The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1862-02-04
Sorghum Sugar--Its Manufacture.

o'sunn cusufsn1tS NlauUlaciufCs
Ess~ A cop lie Of weeks ago we gave
an account Of the manufacture, by Mr..
SMITH, of Adams Co., Illinois, of ton of
sorghum sugar. Below we publish u
letter from that gentleman to Mr.. RAN
SOM BARTLE, OF this place, giving his
mode of procedure in raising and treat
ing the cane. 1t will be seen that the
boiling was done on a Cooks Evapora-
tor-undoubtedly one of the best, if not
the very best--machine in use for the pur-
pose. Mr.. BARrLE is owner of the Right
to said Evaporator for much of the ter
ritory of the State, and can be consulted
as to the sale of either machine or right
to use:
QUINCY, Ill. Jan. %, 1862.
Mr.. RANSOM BARrLE:
Dear Sir Yours of
the II inst, is at hand, making several
inquiries about pans, sugar, &c.
In reply to which, l will say that l
made, or ace made, One Ton of Imphee
sugar this season, upon COOKS EvApoRA-
TOR, which | consider the only pan of
any merit My son, H. R. SMITH, receiv-
ed the premium Of Blymyers, Bates, and
Day, for the best 90 pounds of sugar
present at the State Agricultural Fair,
which was one of their best pans, No. 4.
Copper. Our sugar has been dispersed
In every State, and manv Of the counties
north Of " Dixie" We have hourly
calls for it, to convince the credulous or
old fogies, upon the certainty of sugar
from the African cane, and that it is as
certain crop AS corn. You can raise
ten hundred pounds of sugar. and lis to
$50 gallons of good syrup, to the acre.
Your crop may vary, like crop of corn.
lfyou plant the hills feet apart, north
and south, and 10 or 2 inches the other
way, and it stands well, you can raise
much more. | can raise, or produce, the
sugar at 5 cents pound, and syrup at
25 cents per gallon, and make double
that L can in raising corn or wheat.
One acre aciN produce at these loso figures
SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS, and at the cost of
TWENTY DOLLARS. do not manure land
for the cane, unless ii is vegetable ma
nure. Plant on your poorest soil.
Sandy soil is best, next TO timber, but
prairie brings good crops. Soak your
seed in a weak solution of chloride Of
lime, "a hours then put il in bag, and
cover 1t with warm earth until it sprouts,
then plant it, and you will gain 10 to l2
days. | have planted in June, and had a
good crop, but plant early in May if you
can. Cover light, not deep, lest it rot.
Cultivate rs you would corn. When
you begin to manufacture, look your
field over and find by the indicator the
point to begin TO work. Your field will
vary, one part may indicate 5 deg. on
Baume S Saccharometer, another deg.
and another deg. SO your deg. is
where TO work your cane. You can
make syrup in blossom, but no sugar
until the seed is in the dough state.
Strip your cane, cut it, express the Juice
and boil, on the same day. II it stands
after stripping the bitter sap will run to
the stock and produce what is called
scorched syrup. Skim close. If you
use anything to cleanse, let it be soda.
The sulphtc Of lime Will correct the
acid. When you boil. let it be run
hard. No lack of fire. Bring your
syrup to 81 or 81 deg. Baume. then let
it run into large fiat cooler, that will
hold the labor of the day. In the morn,
ing (if il is African cane) you will find
"a granulation. Then if you put it in
barrels, set it in warm place, say 80 deg.
and in a week you will have n-tenths
sugar,if it is African cane am expect
ing seed from France. Mine that | now
lave came from there, which is better
than that direct from Africa, because
their climate nearer resembles ours
Chinese cane makes the best syrup, but
very little sugar. But the African
or lmphee is preferable for sugar. We
use Cooks evaporation altogether in
Adams County, and would have no
other. l will send you some sugar, if
you desire it, by express. They are
paying me one dollar per pound for it.
Any further information | can give
you, l will with pleasure.
Yours truly.