The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1857-09-24
farmrr's department
IhTrHR FROM "UNCLH BEN"
For ths Nows.
PENN IT,, Sept. 12tb, 1857

isod your readers to report occasionally
the success Of my experiment with the
Chinese, Sugar Cane. SO ] will try and
give thom the result Of my irst attempt
at making Syrup. believe I have be-
3to stated that procured a dollar
package of the seed from the Ohio Cul-
ltivator Office, and planted nearly half
an acre.
I planted on the 9th day Of May, in
drills, four feet apart, one seed In q
place, from to y inches apart. Many
Of the seeds, owing to the cold, wet
weather, did not come up, and many
that did come up were destroyed in the
severe battle I had with the Fo1-taiI,
which every farmer knows was moro
than usually troublesome this year.
The Cane, like Broom Corn, grew very
slow at first, but somehow it has man
aged now to get up to tho height Of
about / 2 f., and has suckorod out until
it will average three stalks to the foot in
the rows, and is just now about in bios
som. Well, thus far we may look on
the question as settled, that the thing
will grow here, and a tremendous bur
den of it, too; so the next question is,
what is it good for when it is grown2-
In regard to its value as a forage crop,
think it is entirely useless for that
purpose, for the very good reason that
stock will not eatit if they can get any
thing else to cat. I have tried it TO
horses, colts, cattle and hogs, none Of
which will cat any part Of it but the
head and they don't seem anxious about
that
The next then is its Saccharino qua'i.
tics; on this am not yet ready to give
so decided an opinion as 1 am on tho
two other points, but will give you the
result Of a very limited experiment to
test its value for Syrup making.
In the first place l constructed a rude
hand mill for crushing out the juice; it
is constructed with two hickory rollers,
6 inches long and inches in diameter
with 1 inch gudgoon in each end,
these are placed in a frame; the holes
arc Jushcd with a piece of sheet copper,
one roller is fixed so that it will key-up
with a wedge, close to the other, and a
crank is placed on each roller at Oppo-
site ends, so that two can turn and keep
the motion in both rollers, without any
cOgs. Thus equipped, I cut. 300 canes
from the most forward end of the patch,
(soil a black loam) and passed them
twice through the machine; the result
was about y gallons of juice; this l
put over the fire in large copper kct-
tie, Ct think iron would be better) and
3 let it come slowly to q boil, skimming
all the green scum as it came to the top
Just before it boiled put in two table
spoonfuls Of lime made about as thick
as common whitc-wash, and when near
Ily thick enough for syrup, clarified with
little blood, and skinned and strained
it again. The result was five quarts Of
fair Syrup. This is, if have made my
calculations right, at the rate Of about
? I13G gallons per acre. The length Of
irow cut for the five quarts Of Syrup is
400 f., rows #. apart, so you may make
your own calculations.
I think from the information pre-
viously received as we'll as from my own
observations, that the cane is entirely
too green yet, to make a good turnout.
think, also, that the quality will i'm
p provo as it gets ripper think the seed
should DO ripe, a. least ripe enough TO
grow. If keep my health 1 hope to
"try, try again, and probably produce
some Syrup at our County Fair, whore,
iuasmuch as you have told the readers
Of the NEWS who I am, and that / am,
, for the first time in my life, candidate
for Office, I hopo to see all Of them, and
be able to give them ''ioes drap" out
Of my bottlc,-not Of fiery poison, that
leads to death and dostruotiOn-but Of
d pure Syrup, manufactured by free hands
, on the free soil Of our beloved High
land. Yours, &C., "UNCLE BEN"
. 4