make cows pay, 
don’t you ?" said Miss Martin. “ Well, let me 
read this to you ; this is a record of Jenny, my 
Jersey cow. This is my cow because I raised 
it, you know, aud father will never sell her, 
you may he sure, because he gave me lhe calf. 
Weil (reading), week ending Nov. 15, 16S Jbs. 
of milk ; Nov- 22ud, 164 lbs.; feed bay and four 
quarts of meal, corn, oats aud middlings, with 
one peck of beets ; Nov. 29lb, 198 lbs. of milk; 
Dec. 0th, 231 lbs.; feed same us before, with 
four pounds of cotton-seed meal added; now, 
four pounds of cottou-seed meal cost seven 
cents, which Is 40 cents a week, and 63 pounds 
