THE CULTIVATOR, 
177 
ing; every farmer may see from this, how (if he choo¬ 
ses, ) to steer clear from his grocery bill. 
The mill for grinding, best suited for the farmer, is a 
simple one, and need not cost more than $10. 
The boiling apparatus should consist, 1st, of two defe¬ 
cating kettles; they may be of cast iron, and capable of 
holding as much juice as the mill will press out in 15 or 
20 minutes; these kettles must be placed so that a quick 
and strong fire can be made under them; and so arranged 
that they can be emptied at a moment’s warning. 2d. 
Two or three evaporating pans; a single sheet of Russia 
iron, bent up six inches at the sides and ends, and rivet¬ 
ed, makes an excellent pan of this description. 3. Two 
copper or tin pans for finishing; these should be flat bot¬ 
tomed, six inches deep, and so arranged that they can be 
removed from the fire instantly when the charge is fin¬ 
ished. They should never have much over two inches 
in depth of syrup placed in them at onetime, and should 
each be of such a size that a charge of three or four gal¬ 
lons will not fill it deeper than this. 
The difficulty of manufacturing sugar to the best advan¬ 
tage , has always been considerable. This has grown out 
of the foreign substances always found connected with it 
in the juices of plants. Sugar is one of the most easily 
decomposed substances in nature. The juice of a plant 
may be very rich in sugar, yet when slowly evaporated, 
the residue will not show a single trace of saccharine. 
In the process of vegetation, as the plant approaches ma¬ 
turity, sugar is changed into starch. In the germination 
of the seed, a contrary change occurs, and starch is con¬ 
verted into sugar. I took a portion of sprouted corn, 
and macerated it in water until the sugar was extracted; 
the liquid then strikingly resembled both in taste and 
smell, the juice of corn-stalk after it has been clarified; 
it was then set to evaporate over a slow fire; it gradual¬ 
ly grew darker in color, and in a short time it appeared 
very much like beet juice. Before the evaporation was 
finished, every particle of sugar had disappeared, and 
from being sweet and pleasant to the taste, it had become 
black, bitter and nauseous. The same experiment was 
repeated under the same circumstances, except that a 
small portion of starch was added to the water; in this 
case, the sugar was not decomposed, but retained its dis¬ 
tinctive qualities throughout evaporation. The chemi¬ 
cal reasons for this, it is needless now to discuss; the 
simple fact, ami its application, are sufficient for our pur¬ 
pose. Wheat flour consists principally of starch, and was 
used with good success, though perhaps pure starch 
would be better. One pint of flour was mixed with two 
gallons of skim milk, and one pint of this mixture was 
added to 30 gallons of juice. These proportions are not 
given as best, for many more experiments will be neces¬ 
sary before they can be determined accurately. 
As the juice comes from the mill, it Should run into a re¬ 
ceiver which will hold just enough to fill one of the defeca¬ 
ting kettles; while in this receiver, the mixture of flour 
and milk, and also the necessary quantity of lime water 
must be added and well stirred in. It is then poured at 
once into the defecating kettle and heat applied; a very 
firm thick scum is by this means separated, and the juice 
becomes clear; it is next run through a flannel strainer 
into one of the evaporating pans, and the boiling kept up 
briskly. Take a shovel full of red hot coals from the 
furnace, and after blowing the ashes off, throw them into 
the pan: as you put in more juice, add more coal, as the 
pan becomes filled with coal, take out that which has 
been in longest. From this pan the juice is run in suc¬ 
cession through the others, (straining it when conveni¬ 
ent,) until it is finished. Wm. Webb. 
Wilmington, Del., March 14, 1845. 
Western Reserve Magazine of Agriculture and 
Horticulture.— We have received the first number of 
a monthly periodical with this title, published at Cleve¬ 
land, Ohio. The leading character of this number is 
rather horticultural, and it is illustrated with several cuts 
of pears, apples, and other fruits. The articles are of a 
highly creditable character, and well worthy of attention. 
Among the contributors, we notice the name of Dr. J. P. 
Kirtland, well known as one of our most able horticultu¬ 
ral writers. Edited by F. R. Elliott. Terms, $1 a year. 
PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 
L. Tucker, Esq—Alonzo Gray has written a valuable 
treatise on agriculture. We have just read it with muck 
pleasure. He advises to prune fruit trees in winter, at 
many others have done. From our observation, the win¬ 
ter is not the best time for pruning, unless the stocks artf 
immediately covered with liquid grafting salve, or othei 
gummy materials, &c., which may easily be done, if 
warm and liquid, and put on with a painter’s brush. If 
left uncovered, the stocks become dry, shrink and crack, 
and let in water, and rot and disease follow. 
A neighbor of ours has a few trees of the best kind of 
apples. He complains that all his trees decay by rot, 
&c. He trims them every season in February; and scrapes 
and washes them with great care and labor. All his trees 
thus decay. We think it is caused by thus trimming in 
winter. 
If trees are trimmed the last of May or first of June, 
when a plentiful flow of sap is furnished, the stocks heal 
over soon, or during summer. It is prudent to cover the 
stocks with salve, as above mentioned, if you would do 
the work perfectly, which is certainly best. 
Schenectady, April, 1845. D. Tomlinson. 
SPONTANEOUS VEGETATION. 
Mr. Tucker —I am very far from believing that any 
condition of the elements, can compel nature into such a 
violation of her immutable laws, as the transmutation of 
wheat into chess; yet who can satisfactorily answer the 
question, where does the seed chess come from ? I have it 
from the best authority that an abundant crop of chess has 
been grown on new land, when the cleanest of wheat 
has been sown. Some writers have pretended that chess 
will sometimes remain in the ground many years with¬ 
out vegetating; but our most experienced farmers assert 
that chess vegetates much more easily than most other 
seeds; that even red clover seed will remain in the ground 
much longer without vegetating than chess; yet we ne¬ 
ver see red clover appear on land where the seed has not 
been sown. 
I would also ask the question, where does the seed of 
white clover come from ? We have it from the best au¬ 
thority, that soon alter the trees are cut off from a calca¬ 
reous virgin soil, white clover invariably appears. A 
farmer who lives on the Allegany ridge in Pennsylvania, 
where there is no calcareous soil, informs me that he has 
tried the experiment of sowing lime and plaster on a 
patch of ground covered with sorrel, when the sorrel was 
the next season succeeded by white clover. 
When I have seen young oaks growing in the midst 
of a forest of pine stumps, I have said to myself, where 
did the acorns come from to grow these oaks; they cer¬ 
tainly were not brought here accidentally, because the 
nearest acorn bearing trees were forty miles off, in a new 
and sparsely settled country. 
It is in perfect accordance with nature’s laws, that the 
oak should follow the pine in the order of succession; 
most pine bearing soils, being doubtless originally too 
deficient in alkaline salts, to admit of the growth of the 
oak and other deciduous trees; but after the soil has been 
for hundreds of years acquiring carbonic acid and alka¬ 
line matter, through the agency of the incumbent forest, 
it is sufficiently rich in salts, to admit of the growth of a 
deciduous vegetation. 
But apropos of chess; may we not sometimes refer its 
presence in the wheat field, to that mysterious principle 
in nature, which has from the beginning, caused organic 
matter to spring spontaneously from certain inorganic el¬ 
ements, dependant however for its all subsequent growth 
and maturity, to the same laws that control, as the French 
physiologist would say, the atmosphere of plants. 
Waterloo, N. Y., 1845. S. W. 
Fruit trees. —An excellent mode for preventing 
young fruit trees from becoming hide bound and mossy, 
and for promoting their health and growth, is to take a 
bucket of soft soap, and apply it with a brush or old 
cloth to the trunks from top to bottom.— Boston Cultiva¬ 
tor. 
