fc'rrpf vtr 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
asc&j 
80 
markably well, and arrived in safety. I sustained some little losses 
at first, from being a stranger to the peculiarities of the country, 
from having to hire my sheep kept, for want of suitable accommo¬ 
dations, and of such fodder as I wished. During the last eight 
years, and since 1 had a farm of my own, I have not lost over H 
per cent: for the last year not more than 1 per cent. The last 
two winters I had no loss, and the last year I raised 101 lambs, 
from 100 ewes, one only of my ewes having twins. The sheep 
which R. speaks of do not shear more than 2J lbs. My flock, 
last year, of 200 ewes and lambs, averaged 2 lbs. Gi ozs. if 1 
had had a proportion of wethers, they would probably have averag¬ 
ed 3 lbs. 'My grown bucks sheared 4J lbs. He says they (that is, 
the sheep he speaks of,) are poor nurses: my ewes are uncom¬ 
monly good. All these facts can be abundantly proved from my 
sheep records, in which births and deaths, and every thing of im¬ 
portance, i- recorded, and from credible witnesses. All these 
facts, in which there is no guessing, show conclusively that R’s 
statements about the pure breeds of Saxon sheep did not allude to 
my sheep at all; and therefore I hope there will be no unkind feel¬ 
ings between us. 
Respecting the 11 miserable'’ quality of the meat, if R. will pro¬ 
cure the best sample of South Down mutton he can find, I will 
meet him at any place he shall name with a sample from my Sax¬ 
ons; both shall be cooked in the same manner: he shall select one 
or more of the most accomplished connoisseurs in good eating, and 
I will rest that point on their decision. 
I have but one little statement more to add, and I will then leave 
the subject to .the public. The prices current of wool in New-York, 
given in the Cultivatior for the last month (May) are for Saxony, 
80 cents; for half-blood 53 cents, and for native, 33 cents. Now, 
allow my ewes to produce 2| lbs., (and they will rather overgo 
than fall short ol it.,) then at 80 cents the fleece will bring $2.40. 
Allow the South Down ewes to shear 4 lbs. and allow it to be equal 
to the half blood merino, and the amount will $2.12. Allow the 
Bakewe l breed to produce 7 lbs., which is 1 lb. more than R. rates 
them; this at 33 cents will be $2-31. The three fleeces will stand 
thus:—-Saxon, $2.40—South Downs, $2.12—Bakewell, $2.31. 
With these remarks. I submit the subject. 
HENRY D. GROVE.” 
Wool and Hair are known to possess highly fertilizing pro¬ 
perties—they are in reality, like bone and horn, concentrated ma¬ 
nure. Until recently, refuse flocks of either could not. be obtained 
in any considerable quantity ; but our manufactories now afford 
them to such an extent as to entitle them to the farmer’s notice. 
We have employed hair, combined with oil, from a seal skin manu¬ 
factory, in considerable quantity, and with the best effect. Wool¬ 
len factories furnish considerable waste flocks, combined with 
grease and dirt. Mr. Jabez Burroughs, of Watervliet, has been 
experimenting with these, and informs us that they exceed all 
other manure, when applied in one-third the quantity that hog ma¬ 
nure is applied. 
For Bvdd'mg , Geo. H. M’Carter, esq., of Newton, N. J. re¬ 
commends to us the inner husk of Indian corn for ligatures, as su¬ 
perior to bass matting, and as a material within the reach of all. 
The hint is worth being remembered. 
~coitag»iisPoy'e>Ei\cE." 
~~ BEET SUGAR, &,c. 
Dexter , (Mich.) May 12, 1835. 
J. Buf.l, Esq. Sir.—I recollect a few years since of seeing an 
account of sugar being made somewhat extensively, in some parts 
of France, from beets. As this part of the country is at some 
distance from the sea board, and also destitute of the sugar maple, 
which renders sweetening quite expensive, if you are acquainted 
with the kind of beet used, together with the process of manu¬ 
facturing, you would oblige many of your subscribers Gy inserting 
the same in the Cultivator. Or, if you are acquainted with any 
other substitute, it would be equally acceptable. 
Should it not be foreign to the object of your paper, will you 
please to give us a recipe for making “ India Rubber Varnish,” for 
rendering leather water-proof 7 And here, permit me without be¬ 
ing suspected of flattery, to add my name to the list of encomiasts 
of your valuable paper. I think the two first numbers of the se¬ 
cond volume are worth the price of the year’s subscription; at least 
they are so to me. Yours respectfully, 
WM. A. JONES. 
REPLY. 
Mr. Jones’ inquiry may be important to the far west, for the reason’s he has 
slated. We therefore subjoin a description of the process of making beet sugar, 
as given by Chaptal, who was at the same time an extensive manufacturer of 
the article and an eminent chemist, with some other facts connected with the 
subject. Our quotation is from Orfila's Practical Chemistry, page 129-30. 
“ The beets are sown at the end of March or in April, [last of April or first 
of May with us,] when frost is no longer to be apprehended; it seems nearly 
indifferent whether the seed of tiie red, yellow or w liite beets are taken. The 
earth most proper for their cultivation, is that which has depth, arid at the 
same time is light and rich; that which comes from the clearing up ol mea¬ 
dows, alluvial soil, dunged and long worked, are preferred for this purpose.— 
These grounds should be prepared by two or three very deep ploughings, and a 
sufficient quantity of manure. The beets are sown at random like wheat, and 
it is then harrowed; this mode has more advantages than that of sowing by lhe 
hand, the drill plough, on beds, or in the nursery. All the plants which grow 
near the beets, and whose vicinity is very hurtful to them, are pulled up by the 
hand or a weeding hook. The period of taking up this plant differs greatly, 
according to climate; in the environs of Paris, and even at 40 or 50 leagues 
from the capital, we should proceed to lake them up in the beginning of Octo¬ 
ber, whilst in the middle countries, this operation should take place much 
sooner; without attending to this, it happens that ihe sugar formed is decom¬ 
posed by the process of vegetation, and is replaced by nitrate of potash. 
“After stripping the beets of their leaves, they are placed in the open air, on 
a very dry soil, beyond the reach of inundation, and which is covered with 
|some pebbles and straw; the beets are placed in beds, in the centre of which 
i a hole is left to give exit to the vapor, and the beds are covered with straw. 
These precautions are indispensable, since, on the one hand, the beets freeze 
at 1° to 0° (82 to 34° Fall.) and on the other, they germinate at 8 or 9° (48° 
Fall.) especially if the air is moist. It would be more convenient to preserve 
them in barns and granaries; but it is almost impossible to find a situation of 
j this kind, capable of holding all the beets we want. If, nevertheless, w e 
choose to put them into magazines, we must, 1. leave them in the field some 
days to dry; 2. uncover them when the temperature is only a lew degrees 
above zero, unless it rains; 3. separate the heaps, remove the frozen or putri 
died beets, and renew the beds, [piles.] 
“ Extraction of the Sugar. —We cut off the necks and small roots of the 
beets, and scrape the surface with knives. They are reduced to a pulp by 
means of cylindric graters, [similar, probably to our grater cider mill,] moved 
I rapidly by hand, or by some contrivance. The pulp is pressed, at first, in 
small lever presses, and then by much more poweiful ones; by this plan, we 
j procure from 65 to 75 per cent of juice, which marks from five to ten on Baum’s 
areometer. This juice contains, besides those substances found in the juice of 
the sugar cane, malic and acetic acids, and scarcely will it afford more than 
three or four per cent of sugar. It is received in a boiler called the darifyer, 
which is heated when one-third or one-half filled. When the temperature is 
65 or 66° (Cent.=150° Fab.) the fire is stilled. We then throw into the boiler 
about 48 grains of lime, slaked with wa r m water, for every quart of juice, aud 
! the liquor is then brought nearly to ebullition, it is taken from the lire arm on 
its surface is soon perceived a layer, which is sk'mmed off. The liquid is then 
made to run out by means of u stop-cock fixed at the distance of a fool from the 
bottom of the boiler. 
“ The liquid is quickly boiled, and sulphuric acid diluted with 20 parts of wa¬ 
ter, is poured on in the proportion of 1-10 of the lime employed; it is stirred, and 
it is better the mixture should have a slight excess of lime than of acid. We mix 
with the 1 iquor 3-1UU of animal charcoal, perfectly fine; for instance, that which 
is produced in the preparation of 1’russian blue. Immediately afterwards, we 
add half of the charcoal which has served in a former process, and the boiling 
is continued until the liquid marks 18 or 20° on the areometer; it is suffered 
to rest until the next day, when it is strained through a woollen cloth; it is 
then put into a round boiler, two feet in breadth and ten inches high; this is 
one-third filled, and it is again boiled. If the contents are burned, the fire is 
relaxed, and the liquor is stirred; if the bath foams much, a little butter is 
thrown in and the heal moderated. The boiling is ended, when, on taking a 
little of the syrup between the thumb and forefinger, and quickly separating 
them, a thread is formed, which breaks dry At this period lhe fire is covered, 
and after some minutes the syrup is poured into coolers, and from thence into 
the cones”—after which it may be subjected to the processes of refining or 
claying, like West-lndia sugar. 
The manufacture of heel sugar was prosecuted in France extensively during 
the late w : ar; but on the return of peace, was in a measure abandoned. It has 
recently been revived, and is said to be rapidly' increasing; and land fir beet 
culture lets for a higher rent than any other production About 18,01 0,000 
pounds, or 13.000 tons, are said to be produced annually, and the profits are so 
great, that it has been recommended to the French legislature to tax ii for re¬ 
venue. 
According to the tables of Dubrunfaut, the average product in Flanders, in 
ten cases cited, was 23,751 killogr.ims the hectare. The killogram is 2£ 1 hs.; 
the hectare 2^ acres. He estimates the raw sugar at lour percent on the weight 
of the roots, the pulp to be worth 12 francs, (about $2.28,) per ton, for feed¬ 
ing stock, and the molasses worth something additional (or distillation I)r. 
Achard obtained 6 lbs. 3 oz. raw sugar from a quintal of roots. Dubrunfaut 
estimates lhe cost of the sugar to the producer*at about five cents per pound; 
at the manufactory' of M. Cresspell, the cost was six to seven cents per pound. 
Chemistiy has discovered a new material for sugar, in wheat, the great sta¬ 
ple of the west. It was first announced by a Russian chemist, M. Kirchoff, 
that starch miy be converted into sugar, by being boiled for some time, in 
