Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-03-24
SUGAR.

various parts Of the country, the past year,
with respect TO obtaining sugar from the corn
stalk.
1t could, indeed, hardly be expected that
persons entering into il without much knowl-
edge Of the process Of manufacture, and, in
many cases never having been furnished with
any plan on which TO conduct it, and possess
inc no requisite machinery, and before the
difficulties attending its granulation had been
removed, would be successful in their efforts.
Yet the results have every where been so
satisfactory, that, though but little sugar has
been made, not one person from whom we
have heard expresses a doubt Of its entire
practicability, or the least discouragement.
On the contrary, they, one and all, conf.
IDENTIFY assert, that the product will yet be.
come a great staple in our country. An cx-
crllent molasscs, or sirup. has usually been
obtained , and were this the only thing Sc
cured, yet, in this point Of view, j. would
doubtless prove II great desidcratum.
Mr.. Webb, of Wilmington, Delaware, to
whom the country IS so particularly indebted
for introducing this discovery td notice, and
for his perseverance in demonstrating its
practicability, made definite experiment on
n certain amount Of land, sown as he had be-
fore recommended. Speaking Of his former
views, he says: These antic,pations have
been more and more confirmed By erery sue.
eceding step in the Investigation" He
says, further: "Thcrc was no deficiency in
the corn; it was entirely in our mode of
treating il; and, after all, the failure was on
ly in crystallization." It appears that the
corn was fully ripe before the least prepara.
ton had been made for manufacturing il -
and, after this, delays were occasioncd by
brcakages, incident to new machinery, Ivy
which the progress was so hindcrrd that a
considerably part of the crop was killed by
the frost before il could be ground. He goes
on to observe that the greatest part Of the su.
gar he obtained was from this frosi-kIlled
corn, and says: "This fact is important, as
it shows the snpcrioty Of corn over the cane"
In this point il would seem he is mistaken,
according to the account above given of the
cane crop of Louisiana. He further says /:
We obtained so gallons of strip, which
(being boiled to the density of sugar. was
much richer and better than the best sugar.
house molasses !; part of it was sold at 81
per gallon. We also had 10 gallons o sirnp
evapOrated in broad shallow vessels ; this
crystallizcd readily, and made good sugar."
Again: " Besides the products above men.
toned, we obtained from the acre about 40
gallons of vinegar. The fodder was equal
in value to two tons of hay ; and there were
20 cart loads Of stalks, after passing the mill.
One.fourth of the crop was lost, in consc-
q"ence of being Frustrated by a storm late
in the season, and another fourth from the
stalk being imperfeclly pressed. Consider
ing every thing, the result is satisfactory"
For further particulars of his process of evan.
Grafton, reference may be had to The Appen.
dix, No. 2. A fair review of the progress of
this experiment fully ~ius,ifies his language
81 do not think that any manufacture ever
promised better, in the early stages of its in
reduction" In the Farmers Cabinet for
January, lS43. "A correspondent oftha, ~iourn-
al, whose opinion seems entitled 10 conside.
ration, remarks: "F.w persons would be-
apt to calculate the expense attendant or
even a small experiment in the making of
sugar, whether from the cane, the beet, or
the cornstalk all who know any thing about
it, however, are aware of the fact, that the
process, even from the first. is provcrbially
laborious. careful, and expensive"
Mr.. Wcbb's apparatus cost him about
$500. l should rather add 81 900 to that
sum. In my own opinion, the cause of the
future in the attempts TO make sugar from
the beet has arisen from the single circum-
stance of It's never having been taken up on
a sufficiently expensive scale. In France,
there is no difficulty or delay experienced
bu, there the machinery is equal TO the labor
required" The writer also refers to Mr.. 7.
Morgan. of Louisiana, and says" that, &C.
cording to his experience, the juice of the
cornstalk, as stated by the saccharometer, is
tvo-tenths stronger than the juice Of the
Louisiana sugar cane-a circumstance ac-
counted for by The nc. that the cane docs not
fully ripcn in Louisiana, SO that the Juice is
incipicnt."
On the other hand, tho corn ripens per-
fectly, and then affords a juice properly cor
rectcd and matured, and hence DELEGATION OF
II is remarkably easy. He further says 81
have been informed that Mr.. Morgan was SO
well satisfied of the cultivation of the corn
stalk, for the purpose Of making sugar, tina,
he, the last year, gave orders for the growth
Of n certain breadth on his sugar plantation,
III bouisidHds i've pdst Suniihe's 81 rs W give
him IA full boiling Of Juice for his vacuum
pan, that the trial might be made on a scale
suficien, to produce actual results, by which
to calculate, in a pecuniary point Of view,
: the real value of cornstalk in the manufac-
turing of sugar, but that his intentions were
frustrated, levellrd to the dust, by a storm,
which Frustrated the corn. and entirely ruin
cd his prospects. Speaking of ONE SAM
pies of sugar manufactured by Mr.. Webb, he
says " /. has been objected, that the grains
are not so large and fully developed i, is
only II wonder tina, any grains at all should
be made to appear, from the manner in winch
the eranulating process had been compelled
TO be carried on. Mr.. Morgan, with his TO-
600 gallons of liquor, at 450, would soon be
able to give a better account of the matter
Mr.. Blake, of Indianapolis. in Indiana, al.
! so tried an experiment on a larger scale =
hut, not having as much previous knowledge
Of the process rs Mr.. Webb had, did not sue.
coed in obtaining sugar. He says that he
made, in all, out of abou, AZ acres, about &c
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