Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-01-15
From the Grayville (lls.) Herald.
The Chinese Sugar Cane in South
ern Illinois.

Being requested by many TO publish a
statement, through the columns oil your pa
per, OF my experience with, and the value
of the Chinese Sugar Cane, therefore seRd
you Il following statement, which you will
please insert:
On the 25th OF May planted about half
an acre OF ground, one year old. A portion
of the soil was low and wet in the spling;
in fact covered the seed with mud, the 9TH
er part was high and sandy; The consequence
was when the dry seaso set in the wet part
baked very hard, and the high burnt up for
want of rain. plowed it when sbeht ten
inches high, and thar was all the working ii
got, with the exception of slight hoeing
previous to blowing; nay object was to as
certain the nmsunt of saccharins matter
contained in the stai ks, and supposed enough
would grow to make the experiment Mtny
Of the stalks grew from sixteen TO twenty
feet high, Gn the low grtuHd it only grew
twelve feet.) Having made mill in which
to grind it commenced on the Oath of Sep
tember. The cane then had received three
or four frosts. lam convinced that the amount
of s.alks | used can be grown on less than a
quarter of an acre. the amount of water
obtained from the piece was 270 gallons,
from which made iorry-fve gal ons. schich
in flavor and beautiful bright red color, is for
superior TO any molasses obtained from the
Souih. did not try to grain any Of it, AS
it will not grain after being frosted but
am convinced there will be no difficulty in
graining it if tried previous to frsst. If it
is planted BY The middle of hsy it will RI
pea BIZ the end of August, and rsmrin in
good condition until frost, and If cut up and
dut in sheds lin apprehension of trcst) it
will keep well for month or more.
will give . statement of what may be
made per acre. judging trOm the amount of
water obtained IRON each stalk. One OF
my neighbors, Mr.. A. began, obtained from
seven choice stalks one gallon ofwater. and
in another trial made by Mr.. McClsary, sen. =,
and myself, we pressed from ten stalks one
gallon and u quart. The number Of stalks
in hill should be from four to six. In my
calculations only estimate one quart of
water to the hill, allowing sixteen hills per
square rod, which will make 1850 hills to
the acre, and this, at one quart per hill, will
make $40 gallons Of water, which will make
llO gallons of molasses. Valued at IS cents
per gallon, it would amount to $3.50 per
acre, and do not hesitate in SAYING that the
amounts may be doubled. ] would urge up
on the farmers of the Western country to
try it. You will not only save, but make
money by the operation. i am rOeH cosuin-
ced that in 1860 the Southern planter wiLl
hare no sale for his sugar in the State Of IHi-
no,s From present indications there ,oiH he
100 acres raised in Wabash County merit year
,rhich nMsaue the county $4,000 The time
to commence working the cane is when The
seeds have changed from green to a dark red
hue, although it will remain good until fair.
ly matured.
Should any person wish to make the ex-
pertinent, have some ssed to spsre-onp
quIrt will sow an acre. J NJ. KRoH,
NcCleary's Bluff, Wabash Co., Ills.