f 
328 
THE BUBAL WEW-YOBKEB 
This fact lays stress upon the importance of 
an education in the art of sugar making. 
Suppose it should cost the State 4(10,000 to 
erect works and carry through a Beries of 
sugar-making operations on a college farm, 
thus educating annually 50 or more intelligent 
young men, and qualifying each to take 
charge of sugar works capable of using the 
crop from 500 acres of 8orghum, each acre 
yielding 1.000 pounds of sugar and as much 
more excellent molasses, for both of which 
there is always a ready sale throughout the 
eountiy, besides affording an offal in the 
shape of a rich, saccharine, herbaceous scum, 
sufficient, when added to the seed tufts, to 
fatten at least two hogs to the acre, or their 
equivalent in neat stock—supposing, I repeat, 
to do all this should cost the 8ta*e 4*10.000, 
how long should a wise Legislature hesitate to 
vote the requisite appropriation, in view of 
these considerations. Moreover, such college 
works once erected, would be self-sustaimng. 
It may be objected, however, that there is 
none among the Faculties of our agricultural 
colleges sufficiently well acquainted with the 
business to teach it practically to others; but 
the ignorance of the Professors will certain¬ 
ly not be removed by the neglect of the colleges 
to teach the business. Plenty of folks, thor¬ 
oughly well able to give ample instruction in 
the process, can be readily found down in 
Louisiana, and though their words may be 
uttered in the appropriate “darky” dialect, 
still they eouvey full information, and the 
old “coous" will soon fit the boys for gradu¬ 
ation in sugar makiog. Should this source 
fail or be objected to, 1 have no doubt our 
Missouri Agricultural College will be prepared 
to fill all demands lor competent foremen in a 
year or two. 
If ihe farmer who intends to grow Sorghum 
for sugar makiDg, expects to have good results, 
he must cultivate the crop with great care- 
no slipshod, half-done farming is good for any¬ 
thing in this connection ; lor there is no crop 
more susceptible of favorable or unfavorable 
effects from conditions of soil and culture. 
Last season I received one sample of cane, the 
juice of which wa* as salty as an ordinary 
city boarding-house’s dinner soup, and on 
inquiry I found that the caue was grown on 
the saline land near Salt Lake, Utah. 1 have 
worked caue that had been grown on land 
freshly manured with horse-stable manure, 
and the steam from the evaporators as well as 
the flavor of the sirup both testified to the 
fact. But deep-plowed clover land or that 
fertilized with piaster or lime, will surely yield 
good caue. 
The question is often asked me, why does 
this caue do so much better now than former¬ 
ly ; to which I answer, because of its improve¬ 
ment by our methods of culture. Had not 
Mr. L. Wray, or some one else, placed in our 
hands the several varieties of Imphee from the 
Zulu-Kaflir land, which we have been crossing 
and hybridizing and shifting from one latitude 
to anotter, it is probable that we should either 
have never included the crop in our culture, 
or 6oon have let it fall out, as the pure Chinese 
cane is very little sought for, nor are any of 
the distinct varieties of Imphee as reliable for 
sugar as the new hybrid, the Orange cane, in 
spi.e of all my familiarity with these canes, it 
puzzles me to state the parentageof this last 
cross, hence 1 adopted for it the name suggested 
by A. M. Scbwajz, who said that when ripe it 
assumed an orange color in the stalk, as well 
as in the juice and sirup and in the seed when 
6helled. i shall subject it to Jurlher tests this 
Beason in OTder to learn its true merits, and if 
it fulfills its present promises, we shall have 
gained an important step m advance. 
SORGHUM SUGAR MAKING IN NEW YORK. 
J. C. REYNOLDS. 
In the spring of ’78,1 obtained from Gen. Le 
Due a small quantity of tbe seed of Early Am¬ 
ber cans, and planted it June 3d. The season 
proved a good one; corn ripened generally 
through this State. The cane ripened before 
my corn, and I saved perhaps 60 pounds of 
seed- With very crude machinery I worked 
up small quantities of this cane at four or five 
different times, one batch having been made 
only before frost, owing to my being so much 
hurried with other work. The sirup I made 
after the cane had been severely frozen and 
thawed out was decidedly the best. I have re¬ 
gretted since that I did not attempt to make 
sugar then, as the next sea-on’a crop did not 
mature. The next spring—1879—I distributed 
the seed I raised, among my neighbors, and a 
quantity was obtained from Washington Quite 
a number of small pieces were planted; but, 
as very few had ever had experience in plant¬ 
ing such small seed for a field crop; and as 
the early part of the season was very dry, 
many failed to firm in the seed; others planted 
it too deep, aud but little of it came up. It 
was a very poor corn season here. We had 
early frosts in the fall. The result was none 
of the cane matured, and 1 may safely say 
here, that there is no use of attempting to 
grow this cane where corn will not grow well 
and mature ; but there is now no question but 
that it may be raised, at a reasonable profit, on 
good corn ground, or where corn would grow 
and do well. 
Last fall we—that is ten of us—purchased a 
small one-horse Victor mill, and worked up 
our cane, making what would be generally 
accepted as a good article of sirup. Wo had 
two evaporating pans. bolding40gallons each, 
and a 50-gallon defecator. We used Stewart's 
and Clough’s chemicals aud some others. Some 
of ihe simp was better than others owing to 
the different modes of woikiug the chemicals, 
aud some was quite good that had no chem¬ 
icals in it. 
The farmers who grew it here were gener¬ 
ally well pleased with the result under the 
circumstauces. I have some of the sirup that 
has stood iu a warm room through the winter, 
aud 30 per cent, of it is now sugar, with well 
defiued crystals. Some of the poorest of our 
sirup was sent to a chemist in New York, 
who reported 37£ per cent, of pure caue sugar. 
The results of our last season’s experiments 
have satisfied me that we can grow iu this 
State from 10 to 15 tons of cane to the acre, 
and I think I rate it low at an average of 200 
gallous of sirup to the acre. The amount of 
sugar from a gallon of sirup will depend very 
vtry much on the soil on which it is grown. I 
am tuld that at Crystal Lake. Illinois, the juice 
from their caue stood a saccharometer tes: of 
but 8® to9°, while ours went as high as 11°. 
The Crystal Lake factory made a good article 
of sugar, and 45 000 pounds for their season’s 
woik. A gentleman who assisted iu working 
up at that place and raised 10 acres himself, 
told us that he considered Soighum caue a 
paying crop there at two dollars per ton, as 
they could raise 10 tons per acre; that they could 
not get a profit equal to that from Sorghum, 
from cither corn or oats. He also told me 
that they got but four or five pounds of sugar 
to the gallon. The report is iu general circu¬ 
lation that 10 to 11 pounds can be made from a 
gallon. Tnis I cannot believe until I have 
had more experience. Such a result might 
have been obtained on a very small scale 
from a lew well-ripened stalks in the vicinity 
of Washington or St. Louis, Mo., but fora 
general field crop I think it is too high. 
First-class sirup can be made iu an ordinary 
open pan; but the sugar will be such as is 
known us sugar house sugar. First-class, light 
sugar cau only be made with a vacuum pau, 1 
obtained the best crop by planting in rows, 
three-aud-a-half by ono-and-a-ha)f feet in the 
row, 8 to 12 seeds to the hill. Then thin out to 
fis'esialks. From 90 to 100 days are required 
to mature the crop. I think there is no doubt 
but that we cau raise a much larger amount to 
the aere iu Now York thuu they can in Ohio, 
or Illinois. Those who have, the past season, 
experimented with small mills, will perhaps be 
surprised to learn that with alargemiLl, having 
the proper carriers, cane to the depth of five 
inches ou the earners will feed through the 
rollers w hen the laces of the last rollers nearly 
touch each other—steel to steel—and extract 
but 80 per ceul. of the j uice, while in the small 
mills not more than 50 or 60 per cent, is taken 
out. It requires heavy mills and strong power 
to get a large percentage of the juice, Where 
a few farmers wish to obtain a barrel or two 
each for his own use, they cau club together 
aud buy a two-horso mill—worth say $100. 
I would not have a smaller one. Theu have a 
tinsmiih make three well-braced, galvunized- 
iron pans, holdiug not less than 100 gallons 
each; put up a large 6hed ; build good arches 
for the pans, with pretty large flues to carry 
off the smoke, aud you are ready for business. 
Read the papers carefully, aud you “ill find out 
just how much lime to use—especially after 
some practical experience—and how to treat 
the juice with the porous alum. There will be, 
no doubt, many patent eompouuds offered the 
coming season for cleansing the juice. My 
advice would be: Don’t buy them until you 
know for certain that some practical sugar 
works are using them. 
Corning, N. Y. 
-♦♦» — — 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL FARM. 
We have known the Rural Farm for the 
past fifteen years, aud uever before during 
that period has wheat at this season presented 
a sight so beautiful—so eutuely satisfactory. 
The stems are strong, the leaves broad, the 
Light is uniform aud the color is of thut deep, 
rich green, that gives assurance of freedom 
from all disease. We attribute this perfection 
of growth to three causes: first, a thorough 
preparation of the laud by the use oi the har¬ 
row aud roller; second, to early sowing, and, 
last, to au unusually favorable seasou. Per- 
haps we ought to add a fourth cause, viz., 
concentrated fertilizers which were used more 
freely than ever before, though by no meaus 
in extravagant quantities, except, It may be, 
upon severul small experiuieui plots. Adjoin¬ 
ing our maiu wheat field (Clawson) is that of 
a neighbor. Stable manure of a flue quality 
was spread over it with a liberal baud. The 
wheat was sown (drilled) ten days later than 
our own. The land is much the same; the 
variety of wheat the same ; but the difference 
in favor of the Rural field may be seen at a 
glance. Whether this is owing to the differ¬ 
ence in manuree, or in the time of sowing, or 
to tbe more careful preparation which our 
land received, is a matter of conjecture, it is 
poBSible that harvest time may tell another 
tale. But whether so or otherwise, every sea¬ 
son brings to us the proofs that the labor 
Epent in a thorough preparation of the land 
to be cultivated, is abundantly repaid; a com¬ 
mendation that, however trite, is disregarded 
by a majority of our farmers. 
Varieties of Wheat. 
Wo are trying Fultz for tbe first time. For 
years past we, and the farmers of this part of 
tbe country generally, have been sowing Claw¬ 
son, aud we have thought that for yield and 
hardiness there is nothing like it. But at this 
time the Fultz is not ouly ahead of the Claw¬ 
son, bat, ae regards tillering, strength aud 
thickness of stem, it is superior to any other 
of our 25 varieties. “ Shumaker, ” seut to us 
by the Micbgau Agricultural College, is per¬ 
haps the next most forward. This was sown 
broadcast upon a plot of ouc-tweuticth of one 
acre, and the seeding was eo scanty that the 
plants gave little promise, late in the fall, of 
ever covering tbe grouud as they do at the 
present time. "Knight’s Excelsior” is also 
looking remarkably well. ThiB tuny possibly 
be some old variety. It was found in a field 
of “.Lancaster” by Mr James U. Kuight, of 
Ohio, who sent us a small quantity for trial. 
Defiance and Champlain were both 80 wn with 
a view to testing them as winter varieties. The 
former look* strong aud heavy; the latter, 
poorly. It may be, however, that salt, sown 
at the rate ol 210 bushels per acre, has harmed 
it. “Silver Chaff," “Gold Medal," “Gold 
Drop,” “Oregon,” “ Bentley," Mold’s “white’’ 
aud “ red” “ Metz” have made a flue growth. 
“ Fultzo-Clawsou," a cross made by our frieud, 
Mr. Wysor, and claimed to be the largest kernel 
of any known viriety, is, we regret to say, 
considerably behind many others. 
“ Yellow Missouri " (from the Com. of Agri¬ 
culture) has been attacked by a fungus known 
as Erysiphe commuui*. The stalks are so 
enfeebled in consequence that the entire plot 
has assumed a decidedly yellow cast. The 
“ Asiatic” wheat is a failure, not one of tbe 
kernels having germinated. “ Lost Nation,” 
a spriog wheat highly valued in Vermont aud 
Canada, aud sent to us for trial by our friend, 
Dr. Hoskins, bids fair also to prove a failure. 
Whether for good or IU, we are plauting all 
of our corn (ten acre*) with a eorn drill. It 
drops a kernel every 12, 16 or 20 inches, as 
desired, and covers nicely. Much time and 
labor are thus saved, if—planted iu this way— 
the corn should thrive and yield as well as if 
planted by hand. 
The soil is in splendid condition for work¬ 
ing—we have neither too much nor too little 
rain—the »uu is bright and warm and, in fact, 
a more auspicious spring never favored the 
farmers and gardeners along " old Long Is¬ 
land's sea-girt shore.” 
Jitttr Crop, 
THE “FIELD” OR “COW-PEA.” 
Much has been said aud written of late upon 
the value of this plant both as a manurial agent 
for improving exhausted soUb and as a valu- 
aole stock feed; and probably nothing has 
been exaggerated as to Its intrinsic worth— 
especially to Southern agriculture. Though 
long a resideut of the South, aud generally 
growu, i. has been hitherto treated as a more 
side, or catch, crop, no particular pains hav¬ 
ing been taken to grow it as a specialty, with 
proper cultivation to develop large, remunera¬ 
tive yields. 
Maturing mostly at that period of tho year 
when our other staple crops of cottou, corn, 
etc., are requiring every euergy, this one has 
been suffered to remain and be consumed at 
will by slock turned iu to gleau the fields, 
thus extravagantly wasting it, often to the 
detriment or death of tho aumials. As far back 
as twenty-five years ago, au animated discus¬ 
sion took place in opr Southern agricultural 
papers, as to the benefit or value of the pea 
for stock. Our journals were filled with able, 
spirited contributions, “pro aud con," some 
contending the pea was destructive to hogs 
and cattle, great numbers of those feeding on 
it dying iu the spring, especially upon the 
limclandsof Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. 
Some plauters even abandoned tbe production 
of the piaut, owing to suuh losses regularly 
occurring among their stock. It was con¬ 
tended that the limestone waters consumed 
with this food iu the fields, had to do with this 
sure aunual mortality among stock. At last, 
the general conclusion was reached that some 
varieties oi this plant— even the most valuable— 
when eaten greedily by cattle and hogs, would 
produce very serious consequences. Late va¬ 
rieties—vulgarly called “Tory" pea, “Little 
BlacE," “ Red-ripper"—small and hard when 
taken into the stomach of the animal without 
due mastication, were as fatal as a surfeit of 
clover; while larger, softer varieties might be 
eaten without auy apparent evil consequences. 
Tho hogs were observed to die in spring after 
having been fattened upon the pea. aud there 
was no known help for the peculiar wasting 
that occurred after this crop bad been eaten* 
and the animal, depending upou Indian corn 
and poor pastures for support, died. Such Is 
the fact; and great precaution must be used iu 
feeding h gs when taken from a surfeit of this 
food. I thiDk the cause of this can be satis¬ 
factorily found in the sudden development of 
the animal upon highly concentrated food fol¬ 
lowed in the spring by as sudden poor and in¬ 
sufficient aliment like that usually given bore 
to stock; lienee they are predisposed to fall 
victims of every disease. But this does not 
destroy the value of this plant as an article of 
stock food. Analysis proves its highly nitro¬ 
genous, muscle-making qualities ; and when 
properly prepared In coarse meal, or boiled or 
6teained, there is nothing to compare to the 
pea as a milk and butter-making element, as it 
produces the richest, sweetest-tasted milk and 
cream, not excepting that produced by clover, 
to which family it properly belongs. 
A very fine combination of food for milch 
cows, I have been using for years, is the fol. 
lowing, and if any oue can produce a better in 
the food crops we have, I would be pleased to 
see it;—two bushels of corn meal, oue of pea 
meal aud oue of cotton seed meal, mixed well 
together, with hay or dry forage during wiuter 
and green pastures iu summer, form as com¬ 
plete a grain sustenance for the animal, with 
abundaut elements of pure, sweet milk, as can 
be fouud in auy other combination; oatmeal 
also added might improve it. Two quarts of 
this nights aud mornings, with hay or grass, 
form a cheap and perfect food for cow and 
calf. 
The varieties of the pea or bean—as 'tis now 
ehauged iu its family relation—are very nu¬ 
merous, aud have been probably produced by 
sports of nature aud by mixing. There are, 
however, distinct early and late-maturing va¬ 
rieties, the members of each class having their 
special advantages in our Southern agricul- 
■ turai economy. The vaiieti'>6 commonly known 
here as Speckled, Partridge and Goat-peas, 
will, under a 6uiuiuer sun, ripen iu 60 to 70 
days from the time of plantiug. Tho later sorts, 
as Clay-Bank, Tory, Little Black, Red-ripper, 
planted in June, ripen la tki* latitude (33°) 
late iu October or November, if the frost does 
not interfere too soon. These la er Borts are 
great runners, aud are esteemed highly for 
manurial purposes, affording vegetable matter 
and a fine cleansing crop for oiher rotations 
in grain or cotton. 
Of the benefits of the pea in S-mthern exhaus¬ 
tive farming, much could be writteu. Its wealth 
of vine and foliage, promises to add largely to 
the supply of humus which is being exhausted 
from our soils by the constant use of hoe and 
plow. It will also prove valuable for the Mid¬ 
dle and even Northern States for this purpose. 
Some earlier varieties that require ouly 60 to 
70 warm days to mature seed, will develop 
quite a long way North. 'Tis known that 
the Chinese in their wonderful economy in 
manurial agencies, have employed this, or 
similar beau plants, forages. Flooding their 
plats of laud where these have been growu 
broadcast, they tread the vines into the soil or 
mud with their feet, iu preparation for a cereal 
or a cotton crop. With our sparse population 
and cheap lands, we find, however, plow and 
horse cheaper machines than human muscles, 
tor by these means larger ureas can be success¬ 
fully manipulated and turned under at proper 
seasons, giving life and renewed vigor to old 
lands in the production of grain or cotton. 
Burke Co., Ga. W. B. Jones. 
-♦-*-*- 
Orchard Gran. 
An article iu the Rural, page 297, speaks 
deservedly highly of this grass for grazing pur¬ 
poses ; but adds, “ it is but au indifferent plant 
for hay, yielding a light crop of woody, fibrous 
fodder.” This latter is owiug to grass being 
left to form or ripen its seed before cutiing. 
It should be mowed, to be eured for bay, just 
before or at tbe moment it begins to blossom, 
aud, as it is a course grass and dries quickly, it 
should not be left exposed to the sun any longer 
than, if even so lougas, rank timothy. On good 
soils the yield thus will average fully two tons 
per acre of as good aud palatable hay for stock 
as red top or timothy. 1 have occasionally 
seen nearly three tons thus cut aud cured from 
an aere. 
One-aud-a-half to two bushels of seed are 
recommended to be sowed to the acre. Better 
sow three bushelB; then it fully stocks the 
ground, and does not come up in bunches. No 
other seed ought to be Bowed with it, not even 
clover. My orchard grass on the first of May, 
although tbe past April was extra-cold and the 
season late, was 7 to 13 inches high—almost 
thrice the bight or any other grass, aud nearly 
doable that of clover. Ci 
-*-M- 
Growing the Sugar Bbkt and Mangel 
Wurzel. —Mr. William Crozier, of Nortbport, 
Long Island, is one of the most successful and 
