376 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
phite with complete success. During his stay, M. Melsens re¬ 
ceived another communication from Java, informing him that 
the use had not only improved the quality of the sugar, but al¬ 
so raised the return nearly one-half in quantity. It had been 
used on a very large scale with the advantage of filters and 
vacuum pans. 
Mr. Ramsey found in use at Valenciennes a process of ex¬ 
tracting the sugar from beet molasses, by caustic barytes. It 
was said to be economical, but he was better satisfied with 
the method of M. Melsens. 
In the 3d vol. of DeBow’s Review, p. 210, 1854, Mr. J. P. 
Benjamin informs us that a considerable quantity of an ingre¬ 
dient, of which the composition is a secret, has been imported 
into Louisiana by Mr. Alexander Gordon, and is undergoing 
the test of experience. It is afforded at a cheap rate, and if it 
succeeds in replacing the lime which imparts so obstinate a yel¬ 
low tint to the syrup, as the inventor feels confident it will, an¬ 
other great step will have been made in the march of improve¬ 
ment towards the perfection of the manufacture. 
Query .—Is not this article the bisulphite of lime ? 
The bisulphite of lime can be procured in Wisconsin at about 
5 cents a pound in quantities. It requires only about one- 
fourth of a pound for 100 pounds of reeds. This cost will 
scarcely be felt by the manufacturer, and when its advantages 
are taken into the account, it will be readily borne. Should 
the manufacturer enter upon the process of washing the crushed 
cane, the water used for washing may be filtered upon the mill 
during the process of grinding, and would be sufficient for the 
preservation and defecation of the the juice. 
These discoveries are worthy of the expense incident to a 
more careful investigation of this subject. And hoping that 
the means will be found, I leave the subject for the present, 
with the fullest assurance, that the people of Wisconsin have 
but to make use of some of the most approved methods and we 
can produce from the Sorghum and Imphee all the sugar we 
need. 
