St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-03-28
Sugar from Sorghum.

Sugar from Sorghum.
The following article from the Rural
Ne,o Yorker deserves careful reading:
Eps. Rural New YoRKER.-Sinoe
che publication Of my article on Sorghum
in your issue of Dec. LIST, l have received
= host Of letters-all from "Rural read
ers,"-inquiring how I made Sugar
These letters testify that the Rural is read
from New Jersey to the extreme limit of
Western Kansas, and also proclaim that
Sorghum is not dead east of the MISSISSIPPI
pi, the exulting assertion of your would-be
prophet correspondent in the Rural Of
Nov, 1860, to the contrary, notwithstan-
ding. The following are among the qucs-
tions proposed: What did your Evapo.
rator cost? What is its size and weight ?
How much sirup or sugar will it make in
day? What will an acre Of cane pro-
duce Of molasses or sugar? When is the
best time to plant the cane, and how do
you cultivate it? Is the Imphee better
than Sorghum? &c.
I answer, First-My Svaporator cost
sixty.6ve dollars at Laporte, Ind, and fif:
teen dollars freight. 1t is six feet in d.
ameter,-the rim six inches high, the bot
tom flat, one. half inch thick, and weighs
one thousand pounds. It is a circular cast
iron pan, with division through the GEN.
ter,-making two semi-circular pans, each
holding fifty gallons. 1t is supported on
OH iron post in the center of the straight
wall of the brick furnace,-the size and
shape of one Of the semi-circular pans,-
the whole rotating horizontally, so that
only one3part at time is over the furnace
or fire. For fuller description address
A. II. Miller, Laporte, Ind, and get cir
cular free, which will fully explain the in
vention.
Second-This Evaporation reduces 50
gallons Of juice into molasses per hour
or 600 gallons per day,-making from
II to 16 gallons Of molasses per hour-de-
pending on the ripeness and purity of the
cane. My best yield was 5 gallons of mo-
lasses from 20 Of juice, worst was 6
from 40 Of juice. Ripe cane gives alarger
yield Of sirup than greenland black seed
cane more and better than partly red seed,
w., III is a mixture of broom corn.
1" 10o =. % acre Of cane will produce
is my own estimate, from 1,~~ years. expe-
nence in cultivating sorghum. n GOOD
average yield to me is 200 gallons per
acre, and one gallon Of strip yields ten
pounds Of dry sugar.
Fourh-The best time to plant the
cane is when you would plant corn,-the
earlier the better, to ensure perfection.-
My cane I planted last season on the End
day of May, but on account of the drouth
it did not come up until the 18th of June.
It ripened by the first of October. I am
certain it will ripcn as early as corn, and
will grow, where corn will grow.
= l obtained my first seed from the Pat
ent Office in the spring of 1856-and have
followed the directions given by the Pat
ent Office ever since, which is to plant 8
or 10 seeds in hill, 81 feet apart each
way. When the cane is large enough to
cultivate, thin out to 4 stalks in a hill,
then tend the cane like corn. It is i'm
portant to sucker the cane once during
the season, at least, in order to obtain
large, heavy stalks.
Fy1h-I made sugar simply by boiling
The juice down thicker than for molasses
and setting it away to grain. The entire
process is easy, certain, and may be briefly
described. I filled one of the semi-circu-
laa pans with juice, turning it over the
furnace and ire-got to boiling as soon
and as fast as possible. An intense and
uniform heat while boiling is absolutely es-
sential to disengage the glucose, which, if
not burned out will prevent the strip from
graining,-here is the secret-when the
green scum rises to the surface skim it
off with wire cloth SKINNER, which comes
with and belongs to the Evaporator,-and
bye-and-byc numerous black flakes, re-
sembling the iron scales on and around
blacksmith anvil, will boil up to tho
surface. This IS the disengaged glucos,
and I skim it off also. When the strip is
thick enough for molasses, use an iron
rake stirrer along the bottom of the pan to
prevent scorching, as that would prevent
our getting sugar. When the mass is thick
enough to string in water, I turn it off the
fire and bring the other pan on containing
fresh juice-which endures the same fate
as its predecessor. now draw the su-
gar strip out of the pan throug Oh faucet
in the rim, and place it in tubs or buckets
to cool, after which / pour it into an emp
ty -four or sugar barrel, with small gimb-
let holes in the bottom, and place this over
= molasses barrel to drain. Sometimes the
granting process begins ID two hours after
it is off the fire, and sometimes not until
after two days or more. If the tempera-
ture of the room is warm and nearly uni
form, the sugar will be drained dry in ten
or twelve days. ..1 .r,: