40 
THE CULTIVATOR 
restore them; accordingly, they sell for a trifle and remove to the west, 
where, it seems, they suppose there will be no need of exertion or labor. 
■But I ask, is there no way whereby our farms can be kept up, or restored 
to their former productiveness? 'I answer, economy and good manage¬ 
ment will effect it. Manure is as necessary to the productiveness of land, 
as food is to the growth of animals. But many farmers complain for the 
want of the former, and their cattle in many instances show the want of 
the latter. This has been my situation, and the situation of most of farm¬ 
ers in this region; but I hope we may grow wiser on this subject. Ma¬ 
nure is as necessary for the farmer as money is for ttje merchant or specu¬ 
lator, and there has already been much written on this subject: yet it ap¬ 
pears that many are not convinced of its importance, or act contrary to 
their own conviction. If manure is necessary, and we suffer for the want 
of it, why cannot farmers be persuaded to manage economically concern¬ 
ing the subject? Why let their manure lie about their barns and yards, 
from year to year, to the destruction of their barns and fences, a constant 
nuisance, and detrimental to health and comfort? Or why, when the heap 
becomes intolerable, and is half or more wasted, draw it off and deposite 
it in large piles at the setting in of winter, to be exposed to the drenching 
rains, snows and frosts of winter; to be rehauled in the spring and spread 
upon the land, when at least two-thirds of-its nutritious properties are ex¬ 
hausted? Or why let their cattle bask over their fields, from the barn to 
the stack, and from the stack to the watering place, leaving their drop¬ 
pings and urine scattered over from ten to fifty acres of land, to be dried 
and lost by the winds of April? While their cattle suffer for want of 
housing, and their land is trodden and injured by their feet; also a vast 
extra expense of fodder, and a loss in-the condition of their stock ? I ask, 
why is it that many farmers complain of the want of means, and are so 
negligent in employing the means which' they do, or might, with little 
trouble and expense; possess? Whatever maybe the cause, it is evident 
that farmers of this description, (and there are many of them in this vicini¬ 
ty,) “do not work it right.” If you ask, “ how shouhjl I work it?” I 
Will tell you some things you can do to your advantage. House as many 
of your cattle as possible, and feed in mangers or racks; let your cattle, 
that must lie out, have a comfortable yard and shed adjoining your barn; 
let your stables be kept clean, and the refuse fodder from the mangers be 
thrown into the yard, your cattle fed in the yard once or twice in the day, 
(in suitable Weather,) with straw or other loose fodder, which will form a 
mass sufficient to retain and absorb a large portion of the droppings and 
urine from your cattle. When you have made arrangements for saving 
manure,' be careful that it is not wasted, see that it is drawn and applied 
to your land in the spring; perhaps the most economical application is to 
corn and root culture, but all your spring crops will be much benefitted 
by it, and if you have a surplus, you will not loose it, by applying it to 
your mowing fields. Your objections, that it is .too coarse and not.rotten 
enough,, are ill founded, which I learnt by an experiment, more .than 
twenty years since: Ihad removed and located myself on a different part 
of my farm, and was preparing a newly cleared piece of ground for a gar¬ 
den; having heretofore supposed, that fermented or rotten manure only 
was suitable for a garden, I drew from the site of my bid barn and manur¬ 
ed about half of my plot, but it being some distance, and having a supply 
of fresh manure from the horse stable, I applied the fresh manure to the 
remainder of the garden plot, and was much disappointed to find that the 
fresh manure was altogether tjie best; the application was made on a dry 
sandy soil. One Other experiment I will mention, whichis no fiction. I 
had a piece of ground in my mowing field, I should think about an acre, 
left rough when ploughed several years ago; wishing to smooth it and not 
to plough it, I went with a sharp hoe arid cut off the bogs or hummocks, 
gave it a slight harrowing, and piled up the turfs thus cutoff, and carriedori 
twelve loads of manure, fresh from the barn yard. At haying time I found 
it some improved; but not answering my wishes, I determined to proceed 
further. The last spring I caused it to be sown over with gypsum, (plas¬ 
ter of paris,) and at mowing, I found an extraordinary large crop of first 
rate hay upon it, more, I presume, than had grown on the same piece of 
ground in four years before. The turfs cut off and piled were carefully 
spread out the fall after cutting, so that now, instead of a roughhummocky, 
unproductive piece of ground, I have a smooth, rich, productive one, that 
will produce, probably, three tons of good hay; and this at the trifling ex¬ 
pense of cutting off - the bogs, piling and spreading twelve loads of manure 
and a dressing with plaster of paris, perhaps one bushel. The soil of the 
above mentioned piece of ground is a sandy loam, upon the margin of 
(what we call) adry brook, naturally good, but by not being well cultivated 
when ploughed, and but poorly seeded, arid not having an application of 
manure or plaster, it was completely bound out. If any of the readers of 
the Cultivator have lands in this situation, I think they may expect like 
results from the same application. 
A JEFFERSON COUNTY FARMER. 
BEET SUGAR. 
ROYAL AND CENTRAL SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE. 
Report in the name of a special commission composed of M. M. 
Le Baron de Sylvester, the Due Decazes, Count de Chabrel, Dar- 
blay, Crespel Delise, and Payen, reporter, with practical instructions, 
and prize questions on the extraction of sugar from beets, adapted to 
rural establishments, and the means of improving and forwarding this 
branch of industry, made in 1836 .—[In continuation .] 
[Translated from the French, by Dr Spoor.] 
The liquid separated from the solid sugar by decantation, and the re¬ 
mainder by the press, is diluted with eight parts of water, and mixed with 
cut straw or hay, which is left to soak for twelve hours. It disengages a 
little alcohol and carbonic acid; and is then a good food for horses, cattle 
and sheep. It is improper to give it to animals without dilution, especial¬ 
ly to swine; these swallow it with such greediness, as to surfe’it and kill 
them. Competitors should make experiments, with a view to determine 
whether the molasses could be profitably returned to the fresh juice and 
thus subjected to orie or more operations. The last molasses, which is 
sold for from four to eight francs the 100 kilogrammes* to the manufactu¬ 
rers of white lead and alcohol, is sometimes otherwise employed with ad¬ 
vantage, and it would doubtless be possible to find still other uses for this 
residue. 
Reviving the animal charcoal .—This operation is now generally per¬ 
formed in the manufactories, and is indispensable at least in every centre 
of manufacture. There are several new processes which, apparently, might 
be used with success, even on a small scale; trials ought to be made to 
discover which are the most simple, the most economical, and whether, 
as has been lately proposed, the residue to be revivified, and tlie bones 
which are collected in the neighborhood, can be treated in the same fur¬ 
nace. 
Refining, by draining, or by clarifying sirup—A sitnple draining, tak¬ 
ing place spontaneously, in a place somewhat damp, is Sufficient to pre¬ 
pare raw sugar for ordinary consumption. The drying is promoted by 
spreading the upper portions, that are best drained in thin beds or strata, 
j upon shallow vessels, or shelves, or cloths. A mode of refining more ef¬ 
ficacious, and more prompt, consists in preparing a clarifying sirup of the 
strength of 32°, by dissolving some raw sugar in water, then clarifying it 
| with fine charcoal, and filtering the sirup through some coarse charcoal, 
[leaving it to cool," and pouring; by small portions at a time, the clear sirup 
I thus obtained, over the surface of the loaves, which it is well to have pre¬ 
viously-Covered with a little moist wool. The same result might perhaps 
be more easily obtained by moistening or impregnating the raw sugar with 
I sirup, and pressing it frequently. It is of importance to examine which is 
the best mode of proceeding. 
In many'districts, farmers will find great advantages in uniting at some 
central point, and managing their entire crops of beets, the residue of 
animal charcoal to be revived, as well as the bones to be calcined. There 
aje several instances which leave no doubt on this subject. But to ren¬ 
der these associations the most useful they might be, it is expedient to 
determine which, among the numerous apparatus lately constructed are 
those which, without being too complicated, offer the greatest facility in 
the division of labor, and require the least expense for the extraction of the 
juice, with' respect to a given weight of sugar to be obtained. It is not 
improbable, that the celerity already obtained in the different parts of the 
manufacture, the defecation, and the different degrees of concentration 
and boiling, may be surpassed, or that the advantages of celerity, as well 
as the facility of constructing and using the necessary utensils more eco¬ 
nomically, may yet be realized.! 
The society of agriculture having unanimously acknowledged all the 
importance that belongs to the solution of the different problems relative to 
the improvement of one of our most delightful agricultural employments 
and the great utility of rapidly extending throughout the country the eco¬ 
nomical manufacture of domestic sugar, has determined that a-competi¬ 
tion should be excited, and that several premiums and medals should be 
offered to attain this end. In consequence of which, the following instruc¬ 
tions and prize questions have been adopted. 
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR 
FROM BEETS, FOR THE USE OF SMALL COUNTRY ESTABLISH¬ 
MENTS. 
Utensils —We have given, at page eight, the names and places of resi¬ 
dence of the principal mechanicians, with whom these utensils, properly 
constructed, may be found-. 
Graters of casting,.fixed pn'a strong wooden frame; they are solid and 
easily repaired ,by the aid of a spare set of toothed plates. 
Presses with wooden or iron screws —The important parts which must 
be procured in the large towns, are the screw and Beam, or nut. The 
frame work of solid Wood may afterwards be built by a wheelwright or car¬ 
penter, either after.a small model, or like a wine press; or we might even 
use the latter and increase its power, by limiting the extent of the place 
* Equal to 75-100, or $1.50, for 220 lbs.—T r. 
f In the new Maison Rustique, published in separate numbers by MM. Bad¬ 
ly dc Merlieux and Malpeyre, may be found the description of all the utensils 
and different apparatus, employed according to the different systems in use.A 
Address Quai aux Fleurs, No. 15 it Paris. 
