Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-03-24
APPENDIX.
No. 2.

" I.
Remarks on the manufacture of maize sugar. b.
WILLIAM Uebb, Of Wilmington, Deldtrdre.
The most profitable application of labor is the beside.
ratum too frequently overlooked or disresarded By
those who attempt the introduction of new manufac.
lures into a country. All calculations Of advantage
which is 10 result from the production of any article
must be made with due regard to this point, or prae.
tice will prove them 10 be erroneous.
Fully impressed with this truth, the mos, rigid ex.
animation is invited into every thing now offered 20
that, as far Is possible, we may arrive at a correct de.
c!.Hlon respecting the real value OF the proposed man.
ufaciure. In common with many others, l have felt
considerable interest in the plan for extending the cul-
tivaiion of sugar in temperate climates, and have
made many experiments, first upon the beet, and re-.
Gently upon maize or Indian corn, in the hope of die.
covering some mode by which the desired end might
be attained.
The results from the latter plant have been extreme.
ly encouraging. The manufacture of sugar from it,
compared with that from beet, offers many advants.
ges. II IS more simple, and less liable to failure. The
machinery is less expensive, and the amount Of fuel
required is less hv one-half. The quantity of sugar
produced on a given space of ground is greater. Be.
SIDES being of better quality. An examination into
the nature and productive powers of these two plan,s
will show that no other results could have been res.
sonably expected, tits q well established fact, that
every variety OF production found in plants is derived
from the sap. 1t is also ascertained that the prlnci.
pal substance found in the sap or juice of many veee-
tables is sugar. Therefore the amount Of saccharns
matter produced by any plant Of this description may
be estimated from an analysis of the fruit, seed, DE,
OF such plant, when ripe. The grain yielded by corn,
and the seed from beet, in the second summer of itv
growth, are nothing more than this sap or juice elabo-
rated by the process OF vegetation, and presented TO
our view in another form.
Now, rs II is contrary to the economy Of nature to
suppose that there should be any loss Of ~nutritive mat.
Ter in this change of sap into seed or grain, does !, not
follow that there must be the same difference in the
quantity of sugar produced by the two plants as there
is between the nutritive properties of beet seed ank
corn.
The juice of maize contains sugar, acid, and a gum.
my HucllaulnOus matter, which forms the sciim
+ ON the experiments of Cav Lussac, Thenard.
Kirchoff, and others, III is proved that starch, sugar,
ana gum, are extremely similar IN composition, and
may be as readily converted into each other, by chem-
ical processes, as they are by the operation of nature.
For example: starch boiled in diluted sulphuric acid,
for thriy-s SIX hours, is converted INTO sugar Of greater
weight than the starch made use Of.
This result goes to show that every pound Of starch
found in the seed Of q plant has required for iis pro-
ductiGn at least one pound Of sugar. in the form Of
snp. " il he objected that this deduction is too ,heo.
relical to be admitted, il may be answered that expert.
ment, so far as it has gone, has fully st,es,ed its cor.
rectness.
The raw juice of maize, when cultivated for suesr.
marks loo on the sac~charometor while the average
of cane juice tasI am informed) is not higher than g..
and beet lulct not over 80.
From 81 quarts (dry measured Of The former, Ihave
obtained 4 pounds 6 o noes Of rirup, concentrated to
the point suitable for CT ystnllilation. The properties
Of crystallzable sugar appears TO be larger than .
obtained from cane juice IN Louisiana. This IL se.
counted for by the fact, that our ci mate ripens corn
perfectly, while II bat rarely fever happens that cane
is fully ma'ured. IN some eases the sirup has crys-
iallized 90 completely, TINT less than one. sixth psrs
Of molasses remained. This, however, only happsnr
ed inter It had stood from one to two months. There
is resson to believe, that il The plant were fully rps
and me process OF manutsciure perfectly. performed
he srup might he entirely crystallsed without form.
This perfection in rhe msnuheturs cannot, hs~sv-
sver be STAINED with the ordinary apPasatss. VIII
out any other msans for pressing ou' the Hss shea