The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-09-16

after which l cut them dp TWO or three
inches long, and boiled them in water
about an hour; then strained and boiled
down the liquor, frequently skimmipg
it, from which I obtained two gallons Of
the article which I send you.
"By this process, imperfect as it was,
I think I saved only about oalf the vir-
tue of the stalks. L send you this as
the result of my experiments with an
article which is new; and as many have
raised it, and left it to rot, or have fed
it out, 1 make the statement with the
hope of irducing moro thorough expert
ments by some of your many readers,
as it may be raised or good low ground,
and 1 think to good profit"
The article sent was tested by the
editor, who found it to possess a very
sweet and agreeable favor, far superior
to that of the sugar-cane generally sold
here, aud quite a pleasant relish with
buckwheat cakes.
Mr.. II. G.. Buckley of Kalamazoo,
Mich, furnishes Prairie Farmer with
his experience. He planted but neglec-
ted, the little crop; yet it throve WE'LL
After an early frost the seed was de-
sroyed. The stalks were left standing
till October, then cut and thrown into
piles to get them put of the way. Some
time afterwards he saw a statement in
the papers that m%olasses could be derived
from it. Then he says:
az took some of the canes and cut
them into pieces about three inches long,
when they were readily ground through
one of Hicock's portable cider mills, with
cast iron grinders, and then pressed with
the powerful pressers attached to the
mill. The quantity ground was about
half a bushel of pieces, and the juice ex-
pressed was about seven quarts.
"This juice, when evaporated, made
one quart of molasses that is pronounced,
by those who have tasted it, to be SUI
perior to the New Orleans molasses, and
some say, equal to the favor of the maple
syrup. It is, at all events good molas-
ses.
"From an estimate made, I judged
that the square rod of ground planted
if the canes had all been used-would
have produced four gallons of molasses,
or at the rate of $40 gallons per acre
Such a crop would have proved valuable
the last year, since sugar and molasses
are so high.
"There is little doubt in my mind
that any person who has a small piece
of land may manufacture his w molas-
ses, and perhaps sugar.
eff cultivated on SO small a scale as
not to warrant the expense of erecting
the rollers for expressing the juice from
the cane, they may be cut up in a straw
and ground in one of Hicock's
cider mills, with such facility
hat two men could obtain five or six
barrels of the juice per day by hand and
proportionably more if horse or other
power is used.
"The juice could be cheaply boiled in
one of most of the evaporators with
which you are acquainted, without burn
ing the syrup or wasting any fuel.
tBesides the molasses obtained from
the stalks the leaves will make good for
nge, the seed will nearly equal that of a
crop of corn or oats, and the tops will
make brooms."
In compiling the foregoing informa
ton we have included all that we think
for small experiments in OK
the molasses from the cane
IF the article proves a success, mills and
machinery for the manufacture Of sugar
will of course be erected in the vicinity
Of its growth and ingenuity will soon
conveniences for the farmer
to the amount of his produce.