The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1856-09-11
Chinese Sugar Cane.

of our readers to the value Of the Chinese
Sugar Cane, and have extensively distribut-
ed the seed with which we were furnished
by the Agricultural Bureau of the Patent
Office. We are, therefore, greatly rejoced
to find that the article has fallen into the
hands Of so scientific and careful an expe-
rimenter as ExGov. Hammond, who will
be widely recognised rs one Of the highest
authorities in Southern Agriculture. We
copy below n carefully considered report Of
his experiments with the Chinese Sugar
Cane, prepared for an Agricultural Society
in his own neighbo'hood, and furnished for
publication to the Barnwel Sentinel. 1t
will commend itself to the attention Of the
planters of the State. There can be no
doubt that the Sugar Mllet is destined to
prove an important addition to the resour
ces and comforts Of the plantation Char.
lesion Mercury.
REPORT
Of an Experiment IN making !Syrup from
the Chinese Sugar Cane Corn or Sugar
Miitet, made to tic "BSoch Island Far.
mer's CluJ," Augast 2, 1856.
A rule Of this Club, requiring every
member to make and report, each year, an
Agricultural experiment, | will take this
opportunity TO acquit myself of that duty.
One of our members-Mr. Redmond, of
the Southern Cultiva,or- distributed among
us, last winter, some seeds of what is com.
monty called Sugar Millet. lie worry kind
ly gave me enough to plant half an acre
about pint. prepared plot Of ground
on northern slope, Of old, stiff and worn
out land, in such manner and with so
much manure as would probably have
made it yield, with average seasons, about
20 bushels of corn per acre On the 22d
of March planted the Milet seed in 3
feet drills. dropping every eighteen or
twenty inches some six or eight seed Ii
was ploughed and hoed often enough to
keep the grass down, and about the LIST of
July begun TO head. The heat had then
been unusually intense for two weeks and
has continued so up TO the present time;
and, latterly, the drought has been very
destructive. do not think this half acre
would have yielded five bushels had it been
planted in corn. Having intended, kow-
ever, to ascertain whether the Miet would
make Syrup, had rude mill put up with
two beech-wood rollers.
Finding that by the 22d of July the
mos. advanced heads had passed the milk
stage, had 1850 canes cut, that suppos-
ed were fair sample of the patch. The
tirs; or hundred were passed through
the mill twice, the remainder four times.
and the yield was l94 quarts of juice. But
10 canes that selected and passed times
through the mill yielded 3 quarts Mr.
Clark, one OF our members, was present
when this was done. The juice was receiv
ed in common tubs and tested bv Their.
mometer, and Sacchrometer with scale
of 40 degrees. The Thermometer stood in
every instance at 7So The Sacch meter
varied from 81 l-2o to % %. AT the
latter point the juice would float a fresh
egg. | boiled it in deep, old fashioned
COW pot, and, after to 7 hours boiling
obtained 80 quarts Of toerabe syrup.
The next day | selected 10 canes, the
heads of which were fully matured, 10
more in full milk, 10 more the head Of
which were just fully developed and the
top seed beginning to turn black, and again
10, comprising all these stages, but from
which did not strip the leaves. They
were all passed through the mill seven
times, and yielded nearly the same quanti
ty of juice-about three quarts for every
ten canes. The juice, tested by the Sac
chro. showed that the youngest cane had
rather the most and the oldest rather the
ieast saccharine matter The WI ole to.
gether, with that of few other good canes.
exhibited at 500 of the Their. 24 l.2e of
the Sacchro. From AZ pnts of the iuce
obtained, afterfour hours boiling, nine pnts
OF rather better syrup than that made the
day before. In these bolings mixed with
the cold juice about teaspoonful of lime
water of tho consistency of cream for every
five gallons.
These selected canes grew on the best
spot OF the patch, and where probably corn
might have been produced the present sea.
son at the rate of 90 bushels per acre.
They were inch in diameter at tho Iarr
est end, and l-2 feet long after cutting
OH the head and foot Of the stem.
Alter this 1 cut down all the inferior
cane and cured it for forage.
On the 2Sth Of July, two of tho mem.
bers OF the Club DR. Bradford and Mr.. III
Lamar being at my house, remained TO
see the result of pressing and BOILING 4oo
canes had cut and stripped. Each Of us
selected 10 canes, and put them through
The press times; the result being AS before
about quarts for every 10 canes But
even after the pressure, juice could be
wrung from the canes hy the hand, and we
agreed that at least one fourth of it, and
tbat the best, remained in the cane-so in.
efficient was my mill. The rest of the cane
ordered should be pressed times, but
we did not ourselves remain 20 sec it done,
nor did we count the 400 canes. The
yield Of the whole, however, was 37lo