Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-27


/ Mr., L. c. Miller, the treasurer of the s.
l. Davidson Mortgage company, returned
yesterday from a business trip through
the western part of the state. Mr.. Miller
reports crops very fine.
One field OF corn on upland had been
cultivated five times and would yield from
sixty to seyenty-ave bushels per acre. On
an adjoining farm was a field CT corn
which had been cultivated twice and
which would not go over thirty bushels
per acre. That there was a great many
fields OF kafiir and rice corn, which re-
sembles cane, Yields very heavy and makes
fine feed for cattle and hogs
He saw many fields Of castor beans OF
forty or fifty which would yield about
fifteen bushels per acre. These beans
ne says, find ready market
at 81 per bushel. They are of no mora
trouble to raise than corn aud often go as
high as twenty to twenty-five bushels per
acre.
Many of the farmers are very much in
terested in the sugar question, as cane
yields very heavily whether the season be
wet or dry, ana Is raised at good profit.
At Minneola, in Clark county, sugar
mill is being erected which will adopt the
roasting method, which Is not now used
by any sugar mill. dr. \. j. Adamson.
who is the patantee OF this process and
who is experimenting the construction OF
this plant, in speaking TO Mr.. Miller SAID;
"-All experienced sugar makers admit the
benefit of roasting the cane before II Is
crushed The Unitad States chemist,
Wylie. in speaking TO me on the subject
admitted that 1t was OF great
benefit in many ways TO roast the cane
but knew of no way Of doing this cheaply
and in large quantities Ny rooster Is
built as follows: 1t is seventy feet long,
one foot high and four feet In diameter,
open at both ends, set In bed OF stone.
Through this oven passes an endless
chain OF steel, four feet wide, which re-
turns underneath the oven. The oven Is
made of cast iron and when roasting cane
is kept at a cherry heat. The cane Is led
on TO the endless chain, passes through the
seventy feet OF oven and comes out at the
crusher completely roasted. The advan-
tages of roasting cane are is follows: 1t is
crushed with much less power than raw
cane; the roasting makes iJ ten
der; it yields more syrup than
raw cane; the roasting removes
many of the impurities, such as bugs. etc,
making the time and trouble of purifying
the syrup in purifying watts much less. 1t
makes it possible to use frozen
cane, thus allowing the mill
to run until January, if necessary,
and last. and of much Importance, is the
fact that after the syrup has been ex-
tracted the syrup remaining Will not spoil
but may be kept indefinitely and used or
sold when needed.
The fuel to keep the rooster hot is the
the cane fiber dried, which reduces the cost
of wasting TO nominal cost"
"Under my cooper shop / have a cellar
vat lined with sheet iron, which will hold
124, AS gallons OF syrup. In this l will
store the syrup that is in other mills
thrown away, until ready to barrel it for
market Ny mill will use 100 tons of cane
care of 100 tons. / have under contract
500 acres OF cane which Will yield this
year from ten to fifteen tons per acre, and
for which | have contracted TO pay Sl60
per ton. Next year l Will contract for 900
acres. This is the first large mill ever put
in using the roasting process, though the
process has been thoroughly tried on
smaller scale. My patents are owned by
the American Sugar company, VINO are
erecting this mill | hope to be able to
start by the 18th of next month. Outside
of the roasting the process does not differ
materially from that used in other mills,