Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-12-24
AS VIEWED sy AN OUTSIDER.
Mississippi's Adaptability to the Diver
sification of Crops, and the
Great Lack Of Same.
Continued from Last Week.


production is manufacturing rath
er than an. agricultural problem,
hence, of little interest to the aver
age Mississippi farmer, but because
of the great and growing demand
for healthful, palatable syrup, such
as can be produced from tropical su-
gar cane on most Mississippi farms
any by any Mississippi farmer, there
is no reason why the production OF
high priced syrup may not become
an important industry in this State.
One supposed obstacle in this busi-
ness is based on the impression that
the portion of the crop which must
b. reserved for seed is so large as to
seriously diminish the possibilities
Of satisfactory financial returns.
A large part of the commercial
crop of Louisiana and of the sugar
cane crop of Florida and Georgia Is
produced from the green tips OF tops
which the Mississippi farmers inva.
riably throw away. The best seed
in the entire plant is found in these
tips. In preserving the tips for
seed, carefully cut them from the
portion intended for syrup and bed
them for winter preservation exact
ly as ordinary seed cane is preserved,
the only precaution being that the
ground where the seed bed is made
should be thoroughly pulverized and
the butts of the tops carefully thrust
into the mellow soil to the depth OF
about two inches, and then covered
with litter or pine straw and then
with sufficient soil to keep out the
frost, exactly as in the case OF ordl-
nary cane.
Another obstacle which has de-
tered many from the cultivation OF
cane for syrup making has been the
difficulty Of preserving the syrup, as
well as its tendency to deteriorate
by sugaring. Fermentation is the
cause of the first difficulty, the nat
ural crystallization of the sugar
present the second. Fermentation,
whether occurring in syrup or IN
any other fluid, is the result OF the
development of living germs. The
process is rendered impossible by the
destruction of these germs. Heat
effectively accomplishes this. The
germs Of fermentation, however, ex-
ist at all times in the air, so effective
preservation necessitates the exclu-
sion of the air. This is easily ac-
complished by sealing the recepta-
cles containing the syrup while the
latter is hot. Bottles and jugs may
be used for this purpose when the
product is intended for home con-
sumption, but for market purposes,
the tin can is the only practicable
syrup package and should be insisted
upon as absolutely indispensable to
securing high prices, which may be
expected from a superior product.
The character of the product will
depend chiefly upon its purity.
Cane juice, like all vegetable juices,
contains coloring matter and other
impurities which must be removed
if first-class syrup is expected. The
best means of accomplishing this re-
moval is the straining of the syrup
as it comes from the mill through "a
filter made of common Spanish
moss. The simplest device for this,
now practiced by cane growers all
over the South, is the mere straining
of the juice through a common GRO
Gus sack. The moss filter is as sim
pie. however, as the sack, and the
moss not only removes coloring mat
ter and the impurities, but to some
extent the causes of fermentation,
so that syrup made in this way is
not only better in quality, but keeps
longer than that produced by any
other simple and practical methods.
The filter consists simply of square
box made of plank and as long as is
possible, allowing the box to be set
under the spout of the mill. The
box is packed full of the moss which,
by natural or artificial means, has
shed its outer gray covering and is
in condition known commercially
as upholstery or mattress moss. The
box is packed as solidly as possible.
The juice flows from the mill into
the top of the filter, percolates
through the moss and hows out at
the bottom through pipe that leads
to the kettle or the evaporator. Suf-
fieient moss should be prepared to
fill the box twice. At the end OF
the first days run, the moss should
be removed, thoroughly washed and
summed for a day, during which time
| the second filing of moss should be
in use. Moss sufficient to fill the
filter twice is enough for the making
up of two acres of cane and the pro-
duct thus obtained is superior to
and brings better prices in the mar
ket than that resulting from any
other practical method The crys-
tallizing, or sugaring, of the syrup
with time, is easily prevented by the