Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-09-16
Agricultural.
Amber Cane sIruP---sirup from Corn
atnILn.

stalks.
j. o. johnson Of Norwich is manufactur-
ing strip from amber cane. Several acres Of
corn were grown this season by the farmers
Of that town We are not aware that any
quantity of it has yet been raised in Wind
ham county, though, IL its culture ever be-
comes general, we believe this county will be
found as well adapted to its production rs
any other part Of the state With favorable
reports from other quarters we hope to see II
thoroughly tried here another season. The
cost of sugar is now one of the principal
items of expense in provisioning family. 1t
will DO a great public benefit if il is found it
can be produced abundantly and cheaply at
home It is doubtful, however, whether dry
or crystalized sugar can be proftably manu-
featured from any variety of sorghum, but
repeated experiments seem to prove that sir
up, which amounts to tho same thing in an
other form, can be proftably made from am
Der cane or even from the stalks of common
corn. Prof. Collier obtained strip from the
stalks of field corn at the rate of 1166 pounds
per acre-equal to about 100 gallons per acre
of good molasses; and this result was attain
ed with imperfect machinery for manufactur-
ing By the use of suitable apparatus he
thinks it possible to obtain a much larger
quantity. These experiments with corn
stalks were made at She Department of Agri-
culture two years ago, but have not as yet
been followed up to any practical result such
as a discovery of this kind might be supposed
to lead to. If ii true, that after harvesting
the grain from an acre of good corn, $50
worth of strip can be made from the stalks,
It is something worthy the attention Of. Yer
mont farmers, many of whom, without extra
expense, have the apparatus for evaporating
the juice ready in their sugar houses. The
owner of both a cider mill and a sugar evap-
orator in the same locality-we know several
such and probably there are more than hun
dred in the state-could try the experiment of
making strip from cornstalks without risk of
losing much more than his time in case of
failure. The stalks could be ground in the
mill and the juice expressed in the same way
as for cider. Some of the earlier expert
ments of Prof. Collier were made by cutting
the stalks into short pieces in a straw cutter,
pounding them in mortar and expressing the
juice with small wine-press. 1t should be
considered that the corn from which Prof.
Collier obtained 1166 pounds of strip per
acre with imperfect apparatus, was grown in
southern latitude, and perhaps our corn is
not SO sweet, though he says that at certain
period of development the amber cane and
other varieties of sorghum are nearly, if not
quite, as rich in sugar as the very best of
sugar cane from Louisiana. The best results
from the culture Of amber cane are reported
from the northwestern states. The product
of sugar and molasses from this source was
considerably increased last season. and if not
too much diminished by the severe drouth
that has prevailed in many of the states, this
seasons product will be largely in excess of
lastyears. In Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wis
consin and some other states, mills that made
last year from one thousand to ten thousand
gallons amber cane or sorghum strip were
not uncommon. New England has so far
given less attention to this means of obtain
ing sweet than any other part of the country.
Our lands may not be adapted to the extern
sive culture of any of the varieties of sorg-
hum, but if enough sweetening for the use of
an average family can be made from half an
acre of amber cane, or from the stalks of an
acre of corn it would be profitable addition
to the products of the farm