The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. (part 3 of 5)

1. "To obtain, by the use of a properly-constructed mill, the greatest possible amount of juice from the cane."

By this, according to Mr. Fownes, a gain of from 20 to 30 per cent., equivalent to as much marketable sugar, may be obtained without any additional expense; but as, from Mr. Fownes' own showing, there is a residuum of 10 to 15 per cent of liquor obstinately retained by the megass, or cane trash, after the most powerful pressure to which it can be subjected; much, if not all, even of this loss might be prevented by subjecting the megass, on issuing from between the rollers, to the action of water for a brief time, passing it once more through the mill, and adding the saccharine solution so obtained, or that obtained directly from the cane on its first crushing. The water thus employed would serve for many successive portions of megass, until at length it became so richly loaded with saccharine matter as to be worth attention in the boiling-house; or, at all events, it would be serviceable for the cattle, who would fatten rapidly upon it. By this additional process a further gain of at least five per cent. might be expected, raising the total gain from improvements in this first stage of the process, to from 25 to 35 per cent.

2. "To clarify and filter this juice with expedition, and to evaporate it rapidly, either over the open fire or by steam heat, as far as it can be done with safety."

By the use of steam, not only is a vast economy of fuel effected, but the temperature is maintained at a uniform and sufficient standard, and the liquor effectually guarded against the risks of carelessness or ignorance. Coal may be obtained on far cheaper terms, in exchange for produce, from the United States or from Cape Breton, than from England; and as colliers from those quarters would find it their interest to bring cargoes at their own risk, and take return cargoes of sugar, rum, or molasses, at the market price, the planter will be doubly a gainer by the system, obtaining his fuel at a reduced rate, and having his trash and megass left free as manure for the use of his cane fields.

3. "To complete the concentration in a vacuum pan, or by other means, at a moderate temperature, not hurtful to the sugar, and facilitate the natural process of crystallisation, so as to obtain sugar of a large and distinct grain."

4. "To drain and dry the sugar perfectly, and to save all the molasses."

The advantages to be anticipated from these improvements, superadded to an improvement in cultivation, cannot be estimated at less, upon a moderate calculation, than from 150 to 200 per cent. of increase in the production of sugar, with hardly an appreciable increase of labor or expense; for we have, in the first place, a gain by improved culture of, at least, two hogsheads an acre in sugar, equivalent to 100 per cent.; in the next, by employing improved mills and extracting the residuum, 30 per cent.; by conducting the process of manufacture more judiciously, 10 per cent.; and by the prevention of waste during the transit to market, 10 per cent., making a total of at least 150 per cent.

The common sugar-mill consists of three cylinders, tightened either by wedges, if in a wooden frame, or by screws in a cast-iron frame. If in an iron frame, the above-mentioned noise is obviated, but the friction and loss of power is the same, which is ascertainable by subsequent investigation. The cylinders or rollers, which are moving either horizontally or vertically, are from eighteen to twenty-four inches in diameter, with bearings or shafts of one fourth of their diameter. If the bearings or shafts of the cylinders were of less substance, they could not resist the great strain to which they are subjected when in operation. The whole of the prime mover (steam-engine, water-wheel, or animals), minus the friction of intermediate machinery, is transmitted to the plains of these rollers and resisted by their bearings; hence the action is equal to a weight moving on low wheels of eighteen or twenty-four inches in diameter, on axles of from four to six inches thickness, which weight is equal to the force applied; consequently, if the strain is greater than the resistance of the rollers or the bearings, they must be wrenched off, or if greater than the force applied, the mill will be stopped. The power necessary to move weights upon wheels, on a smooth and level surface, is in proportion to the respective diameters of wheels and axles. The same pull which moves one ton at a given velocity upon a wheel of two feet, with an axle of six inches, will move four tons, if on a wheel of four feet diameter, with an axle of six inches. Consequently, cylinders of small diameter, with strong and substantial bearings, are only admissible as working machines, if no other mechanical means are applicable, as, for instance, in rolling out metals, compressing the surface of various bodies for a glossy appearance, or, generally speaking, to produce a certain and equal form of the substance which is pressed and passed between them. They compress the atoms of bodies, and for this reason alone are ill suited to separate the fibres of the sugar canes, and to express effectively the saccharine matter between them. A practical proof of this demonstration is furnished by every sugar cane which has gone through the mill. Fresh megass is at present better suited for fattening animals than for fuel under the sugar pans.

The loss of material thus sustained, which is, on an average, equal in every mill, whether driven by steam, water, or animal power, is entirely chargeable to the construction of the mill, and amounts to about ten per cent. of the saccharine matter contained in the sugar canes.

M. Duprez, an agent of the French Government, having experimented on the canes in Guadaloupe, found the quantity of juice in every 100 lbs. crushed--

lbs. 1 By mills having horizontal rollers; the motive power not stated 61.2 2 By mills, motive power, steam 60.9 3 By mills, motive power, wind and steam 59.3 4 By mills, having vertical rollers 59.2 5 By mills, motive power, cattle 58.5 6 By mills, motive power, wind * 56.4

[* Dr. Evans' "Treatise on Sugar," p. 75.]

The average of all these experiments being 56 per cent. only. The result of M. Avequin, on Louisiana cane, was 50 per cent. Mr. Thompson, of Jamaica, states 50 per cent. as the average throughout the island of Martinique. Dr. Evans ventures 47 per cent. as the lowest, and 61 per cent. as the highest in the West Indies. A mill in Madeira gave 47.5 and 70.2 of juice--the larger yield being obtained by bracing the horizontal rollers more than usually tight, and introducing only a few canes at a time, the motive power being cattle.

The three roller mill has the disadvantage of re-absorbing a part of the cane juice in the spongy megass, (or trash as it is termed in the West Indies), and a loss of power.

Those with five rollers have been used in Cuba, Bourbon and the Mauritius, which gave 70 per cent., but a great increase of motive power is necessary. Four roller mills, two below and two above, requiring little more motive power than three rollers, have given 70 to 75 per cent of juice.

Some years since, the East India Company instituted inquiries relative to the cultivation of the sugar cane in Hindostan, and the information obtained was published in a large folio volume. The Reports furnished by their officers, from almost every district, concur in stating that there were three kinds cultivated:--1. The purple. 2. The white. 3. A variety of the white, requiring a large supply of water. The epitome of the Reports affords this information:--

1. The purple colored cane yields a sweeter, richer juice, than the yellow or light colored, but in less quantity, and is harder to press. Grows on dry lands. Scarce any other sort in Beerbhoom, much in Radnagore, some about Santipore, mixed with light colored cane. Grows also near Calcutta; in some fields separate, in others mixed with pooree or light colored cane. When eaten raw, is more dry and pithy in the mouth, but esteemed better sugar than the pooree, and appears to be the superior sort of cane. Persons who have been West Indian planters do not know it as a West Indian cane.

2. The light colored cane, yellow, inclining to white; deeper yellow when ripe, and on rich ground, it is the same sort as that which grows in the West India Islands; softer, more juicy than the Cadjoolee, but juice less rich, and produces sugar less strong; requires seven maunds of pooree juice to make as much goor or inspissated juice as is produced from six of the Cadjoolee. Much of this kind is brought to the Calcutta markets, and eaten raw.

3. The white variety, which grows in swampy, lands, is light colored, and grows to a great height. Its juice is more watery, and yields a weaker sugar than the Cadjoolee. However, as much of Bengal consists of low grounds, and as the upland canes are liable to suffer from drought, it may be advisable to encourage the cultivation of it, should the sugar it produces be approved, though in a less degree than other sugars, in order to guard against the effects of dry seasons. Experience alone can determine how far the idea of encouraging this sort may answer.

Besides the foregoing, several kinds are now known to the Indian planter. One of them, the China sugar cane, was considered by Dr. Roxburgh to be a distinct species, and distinguished by him as Saccharum sinensis. It was introduced into India in 1796, by Earl Cornwallis, as being superior to the native kinds. It is characterised by a hardness which effectually resists most of the country rude mills; but this hardness is importantly beneficial, inasmuch as that it withstands the attack of the white ants, hogs, and jackals, which destroy annually a large portion of the common cane.[18] Dr. Buchanan found that four kinds are known in Mysore. Two of these are evidently the purple and white generally known; but as this is not distinctly stated, I have retained the form in which he notices them. Restali, the native sugar of the Mysore, can only be planted in the last two weeks of March and two first of April. It completes its growth in twelve months, and does not survive for a second crop. Its cultivation has been superseded by the other.

Putta-putti.--This was introduced from Arcot, during the reign of Hyder Ali. It is the only one from which the natives can extract sugar; it also produces the best Bella or Jaggery. It can be planted at the same season as the other, as well as at the end of July and beginning of August. It is fourteen months in completing its growth; but the stools produce a second crop, like the ratoons of the West Indies, which ripen in twelve months.

Maracabo, Cuttaycabo.--These two are very small, seldom exceeding half an inch in diameter; yet in some districts of Mysore, as about Colar, the last-named is the variety usually cultivated; but this arises from its requiring less water than the larger varieties.

The best varieties are those introduced from the Islands of Otaheite and Bourbon. Hindostan is indebted for their introduction to Captain Sleeman, who brought them hither from the Mauritius in 1827. He committed them to Dr. Wallich, under whose care, at the Botanic Garden, they have flourished, and been the source from whence the benefit has been generally diffused. Their superiority over those which have been usually cultivated by the natives has been completely established. The largest of the Hindostan canes, ripe and trimmed ready for the mill, has never been found to exceed five pounds; but it is not uncommon for an Otaheite cane,[19] under similar circumstances, to weigh seven pounds. The extra weight arises proportionately from an increased secretion of superior sap. The sugar is more abundant, granulates more readily, and has less scum. Other superior qualities are, that the canes ripen earlier, and are less injured by the occurrence of protracted dry weather.

Of the history of the sugar cane a popular tradition obtains amongst the natives, that, in very ancient times, a vessel belonging to their country chanced by accident to leave one of her crew, under a desperate fit of sickness, at a desert island, at a considerable distance in the Eastern Seas, and that, returning by the same route, curiosity prompted them to inquire after the fate of their companion, when, to their utter astonishment, the man presented himself to their view, completely recovered from his sickness, and even in a state of more than common health. With anxiety they inquired for the physic he had so successfully applied, and were conducted by him to the sugar cane, on which he acquainted them he had solely subsisted from the time of their departure. Attracted by such powerful recommendation, every care and attention was bestowed, we may suppose, to convey such an invaluable acquisition to their own lands, where the soil and climate have mutually since contributed to its present prosperity.

Soil.--The soil best suiting the sugar cane is aluminous rather than the contrary, tenacious without being heavy, readily allowing excessive moisture to drain away, yet not light. One gentleman, Mr. Ballard, has endeavoured to make this point clear by describing the most favorable soils about Gazepore as "light clays," called there Mootearee, or doansa, according as there is more or less sand in their composition.--Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. i. 121.

Mr. Peddington seems to think that calcareous matter, and iron in the state of peroxide, are essential to be present in a soil for the production of the superior sugar cane. There can be no doubt that the calcareous matter is necessary, but experience is opposed to his opinion relative to the peroxide.

The soil preferred at Radnagore is there distinguished as the soil of "two qualities," being a mixture of rich clay and sand, and which Mr. Touchet believed to be known in England as a light brick mould.

About Rungpore, Dinajpoor, and other places where the ground is low, they raise the beds where the cane is to be planted four or five feet above the level of the land adjacent.

The experience of Dr. Roxburgh agrees with the preceding statements. He says, "The soil that suits the cane best in this climate is, a rich vegetable earth, which on exposure to the air readily crumbles down into very fine mould. It is also necessary for it to be of such a level as allows of its being watered from the river by simply damming it up (which almost the whole of the land adjoining to this river, the Godavery, admits of), and yet so high as to be easily drained during heavy rains. Such a soil, and in such a situation, having been well meliorated by various crops of leguminous plants, or fallowing, for two or three years, is slightly manured, or has had for some time cattle pent upon it. A favourite manure for the cane with the Hindoo farmer is the rotten straw of green and black pessaloo (Phaseolus Mungo max)."[20] Many accordant opinions might be added to the preceding, but it seems only necessary to observe further, that "the sugar cane requires a soil sufficiently elevated to be entirely free from inundation, but not so high as to be deprived of moisture, or as to encourage the production of white ants (termes)."

The sugar cane is an exhausting crop, and it is seldom cultivated by the ryot more frequently than once in three or four years on the same land. During the intermediate period, such plants are grown as are found to improve the soil, of which, says Dr. Tennant, the Indian farmer is a perfect judge. They find the leguminous tribe the best for the purpose. Such long intervals of repose from the cane would not be requisite if a better system of manuring were adopted.

Mr. J. Prinsep has recorded the following analysis of three soils distinguished for producing sugar. They were all a soft, fine-grained alluvium, without pebbles. No. 1 was from a village called Mothe, on the Sarjee, about ten miles north of the Ganges, at Buxar, and the others from the south bank of the Ganges, near the same place. There is a substratum of kunkar throughout the whole of that part of the country, and to some mixture of this earth with the surface soil the fertility of the latter is ascribed:--

1 2 3 Hygrometric moisture, on drying at 212 deg. 2.5 2.1 3.6 Carbonaceous and vegetable matter, on calcination 1.8 2.1 4.0 Carbonate of lime (No. 3 effervesced) 1.6 0.6 3.9 Alkaline salt, soluble 1.0 1.1 0.3 Silex and alumina 94.1 94.1 88.2 ----- ----- ----- 100.0 100.0 100.0

The earths unfortunately were not separated. Mr. Prinsep says the two first were chiefly of sand, and the third somewhat argillaceous. The former required irrigation, but the other was sufficiently retentive of moisture to render it unnecessary.--(Journ. Asiatic Soc., ii. 435.)

Manures.--The sugar cane being one of the most valued crops of the ryot, he always devotes to it a portion of the fertilising matters he has at command, though in every instance this is too small.

In the Rajahmundry district, previously to planting, the soil is slightly manured, either by having cattle folded upon it, or by a light covering of the rotten straw of the green and black pessalloo, which is here a favourite fertiliser. In some parts of Mysore the mud from the bottom of tanks is employed, and this practice is more generally adopted in other places. Thus the fields being divided by deep ditches in Dinajpoor, the mud from which is enriched by the remains of decayed aquatic plants and animals, forms an excellent manure for the sugar cane, and of this the ryots make use, spreading it over the surface before the ploughing is commenced; and when that operation is completed, the soil is further fertilised by a dressing of oil-cake and ashes.

Crushed bones would unquestionably be of the greatest benefit if applied to the sugar cane crop. Not only would their animal matter serve as food for the plants, but the phosphate of lime of the bones is one of the chief saline constituents of the sugar cane.

Salt is another valuable manure for this crop. Dr. Nugent, in a Report made to the Agricultural Society of Antigua, observes that salt has been found a valuable auxiliary in cultivating the sugar cane. Many trials of it, he says, have been made during successive seasons, applied generally to the extent of about nine or ten bushels per acre. It destroys grubs and other insects, and gives the canes an increased vigor and ability to resist drought. It is a singular remark of the intelligent traveller, M. de Humboldt, while speaking of the practice adopted in the Missions of the Orinoco, when a coco-nut plantation is made, of throwing a certain quantity of salt into the hole which receives the nut; that of all the plants cultivated by man there are only the sugar cane, the plantain, the mammee, and the Avocado pear, which endure equally irrigation with fresh and salt water.

In the West Indies, when the cane is affected by what is called there the blast, which is a withering or drying up of the plants, an unfailing remedy is found to be watering them with an infusion of dung in salt water.[21] Preparation of soil.--In the Rajahmundry district, during the months of April and May, the ground is frequently ploughed, until brought into a very fine tilth. About the end of May, or beginning of June, the rains usually commence, and the canes are then to be planted. If the rains do not set in so early, the land is flooded artificially, and when converted into a soft mud, whether by the rain or by flooding, the canes are planted.

In Mysore the ground is watered for three days, and then, after drying for the same period, ploughing commences, this operation being repeated five times during the following eight days. The clods during this time are broken small by an instrument called colkudali. The field is then manured and ploughed a sixth time. After fifteen days it is ploughed again, twice in the course of one or two days. After a lapse of eight days it is ploughed a ninth time. Altogether these operations occupy about forty-four days.

For planting, which is done six days, an implement called yella kudali is employed.

In Dinajpoor, "the field, from about the middle of October until about the 10th of January, receives ten or twelve double ploughings, and after each is smoothed with the moyi. During the last three months of this time it is manured with cow-dung and mud from ponds and ditches. On this account, the land fit for sugar cane is generally divided into fields by wide ditches, into which much mud is washed by the rain, and is again thrown on the fields when the country dries, and leaves it enriched by innumerable aquatic vegetables and animals that have died as the water left them. When the ploughing has been completed, the field is manured with ashes and oil-cake."

About Malda, "the land is first ploughed in the month of Cartick, length and breadth ways, and harrowed in like manner; four or five days after it is again ploughed and harrowed, as before, twice. In the month of Aghun, the whole land is covered with fresh earth, again twice ploughed, and harrowed in different directions, and then manured with dung. Fifteen or twenty days afterwards it is to be twice ploughed, as before; eight or ten days after which, it is to be slightly manured with dung, and the refuse of oil, mixed together; then twice ploughed and harrowed in different directions, so that the clods of earth brought be well mixed together with the land. This preparation continues until the 20th or 25th of the month Pows."

In the vicinity of Dacca, during "Cautic or Augun (October, November) the Ryots begin to prepare their ground. They first dig a trench round their fields, and raise a mound of about three feet in height. If the ground to be cultivated is waste, about nine inches of the surface are taken off, and thrown without the enclosure. The ground is ploughed to the depth of nine inches more. The clods are broken, and the earth made fine. In Maug or Faugun (January, February) the sugar cane is planted; a month afterwards earth is raised about the plants; after another month this is repeated. The crop is cut in Poous and Maug (December, January). If the ground be not waste, but cultivated, the surface is not taken off. After cutting the crop, it is not usual again to grow sugar cane on the same ground for eighteen months, on account of the indifferent produce afforded by a more early planting.

In the Zillah, North Mooradabad, the land is broken up at the end of June. After the rains have ceased it is manured, and has eight or ten ploughings. This clears it of weeds. In February it is again manured and ploughed four or five times, and just before the sets are planted, some dung, four cart-loads to each cutcha beegah of low land, and five cart-loads to high land, are added. The land is well rolled after the four last ploughings, and again after the cuttings are set.

About Benares and the neighbouring districts, Mr. Haines says, that owing to the hot winds which prevail "from March until the setting in of the annual rains in June or July, the lands remain fallow till that period. In the mean time, those fields that are selected for sugar cane are partially manured by throwing upon them all manner of rubbish they can collect, and by herding their buffaloes and cattle upon them at night, though most of the manure from the latter source is again collected and dried for fuel.

When the annual rains have fairly set in, and the Assarree crops sown (in some instances I have seen an Assarree crop taken from the lands intended for sugar cane), they commence ploughing the cane lands, and continue to do so four or five times monthly (as they consider the greater number of times the fields are turned up at this period of the season, the better the crop of cane will be), till the end of October, continuing to throw on the little manure they can collect.

Towards the end of October, and in November, their ploughs are much engaged in sowing their winter (or rubbee) crops of wheat, barley, grain, &c.; and at this period they make arrangements with the shepherds who have large flocks of sheep, to fold them upon the fields at night, for which they pay so much per beegah in grain.

During the latter part of November, and early in December, the fields are again ploughed well, and all grass, weeds, &c., removed with the hoe; then the surface of the field is made as smooth as possible by putting the hengah (a piece of wood eight to ten feet in length, and five to six inches in breadth, and three or four inches in thickness, drawn by two pairs of bullocks, and the man standing upon the wood to give it weight), over several times for three or four days in succession. This makes the surface of the field very even and somewhat hard, which prevents the sun and dry west wind from abstracting the moisture, which is of great importance at this period of the season, for, should there be no rain, there would not be sufficient moisture at the time of planting the cane to cause vegetation.

In this state the land remains till the time of planting the cane cuttings, which is generally the 1st to the 15th of February; but should there have been a fall of rain in the mean time, or excess of moisture appear, the field is again ploughed, and the hengah put over as before.

A day or two previous to planting the cane, the field is ploughed and the hengah lightly put over."--(Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. vi. 4, 5.)

Sets.--When the canes are cut at harvest time, twelve or eighteen inches of their tops are usually taken off, and stored, to be employed for sets. Each top has several joints, from each of which a shoot rises, but seldom more than one or two arrive at a proper growth.

When first cut from the stem, the tops intended for plants are tied in bundles of forty or fifty each, and are carefully kept moist. In a few days they put forth new leaves: they are then cleared of the old leaves, and separately dipped into a mixture of cow-dung, pressed mustard seed, and water. A dry spot is prepared, and rich loose mould and a small quantity of pressed mustard-seed; the plants are separately placed therein, a small quantity of earth strewed amongst them, and then covered with leaves and grass to preserve them from heat. Ten or twelve days afterwards they are planted in the fields.

In Burdwan, the tops, before they are planted, are cut into pieces from four to six inches long, so that there are not more than four knots in each. Two or three of these plant tops are put together in the ground, and a beegah requires from 7,500 to 10,240 plants.

In Rungpore and Dinajpoor, about 9,000 plants are required for a beegah, each being about a foot in length.

In Beerbhoom, 3,000 plants are said to be requisite for a beegah, each cane top being about fifteen inches long.

Near Calcutta, from 3,000 to 8,000 plants are required for a beegah, according to the goodness of the soil, the worst soil needing most plants. In Mysore an acre contains 2,420 stools, and yields about 11,000 ripe canes.

Near Rajahmundry, about 400 cuttings are planted on a cutcha beegah (one-eighth of an acre). In Zilla, North Mooradabad, 4,200 sets, each eight inches long, are inserted upon each cutcha beegah of low land, and 5,250 upon high land.

In the district of Gollagore the Ryots cut a ripe cane into several pieces, preserving two or three joints to each, and put them into a small bed of rich mould, dung, and mustard-seed from which the oil has been expressed. At Radnagore, when the time of cutting the canes arrives, their tops are taken off, and these are placed upright in a bed of mud for thirty or forty days, and covered with leaves or straw. The leaves are then stripped from them, and they are cut into pieces, not having less than two nor more than four joints each. These sets are kept for ten or fifteen days in a bed prepared for them, from whence they are taken and planted in rows two or three together, eighteen inches or two feet intervening between each stool.

Planting.--The time and mode of planting vary. In the Rajahmundry Circar, Dr. Roxburgh says, that "during the months of April and May the land is repeatedly ploughed with the common Hindoo plough, which soon brings the loose rich soil (speaking of the Delta of the Godavery) into very excellent order. About the end of May and beginning of June, the rains generally set in, in frequent heavy showers. Now is the time to plant the cane; but should the rains hold back, the prepared field is watered or flooded from the river, and, while perfectly wet, like soft mud, the cane is planted.

"The method is most simple. Laborers with baskets of the cuttings, of one or two joints each, arrange themselves along one side of the field. They walk side by side, in as straight a line as their eye and judgment enable them, dropping the sets at the distance of about eighteen inches asunder in rows, and about four feet from row to row. Other laborers follow, and with the foot press the set about two inches into the soft, mud-like soil, which, with a sweep or two with the sole of the foot, they most easily and readily cover."--(Roxburgh on the Culture of Sugar.)

About Malda, in the month of Maug (January, February), the land is to be twice ploughed, and harrowed repeatedly, length and breadth ways; after which it is furrowed, the furrows half a cubit apart, in which the plants are to be set at about four fingers' distance from each other, when the furrows are filled up with the land that lay upon its ridges. The plants being thus set, the land is harrowed twice in different directions; fifteen or twenty days afterwards the cane begins to grow, when the weeds which appear with it must be taken up; ten or twelve days after this the weeds will again appear. They must again be taken up, and the earth at the roots of the canes be removed, when all the plants which have grown will appear.

At Ghazepore the rains set in at the beginning of March, and planting then commences. Near Calcutta the planting takes place in May and June. In Dinajpoor and Rungpore the planting time is February.

About Commercolly it is performed in January. The field is divided into beds six cubits broad, separated from each other by small trenches fourteen inches wide and eight inches deep. In every second trench are small wells, about two feet deep. The irrigating water flowing along the trenches fills the wells, and is taken thence and applied to the canes by hand.

Each bed has five rows of canes. The sets are planted in holes about six inches in diameter, and three deep; two sets, each having three joints, are laid horizontally in every hole, covered slightly with earth, and over this is a little dung.

When, the canes are planted in the spring, the trenches must be filled with water, and some poured into every hole. At the other season of planting the trenches are full, it being rainy weather; but even then the sets must be watered for the first month.

Mr. Haines says that in Mirzapore and the neighbouring districts, "in planting the cane they commence a furrow round the field, in which they drop the cuttings. The second furrow is left empty; cuttings again in the third; so they continue dropping cuttings in every second furrow till the whole field is completed, finishing in the centre of the field. The field remains in this state till the second or third day, when for two or three days in succession it is made even and hard upon the surface with the hengah, as before stated."--(Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. vi. 5.)

Mr. Vaupell, in describing the most successful mode of cultivating the Mauritius sugar cane in Bombay, says, that "after the ground is levelled with the small plough, called 'paur,' in the manner of the cultivators, pits of two feet in diameter, and two feet in depth, should be dug throughout the field at the distance of five feet apart, and filled with manure and soil to about three inches of the surface. Set in these pits your canes, cut in pieces about a foot and a half long, laying them down in a triangular from, thus /\. Keep as much of the eyes or shoots of the cane uppermost as you can; then cover them with manure and soil; beds should next be formed to retain water, having four pits in each bed, leaving passages for watering them. The cutting should be watered every third day during hot weather, and the field should always be kept in a moist state."--(Ibid. iii. 43.)

About Benares, the sets require, after planting, from four to six waterings, until the rains commence, and as many hoeings to loosen the surface, which becomes caked after every watering. The moister nature of the soil renders these operations generally unnecessary in Bengal.

After-culture.--In Mysore, the surface of the earth in the hollows in which the sets are planted is stirred with a stick as soon as the shoots appear, and a little dung is added. Next month the daily watering is continued, and then the whole field dug over with the hoe, a cavity being made round each stool, and a little dung added. In the third month water is given every second day: at its close, if the canes are luxuriant, the ground is again dug; but if weakly, the watering is continued during the fourth month, before the digging is given. At this time the earth is drawn up about the canes, so as to leave the hollows between the rows at right angles with the trenches. No more water is given to the plants, but the trenches between the beds are kept full for three days. It is then left off for a week, and if rain occurs, no further water is requisite; but if the weather is dry, water is admitted once a week during the next month. The digging is then repeated, and the earth levelled with the hand about the stools.

The stems of each stool are ten or twelve in number, which are reduced to five or six by the most weakly of them being now removed. The healthy canes are to be tied with one of their own leaves, two or three together, to check their spreading; and this binding is repeated as required by their increased growth.

In the absence of rain, the trenches are filled with water once a fortnight.

When the Putta-putti is to be kept for a second crop, the dry leaves cut off in the crop season are burnt upon the field, and this is dug over, and trenches filled with water, and during six weeks the plants watered once in every six or eight days (unless rain falls), and the digging repeated three times, dung being added at each digging. The after-culture is the same as for the first crop.

In the Upper Provinces, Dr. Tennant says, if moderate showers occur after planting, nothing more is done until the shoots from the sets have attained a height of two or three inches. The soil immediately around them is then loosened with a small weeding iron, something like a chisel; but if the season should prove dry, the field is occasionally watered; the weeding is also continued, and the soil occasionally loosened about the plants.

In August, small trenches are cut through the field, with small intervals between them, for the purpose of draining off the water, if the season is too wet. This is very requisite, for if the canes are now supplied with too much moisture, the juice is rendered watery and unprofitable. If the season happens to be dry, the same dikes serve to conduct the irrigating water through the field, and to carry off what does not soak into the earth in a few hours. Stagnant water they consider very injurious to the cane, and on the drains being well contrived depends in a great measure the future hope of profit. Immediately after the field is trenched, the canes are propped. They are now about three feet high, and each set has produced from three to six canes. The lower leaves of each are first carefully wrapt up around it, so as to cover it completely in every part; a small strong bamboo, eight or ten feet long, is then inserted firmly in the middle of each stool, and the canes tied to it. This secures them in an erect position, and facilitates the circulation of the air.

Hoeing cannot be repeated too frequently. This is demonstrated by the practice of the most successful cultivators. In Zilla, N. Mooradabad, in April, about six weeks after planting, the earth on each side of the cane-rows is loosened by a sharp-pointed hoe, shaped somewhat like a bricklayer's trowel. This is repeated six times before the field is laid out in beds and channels for irrigation. There, likewise, if the season is unusually dry, the fields in the low ground are watered in May and June. This supposes there are either nullahs, or ancient pucka wells, otherwise the canes are allowed to take their chance, for the cost of making a well on the uplands is from ten to twenty rupees--an expense too heavy for an individual cultivator, and not many would dig in partnership, for they would fight for the water.

In the vicinity of Benares, as the canes advance in growth, they continue to wrap the leaves as they begin to wither up round the advancing stem, and to tie this to the bamboo higher up. If the weather continue wet, the trenches are carefully kept open; and, on the other hand, if dry weather occurs, water is occasionally supplied. Hoeing is also performed every five or six weeks. Wrapping the leaves around the cane is found to prevent them cracking by the heat of the sun, and hinders their throwing out lateral branches.

In January and February the canes are ready for cutting. The average height of the cane is about nine feet, foliage included, and the naked cane from one inch to one inch and a quarter in diameter.

Near Maduna, the hand-watering is facilitated by cutting a small trench down the centre of each bed. The beds are there a cubit wide, but only four rows of canes are planted in each.

It is deserving of notice, that the eastern and north-eastern parts of Bengal are more subject to rain at every season of the year, but especially in the hot months, than the western; which accounts for the land being prepared and the plants set so much earlier in Rungpore than in Beerbhoom. This latter country has also a dryer soil generally; for this reason, so much is said in the report from thence of the necessity of watering.

The Benares country is also dryer than Bengal, therefore more waterings are requisite.

At Malda, ten or fifteen days after the earth has been removed from the roots of the canes and the plants have appeared, the land is to be slightly manured, well cleared of weeds, and the earth that was removed again laid about the canes; after which, ten or fifteen days, it must be well weeded, and again twenty or twenty-five days afterwards. This mode of cultivation it is necessary to follow until the month of Joystee. The land must be ploughed and manured between the rows of canes in the month of Assaar; after which, fifteen or twenty days, the canes are to be tied two or three together with the leaves, the earth about them well cleaned, and the earth that was ploughed up laid about the roots of the canes something raised. In the month of Saubun, twenty or twenty-five days from the preceding operation, the canes are tied as before, and again ten or fifteen days afterwards; which done, nine or ten clumps are then to be tied together.

In the Rojahmundry Circar, on the Delta of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh states, "that nothing more is done after the cane is planted, if the weather be moderately showery, till the young shoots are some two or three inches high; the earth is then loosened for a few inches round them with the weeding iron. Should the season prove dry, the field is occasionally watered from the river, continuing to weed and to keep the ground loose round the stools. In August, two or three months from the time of planting, small trenches are cut through the field at short distances, and so contrived as to serve to drain off the water, should the season prove too wet for the canes, which is often the case, and would render their juices weak and unprofitable. The farmer, therefore, never fails to have his field plentifully and judiciously intersected with drains while the cane is small, and before the usual time for the violent rains. Immediately after the field is trenched, the canes are all propped; this is an operation which seems peculiar to these parts.

In Dinajpoor, in about a month after planting, "the young plants are two or three inches high; the earth is then raised from the cuttings by means of a spade, and the dry leaves by which they are surrounded are removed. For a day or two they remain exposed to the air, and are then manured with ashes and oil-cake, and covered with earth. Weeds must be removed as they spring; and when the plants are about a cubit high, the field must be ploughed. When they have grown a cubit higher, which is between the 13th of June and 14th of July, they are tied together in bundles of three or four, by wrapping them round with their own leaves. This is done partly to prevent them from being laid down by the wind, and partly to prevent them from being eaten by jackals. During the next month three or four of these bunches are tied together; and about the end of September, when the canes grow rank, they are supported by bamboo stakes driven in the ground. They are cut between the middle of December and the end of March."

If the canes grow too vigorously, developing a superabundance of leaves, it is a good practice to remove those leaves which are decayed, that the stems may be exposed fully to the sun. In the West Indies, this is called trashing the canes. It requires discretion; for in dry soils or seasons, or if the leaves are removed before sufficiently dead, more injury than benefit will be occasioned.

Harvesting.--The season in which the canes become ripe in various districts has already been noticed when considering their cultivation. In addition I may state, that in the Rajahmundry Circar, about the mouth of the Godavery, Dr. Roxburgh adds, "that in January and February the canes begin to be ready to cut, which is about nine months from the time of planting. This operation is the same as in other sugar countries--of course I need not describe it. Their height, when standing on the field, will be from eight to ten feet (foliage included), and the naked cane from an inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter."

In Malda, the canes are cut in January and February. In N. Mooradabad, upon the low land, the canes are ripe in October, and upon the high lands a month later. The fitness of the cane for cutting may be ascertained by making an incision across the cane, and observing the internal grain. If it is soft and moist, like a turnip, it is not yet ripe; but if the face of the cut is dry, and white particles appear, it is fit for harvesting.--(Fitzmaurice on the Culture of the Sugar Cane.)

Injuries.--1. A wet season, either during the very early or in the concluding period of the cane's vegetation, is one of the worst causes of injury. In such a season, the absence of the usual intensity of light and heat causes the sap to be very materially deficient in saccharine matter. But, on the other hand,

2. A very dry season, immediately after the sets are planted, though the want of rain may in some degree be supplied by artificial means, causes the produce to be but indifferent. These inconveniences are of a general nature, and irremediable.

3. Animals.--In India not only the incursions of domesticated animals, but in some districts of the wild elephant, buffalo, and hog, are frequent sources of injury. Almost every plantation is liable, also, to the attack of the jackal, and rats are destructive enemies.

4. White Ants.--The sets of the sugar cane have to be carefully watched, to preserve them from the white ant (Termes fatalis), to attacks from which they are liable until they have begun to shoot. To prevent this injury, the following mixture has been recommended:--

Asafoetida (hing), 8 chittacks. Mustard-seed cake (sarsum ki khalli), 8 seers. Putrid fish, 4 seers. Bruised butch root, 2 seers; or muddur, 2 seers.

Mix the above together in a large vessel, with water sufficient to make them into the thickness of curds; then steep each slip of cane in it for half an hour after planting; and, lastly, water the lines three times previous to setting the cane, by irrigating the water-course with water mixed up with bruised butch root, or muddur if the former be not procurable.[22] A very effectual mode of destroying the white ant, is by mixing a small quantity of arsenic with a few ounces of burned bread, pulverised flour, or oatmeal, moistened with molasses, and placing pieces of the dough thus made, each about the size of a turkey's egg, on a flat board, and covered over with a wooden bowl, in several parts of the plantation. The ants soon take possession of these, and the poison has a continuous effect, for the ants which die are eaten by those which succeed them.[23] They are said to be driven from a soil by frequently hoeing it. They are found to prevail most upon newly broken-up lands.

In Central India, the penetration of the white ants into the interior of the sets, and the consequent destruction of the latter, is prevented by dipping each end into buttermilk, asafoetida, and powdered mustard-seed, mixed into a thick compound.

5. Storms.--Unless they are very violent, Dr. Roxburgh observes, "they do no great harm, because the canes are propped. However, if they are once laid down, which sometimes happens, they become branchy and thin, yielding a poor, watery juice."

6. The Worm "is another evil, which generally visits them every few years. A beetle deposits its eggs in the young canes; the caterpillars of these remain in the cane, living on its medullary parts, till they are ready to be metamorphosed into the chrysalis state. Sometimes this evil is so great as to injure a sixth or an eighth part of the field; but, what is worse, the disease is commonly general when it happens--few fields escaping."

7. The Flowering "is the last accident they reckon upon, although it scarce deserves the name, for it rarely happens, and never but to a very small proportion of some few fields. Those canes that flower have very little juice left, and it is by no means so sweet as that of the rest."

In the Brazils, the fact of the slave trade being at an end must influence the future produce of sugar, and attention has been lately chiefly directed to coffee, cotton, and other staples. The exports of that empire in 1842, were 59,000 tons; in 1843, 54,500; in 1844, 76,400; in 1845, 91,000; average of these four years 69,720. The exports in the next four years averaged 96,150 tons, viz:--76,100, in 1846; 96,300, in 1847; 112,500, in 1848; and 99,700, in 1849.

Mode of Cultivation in Brazil.--The lands in Brazil are never grubbed up, either for planting the sugar cane, or for any other agricultural purposes. The inconveniences of this custom are perceivable more particularly in high lands; because all of these that are of any value are naturally covered with thick woods. The cane is planted amongst the numerous stumps of trees, by which means much ground is lost, and as the sprouts from these stumps almost immediately spring forth (such is the rapidity of vegetation) the cleanings are rendered very laborious. These shoots require to be cut down sometimes, even before the cane has found its way to the surface of the ground. The labor likewise is great every time a piece of land is to be put under cultivation, for the wood must be cut down afresh; and although it cannot have reached the same size which the original timber had attained, still as several years are allowed to pass between each period at which the ground is planted, the trees are generally of considerable thickness. The wood is suffered to remain upon the land until the leaves become dry; then it is set on fire, and these are destroyed with the brush wood and the smaller branches of the trees. Heaps are now made of the remaining timber, which is likewise burnt. This process is universally practised in preparing land for the cultivation of any plant. I have often heard the method much censured as being injurious in the main to the soil, though the crop immediately succeeding the operation may be rendered more luxuriant by it. I have observed that the canes which grew upon the spots where the heaps of timber and large branches of trees had been burnt, were of a darker and richer green than those around them, and that they likewise over-topped them. After the plant-canes, or those of the first year's growth, are taken from the lands, the field-trash, that is the dried leaves and stems of the canes which remain upon the ground, are set fire to, with the idea that the ratoons,--that is, the sprouts from the old roots of the canes,--spring forth with more luxuriance, and attain a greater size by means of this practice. The ratoons of the first year are called in Brazil, socas; those of the second year, resocas; those of the third year, terceiras socas, and so forth. After the roots are left unencumbered by burning the field-trash, the mould is raised round about them; indeed, if this was neglected, many of those roots would remain too much exposed to the heat of the sun, and would not continue to vegetate.

Some lands will continue to give ratoons for five, or even seven years; but an average may be made at one crop of good ratoons fit for grinding, another of inferior ratoons fit for planting, or for making molasses to be used in the still-house, and a third which affords but a trifling profit, in return for the trouble which the cleanings give.

I have above spoken more particularly of high lands. The low and marshy grounds, called in Brazil, varzeas, are, however, those which are the best adapted to the cane; and, indeed, upon the plantations that do not possess some portions of this description of soil the crops are very unequal, and sometimes almost entirely fail, according to the greater or less quantity of rain, which may chance to fall in the course of the year. The varzeas are usually covered with short and close brushwood, and as these admit, from their rank nature, of frequent cultivation, they soon become easy to work. The soil of these, when it is new, receives the name of paul; it trembles under the pressure of the feet, and easily admits of a pointed stick being thrust into it; and though dry to appearance requires draining. The macape marl is often to be met with in all situations; it is of a greenish white color, and if at all wet, it sticks very much to the hoe; it becomes soon dry at the surface, but the canes which have been planted upon it seldom fail to revive after rain, even though a want of it should have been much felt. The white marl, barro branco, is less frequently found; it is accounted extremely productive. This clay is used in making bricks and coarse earthenware, and also for claying the sugar. Red earth is occasionally met with upon sides of hills near to the coast; but this description of soil belongs properly to the cotton districts. Black mould is common, and likewise a loose brownish soil, in which a less or greater proportion of sand is intermixed. It is, I believe, generally acknowledged that no land can be too rich for the growth of the sugar cane. One disadvantage, however, attends soil that is low and quite new, which is, that the canes run up to a great height without sufficient thickness, and are thus often lodged (or blown down) before the season for cutting them arrives. I have seen rice planted upon lands of this kind on the first year to decrease their rankness, and render them better adapted to the cane on the succeeding season. Some attempts have been made to plant cane upon the lands which reach down to the edge of the mangroves, and in a few instances pieces of land heretofore covered by the salt water at the flow of the tide, have been laid dry by means of draining for the same purpose; but the desired success has not attended the plan, for the canes have been found to be unfit for making sugar; the syrup does not coagulate, or at least does not attain that consistence which is requisite, and therefore it can only be used for the distilleries.

The general mode of preparing the land for the cane is by holing it with hoes. The negroes stand in a row, and each man strikes his hoe into the ground immediately before him, and forms a trench of five or six inches in depth; he then falls back, the whole row doing the same, and they continue this operation from one side of the cleared land to the other, or from the top of a hill to the bottom. The earth which is thrown out of the trench remains on the lower side of it. In the British West India colonies this work is done in a manner nearly similar, but more systematically. The lands in Brazil are not measured, and everything is done by the eye. The quantity of cane which a piece will require for planting is estimated by so many cart-loads; and nothing can be more vague than this mode of computation, for the load which a cart can carry depends upon the condition of the oxen, upon the nature of the road, and upon the length of the cane. Such is the awkward make of these vehicles, that much nicety is necessary in packing them, and if two canes will about fit into a cart lengthways, much more will be conveyed than if the canes are longer and they double over each other.

The plough is sometimes used in low lands, upon which draining has not been found necessary; but such is the clumsy construction of the machine of which they make use, that six oxen are yoked to it. A plough drawn by two oxen, constructed after a model which was brought from Cayenne, has been introduced in one or two instances. Upon high lands the stumps of the trees almost preclude the possibility of thus relieving the laborers. The trenches being prepared, the cuttings are laid longitudinally in the bottom of them, and are covered with the greatest part of the mould which had been taken out of the trench. The shoots begin to rise above the surface of the ground in the course of twelve or fourteen days. The canes undergo three cleanings from the weeds and the sprouts proceeding from the stumps of the trees; and when the land is poor, and produces a greater quantity of the former, and contains fewer of the latter, the canes require to be cleaned a fourth time. The cuttings are usually 12 to 18 inches in length, but it is judged that the shorter they are the better. If they are short, and one piece of cane rots, the space which remains vacant is not so large as when the cuttings are long, and they by any accident fail. The canes which are used for planting are generally ratoons, if any exist upon the plantation; but if there are none of these, the inferior plant canes supply their places. It is accounted more economical to make use of the ratoons for this purpose; and many persons say that they are less liable to rot than the plant canes. In the British sugar islands the cuttings for planting are commonly the tops of the canes which have been ground for sugar. But in Brazil the tops of the canes are all thrown to the cattle, for there is usually a want of grass during the season that the mills are at work. In the British colonies, the canes are at first covered with only a small portion of mould, and yet they are as long in forcing their way to the surface as in Brazil, though in the latter a more considerable quantity of earth is laid upon them. I suppose that the superior richness of the Brazilian soil accounts for this. Upon rich soils the cuttings are laid at a greater distance, and the trenches are dug farther from each other, than upon those which have undergone more frequent cultivation, or which are known to possess less power from their natural composition. The canes which are planted upon the former throw out great numbers of sprouts, which spread each way; and, although when they are young, the land may appear to promise but a scanty crop, they soon close, and no opening is to be seen. It is often judged proper to thin the canes, by removing some of the suckers at the time that the last cleaning is given; and some persons recommend that a portion of the dry leaves should also be stripped off at the same period, but on other plantations this is not practised.

The proper season for planting is from the middle of July to the middle of September, upon high lands, and from September to the middle of November in low lands. Occasionally, the great moisture of the soil induces the planter to continue his work until the beginning of December, if his people are sufficiently numerous to answer all the necessary purposes. The first of the canes are ready to be cut for the mill in September of the following year, and the crop is finished usually in January or February. In the British sugar islands the canes are planted from August to November, and are ripe for the mill in the beginning of the second year. Thus this plant in Brazil requires from thirteen to fifteen months to attain its proper state for the mill; and in the West India islands it remains standing sixteen or seventeen months.

The Otaheitan, or the Bourbon cane, has been brought from Cayenne to Pernambuco since the Portuguese obtained possession of that settlement. I believe the two species of cane are much alike, and I have not been able to discover which of them it is. Its advantages are so apparent, that after one trial on each estate, it has superseded the small cane which was in general use. The Cayenne cane, as it is called in Pernambuco, is of a much larger size than the common cane; it branches so very greatly, that the labor in planting a piece of cane is much decreased, and the returns from it are at the same time much more considerable. It is not planted in trenches, but holes are dug at equal distances from each other, in which these cuttings are laid. This cane bears the dry weather better than the small cane; and when the leaves of the latter begin to turn brown, those of the former still preserve their natural color. A planter in the Varzea told me that he had obtained four crops from one piece of land in three years, and that the soil in question had been considered by him as nearly worn out, before he planted the Cayenne cane upon it.--("Koster's Travels in Brazil," vol. 2.)

Mr. E. Morewood, of Compensation, Natal, who has paid much attention to sugar culture in that colony, has favored me with the following details, which will be useful for the guidance of others, as being the results of his own experience:--

lbs. Produce of one acre of sugar cane 72,240 Juice expressed, (or 64 per cent.) 46,308 Dry sugar 7,356 Green syrup or molasses 2,829 This syrup carrying with it a good deal of sugar out of the coolers, contains fully 75 per cent. of crystalizable sugar, or 2,121 Thus the total amount of sugar per acre is 9,477

The average density of the cane juice was 12 degrees Beaume, or 21 per cent. All the improved cane mills are now constructed to give at least 75 per cent. of juice. With such a mill, an acre would yield 11,075 lbs. of sugar. With proper cultivation I have no doubt the produce could be largely increased; for, as the numerous visitors who have seen this place can testify, my cane fields were not attended to.

To enable me to show the cost of producing a crop of canes, you must allow me to go into the expense of cultivating the land first.

To keep one ploughman going, a person requires--

20 Oxen at £3 £60 0 0 1 Plough 7 10 0 1 set Harrows 7 10 0 Yokes, Trektows, Reins, &c. 5 0 0 ---------- £80 0 0

Then the expenses per month will be:--

Ploughman's wages £2 10 0 Board 1 10 0 1 Driver, 10s., Leaders, 5s. 0 15 0 Food for two natives 0 10 0 Wear and tear of oxen and gear, at 25 per cent. per annum 1 10 4 --------- £6 18 4

These two spans of oxen will comfortably plough and harrow twenty acres per month, and the cost will thus be about 7s. per acre.

Now, let us suppose that a person wishes to put in twenty acres of canes, the expense would be about as follows:--

4 Ploughings and harrowings, 80 acres at 7s. £28 0 0 Drawing canefurrows, 4 acres per day, 5 days at 6s. 1 10 0 2,000 Cane tops per acre, at 50s. 100 0 0 4 Horsehoeings, at 2s. 6d. 10 0 0 4 Handweedings in the rows, at 2s. 6d. 10 0 0 Cutting and carrying out canes, at 30s. 30 0 0 Carriage to Mill, thirty tons per acre, at 2s. 60 0 0 ---------- £239 10 0

or £12 per acre. To this must be added the rent of land, say 10s. per acre, with right of grazing cattle, for two years, when the first crop will come in, would bring the expense to £13 per acre. The cane yielding say only three tons of sugar per acre, of which the planter would, most likely, have to give the manufacturer one-third, he will receive forty tons of sugar, costing him £6 10s. per ton, and worth on the spot, according to advices received from England and the Cape, £15 per ton, at the lowest estimate, or £600.

The greatest expense, you will perceive, is the article of tops for planting; but this ought not to discourage persons. The plants which I imported from the Mauritius some years ago, cost me, on account of many of them not vegetating, at the rate of £30 per acre. Parties who begin planting now have the great advantage that they can get plants, every one of which, if properly treated, will grow, at one-sixth of that price.

How many crops cane will give on good soil in Natal, I am of course unable to state, as the oldest cane I have got has been cut only three times--the last yield (second ratoons) was much finer than the preceding ones, and by adopting the improved manner of cane cultivation, viz., returning all but the cane juice to the soil, I am confident that replanting will be found quite unnecessary; the expenses for the second and following years will therefore be very trifling.

Comparative Statement of the ruling Prices at Natal and the Mauritius of Land, Live Stock, Implements, Labor, and other requirements connected with the cultivation of the Sugar Cane.

Analysis of the foregoing Statement, showing the total comparative outlay for sundries connected with the cultivation of Sugar at Natal and Mauritius, computed at the lowest ruling prices.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- | MAURITIUS | NATAL | Difference | | | in | | |favor of Natal ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | Land, 100 acres |70s. 350 0 0 |10s. 50 0 0 | 300 0 0 Manure, Guano 10 loads |£6 60 0 0 | | Cattle Manure, 10 loads| | 1s. 0 10 0 | Live Stock, 10 mules. |£30 300 0 0 |£15. 150 0 0 | 150 0 0 ---- 10 oxen |£12 120 0 0 | £3. 30 0 0 | 90 0 0 Two drivers per mouth | £1 2 0 0 | 1 5 0 | 0 15 0 Coolies, 10 with keep | 10 0 0 | } | 2 10 0 Kafirs, 10 ditto | |15s. 7 10 0} | White men, 10 | £4 40 0 0 |£4. 40 0 0 | Beef, 100 lbs. |at 6d. 2 10 0 |1½d. 0 12 6 | 1 17 6 Bread, 100 loaves | 6d. 2 10 0 |6d. 2 10 0 | Butter,100 lbs. |1s.3d. 6 5 0 |6d. 2 10 0 | 3 15 0 Rice, 100 lbs., food | 0 8 4 | } | for Coolies, Indian | | } | 0 5 7 Corn, 100 lbs., food | | 0 2 9} | for Kafirs | | } | Oats | 0 12 6 | 0 10 0 | 0 2 6 Beans, 100 lbs. | 1 2 6 | 0 10 0 | 0 12 6 Coals | 2 0 0 | 2 0 0 | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | £897 8 4 | £288 0 3 | £554 18 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The immense saving obtained by ploughing, &c., over the Mauritius hand labor with the hoe, is not shown in the above figures.

Table showing the cost of producing Muscovado sugar, and the quantity produced or available in the several countries mentioned, as made up from the evidence given before the Committee on Sugar and Coffee Plantations; by T. Wilson.

-----------------+-------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+------ | | | | | |Excess | | | | | | |of cost| | | | | |Excess |of free| | | | | |of cost| over | | | | | Cost |of free| SLAVE | | | Average | Average |of pro-|labour | TRADE | | |available|available|ducing | over | labor,| | | produce | produce | one | slave |taking |In- |Average| under | during |cwt. of|or com-| the |crease |cost of| slavery |the last | sugar |pulsory|cost in|of cost |produc-| or com- | three | at | labor,|Brazil |in the | tion | pulsory |years of |present| per | at |British COUNTRY. | under | labor, | freedom,| date, | cwt., |7s. 6d.|planta- |slavery| for the | for the |exclu- |taking | per |tions |or com-|supply of|supply of|sive of| the | cwt. | since |pulsory| Europe | Europe |inter- |average|making |emanci- | labor.| and the | and the |est on |cost of| the |pation. | | United | United | capi- | the |average| | | States,| States.| tal, |latter | of | | | | | etc. |at 11s.| slave | | | | | | per | trade | | | | | | cwt. | labor | | | | | | |8s. per| | | | | | | cwt. | -----------------+-------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+------ British | s. d.| Tons. | Tons. | s d. | s. d. | s. d.| s. d. Plantations. | | | | | | | Antigua | 7 6 | 7,767 | 8,963 | 16 6 | 5 6 | 8 6 | 9 0 Barbados | 6 0 | 17,174 | 16,378 | 15 6 | 4 6 | 7 6 | 9 6 Grenada | 11 0 | 9,634 | 3,779 | 17 6 | 6 6 | 9 6 | 6 6 St. Kitts | 5 0 | 4,382 | 5,558 | 19 0 | 8 0 | 11 0 | 14 0 St. Vincent | 5 6 | 10,056 | 6,636 | 19 6 | 8 6 | 11 6 | 14 0 Tobago | 5 6 | 5,321 | 2,514 | 19 6 | 8 6 | 11 6 | 14 0 St. Lucia, etc. | 5 6 | 9,600 | 8,650 | 19 6 | 8 6 | 11 6 | 14 0 Jamaica | 10 0 | 68,626 | 30,807 | 22 6 | 11 6 | 14 6 | 12 6 Guiana | 6 8 | 44,178 | 24,817 | 25 10 | 14 10 | 17 10 | 19 2 Trinidad A* | 3 0 | 15,428 | 16,539 | 20 10 | 9 10 | 12 10 | 17 10 Mauritius | | 35,000 | 50,000 | 20 0 | 9 0 | 12 0 | Bengal | | | 62,000 | 23 0 | 12 0 | 15 0 | Madras | | | 7,000 | 20 0 | 9 0 | 12 0 | Foreign | | | | | | | Free Labor | | | | | | | Country. | | | | | | | Europe | | | | | | | (Beet-root) B* | | | 100,000 | 24 4 | 13 4 | 16 4 | Foreign Slave, | | | | | | | or Compulsory | | | | | | | Labor | | | | | | | Countries. | | | | | | | Java C* | 15 0 | 88,000 | | 15 0 | | | French Colonies | 15 0 | 90,000 | | 15 0 | Slave | | Cuba (Muscovado)| 8 0 | 220,000 | | 8 0 |or com-| | Porto Rico | 8 6 | 40,000 | | 8 6 |pulsory| | Louisiana | 12 6 | 100,000 | | 12 6 | labor | | Brazils D* | 11 11 | 90,000 | | 11 11 | | | -----------------+-------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+------

[A* This cost, as taken from the averages given in Lord Harris's despatches, is lower than the averages given by the witnesses before the Committee.]

[B* This beet-root sugar sells, in the continental markets, on account of its inferior quality, at about 4s. to 6s. per cwt. below Colonial Muscovado, so that Colonial Muscovado must be about 33s. per cwt. to enable beet sugar to sell in this market for cost and charges, and allowing no profit to the beet sugar maker.]

[C* The cost of producing sugar in Java is taken at the average between the Government contract sugar, and the free sugar, as given by Mr. San Martin.]

[D* The cost of producing sugar in Brazil is taken from the Consular return: this return has given no credit for rum or molasses, and has charged 6s. 5d. for manufacturing, fully 3s. 5d. more than the cost in Cuba,--allowance for these two items would give 7s. 6d. as the nett cost per cwt.]

BEET ROOT SUGAR.

The rapid progress of the production of beet root sugar on the continent, especially in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Russia, and its recent introduction and cultivation as an article of commerce in Ireland, renders the detail of its culture and manufacture on the continent interesting. I have, therefore, been induced to bestow some pains on an investigation of the rise and progress of its production and consumption in those countries.

During the past three years, the smallest estimate which can be formed of the quantity of cane sugar that has been replaced by beet root sugar in the chief European countries, is about 80,000 tons annually, with the certainty that, year after year, the consumption will become exclusively confined to the former, to the greater exclusion of the latter; unless some great change shall take place in the relative perfection and manufacture of the two different descriptions of produce.

Although, observes the Economist, the beet root sugar produced in France, Belgium, Germany, and other parts of the continent is not brought into competition in our own markets with the produce of the British colonies, yet it must be plain that the exclusion of so much foreign cane sugar from the continent, which was formerly consumed there, must throw a much larger quantity of Cuba and Brazilian sugar upon this market; and by this means the increased production of beet root sugar, even in those countries where it is highly protected, does indirectly increase the competition among the producers of cane sugar in our market.

So early as 1747, a chemist of Berlin, named Margraf, discovered that beet root contained a certain quantity of sugar, but it was not until 1796 that the discovery was properly brought under the attention of the scientific in Europe by Achard, who was also a chemist and resident of Berlin, and who published a circumstantial account of the progress by which he extracted from 3 to 4 per cent. of sugar from beet root.

Several attempts have been made, from time to time, to manufacture beet root sugar in England, but never, hitherto, on a large and systematic scale. Some years ago a company was established for the purpose, but they did not proceed in their operations.

A refinery of sugar from the beet root was erected at Thames Bank, Chelsea, in the early part of 1837. During the summer of 1839 a great many acres of land were put into cultivation with the root, at Wandsworth and other places in the vicinity of the metropolis. The machinery used in the manufacture was principally on the plan of the vacuum pans, and a fine refined sugar was produced from the juice by the first process of evaporation, after it had undergone discolorization. Another part of the premises was appropriated to the manufacture of coarse brown paper from the refuse, for which it is extensively used in France.

A refinery was also established about this period at Belfast, in the vicinity of which town upwards of 200 acres of land were put into cultivation with beet root for the manufacture of sugar.

The experience of France ought to be a sufficient guarantee that the manufacture of beet root sugar is not a speculative but a great staple trade, in which the supply can be regulated by the demand, with a precision scarcely attainable in any other ease, and when, in addition, this demand tends rather to increase than to diminish. That the trade is profitable there can also be no doubt from the large capital embarked in it on the Continent--a capital which is steadily increasing even in France, where protection has been gradually withdrawn, and where, since 1848, it has competed upon equal terms with colonial sugars.

The produce of France in 1851 was nearly 60,000 tons. The beet root sugar made in the Zollverein in 1851 was about 45,000 tons. Probably half as much more as is made in France and the Zollverein, is made in all the other parts of the Continent. In Belgium, the quantity made is said to be 7,000 tons; in Russia, 35,000; making a total of beet root sugar now manufactured in Europe of at least 150,000 and probably more, or nearly one-sixth part of the present consumption of Europe, America, and our various colonies. In 1847 this was estimated at upwards of 1,000,000 tons; and, as the production has increased considerably since that period, it is now not less than 1,100,000 tons. The soil of the Continent, it is said, will give 16 tons to the acre, and that of Ireland, 26 tons to the acre. The former yields from 6 to 7 per cent.--the latter from 7 to 8 per cent. as the extreme maximum strength of saccharine matter. The cost of the root in Ireland--for it is with that, and not with the cost of the Continental root, with which the West Indies will have to contend--is said to be at the rate of 16s. per ton this; but will probably be 13s. next season. The cost of manufacture is set down at £7 5s. per ton. Calculating the yield of the root to be 7½ lbs. to every 100 lbs., for 26 tons the yield would be nearly 2 tons of sugar, which would give about £9 10s. per ton, putting down the raw material to cost 14s, 6d. per ton, the medium between 16s. and 13s. Thus a ton of Irish-grown and manufactured beet root sugar, would cost £16 15s. per ton. Mr. Sullivan, the scientific guide to those who are undertaking to make beet root sugar at Mountmellick, Queen's County, Ireland, estimates the cost of obtaining pure sugar at from £16 17s. to £19 18s. per ton, according to the quantity of sugar in the root.

Beet root is a vegetable of large circumference, at the upper end nine to eleven inches in diameter. There are several kinds. That which is considered to yield the most sugar is the white or Silesian beet (Beta alba). It is smaller than the mangel wurzel, and more compact, and appears in its texture to be more like the Swedish turnip. For the manufacture of sugar, the smaller beets, of which the roots weigh only one or two pounds, were preferred by Chaptal, who, besides being a celebrated chemist, was also a practical agriculturist and a manufacturer of sugar from beet root. After the white beet follows the yellow (beta major), then the red (beta romana), and lastly the common or field beet root (Beta sylvestris). Margraf, as we have seen, was the first chemist who discovered the saccharine principle in beet root; and Achard, the first manufacturer who fitted up an establishment (in Silesia) for the extraction of sugar from the root. It was not before 1809 that this manufacture was introduced into France.

The manufacture sprung up there in consequence of Bonaparte's scheme for destroying the colonial prosperity of Great Britain by excluding British colonial produce. It having been found that from the juice of the beet root a crystallizable sugar could be obtained, he encouraged the establishment of the manufacture by every advantage which monopoly and premiums could give it. Colonial sugar was at the enormous price of four and five francs a pound, and the use of it was become so habitual, that no Frenchman could do without it. Several large manufactories of beet root were established, some of which only served as pretexts for selling smuggled colonial sugar as the produce of their own works. Count Chaptal, however, established one on his own farm, raising the beet root, as well as extracting the sugar. The roots are first cleaned by washing or scraping, and then placed in a machine to be rasped and reduced to a pulp. This pulp is put into a strong canvas bag and placed under a powerful press to squeeze out the juice. It is then put into coppers and boiled, undergoing certain other processes. Most of the operations are nearly the same as those by which the juice of the sugar cane is prepared for use; but much greater skill and nicety are required in rendering the juice of the beet root crystallizable, on account of its greater rawness and the smaller quantity of sugar it contains. But when this sugar is refined, it is impossible for the most experienced judge to distinguish it from the other, either by the taste or appearance; and from this arose the facility with which smuggled colonial sugar was sold in France, under the name of sugar from beet root. Five tons of clean roots produce about 4½ cwt. of coarse sugar, which give about 160 lbs. of double refined sugar, and 60 lbs. of inferior lump sugar. The rest is molasses, from which a good spirit is distilled. The dry residue of the roots, after expressing the juice, consists chiefly of fibre and mucilage, and amounts to about one-fourth of the weight of the clean roots used. It contains all the nutritive part of the root, with the exception of 4½ per cent. of sugar, which has been extracted from the juice, the rest being water.

As the expense of this manufacture greatly exceeded the value of the sugar produced, according to the price of colonial sugar, it was only by the artificial encouragement of a monopoly and premiums that it could be carried on to advantage. The process is one of mere curiosity as long as sugar from the sugar cane can be obtained cheaper, and the import duties laid upon it are not so excessive as to amount to a prohibition; and in this case it is almost impossible to prevent its clandestine introduction.

Another mode of making sugar from beet root, practised in some parts of Germany, is as follows, and is said to make better sugar than the other process:--The roots having been washed, are sliced lengthways, strung on packthread, and hung up to dry. The object of this is to let the watery juice evaporate, and the sweet juice, being concentrated, is taken up by macerating the dry slices in water. It is managed so that all the juice shall be extracted by a very small quantity of water, which saves much of the trouble of evaporation. Professor Lampadius obtained from 110 lbs. of roots 4 lbs. of well-grained white powder-sugar, and the residuum afforded 7 pints of spirit. Achard says that about a ton of roots produced 100 lbs. of raw sugar, which gave 55 lbs. of refined sugar, and 15 lbs. of treacle. This result is not very different from that of Chaptal. 6,000 tons of beet root it is said will produce 400 tons of sugar and 100 tons of molasses.

Beet root sugar in the raw state contains an essential oil, the taste and smell of which are disagreeable. Thus the treacle of beet root cannot be used in a direct way, whereas the treacle of cane sugar is of an agreeable flavor, for the essential oil which it contains is aromatic, and has some resemblance in taste to vanilla. But beet root sugar, when it is completely refined, differs in no sensible degree from refined cane sugar. In appearance it is quite equal to cane sugar, and the process of refining it is more easy than for the latter. Samples made in Belgium were exhibited at a late meeting of the Dublin Society. It was of the finest appearance, of strong sweetening quality, and in color resembling the species of sugar known as crushed lump. The most singular part of the matter is, that it was manufactured in the space of forty-five minutes--the entire time occupied from the taking of the root out of the ground and putting it into the machine, to the production of the perfect article. It was said that it could be produced for 3d. per lb. An acre of ground is calculated to yield 50 tons of Silesian beet, which, in France and Belgium, give three tons of sugar, worth about £50; the refuse being applied in those countries to feeding cattle. But from the superior fitness of the Irish soil, as shown by experience to be the case, it is confidently affirmed by persons competent to form an opinion, that 8 per cent. of sugar could be obtained there on the raw bulk.

The following figures are given as illustrative of the expense of the cultivation of one acre of beet-root in Ireland:--

Two ploughings and harrowing £1 1 0 Expense of manure and carting 5 0 0 Hoeing and seed 0 6 0 Drilling and sowing 0 5 0 Rent 2 0 0 ------- £8 12 0

An average produce of 20 tons, at £15 per ton, would leave a profit of £6 8s. per acre, leaving the land in a state fit for the reception, at little expense, of a crop of wheat, barley, or oats for the next year, and of hay for the year ensuing; a consideration of no small importance to the farmer. The following estimates, recently given, are not by any means exaggerated:--

61,607 tons of beet, at 10s. £30,803 10 0 Cost of manufacture, at 11s. per ton. 33,883 17 0 ------------- 64,687 7 0 Produce 7 per cent of sugar, at 28s. per cwt. 136,767 10 0 ------------- Estimated profit £72,080 3 0

The quantity of sugar made from beet-root in France in 1828, was about 2,650 tons; in 1830, its weight was estimated at 6 million kilogrammes[24] (5,820 tons); in 1834, at 26 million kilogrammes (24,000 tons); in 1835, 36,000 tons; in 1836, 49,000 tons. At the commencement of the year 1837, the number of refineries at work or being built was 543; on an average 20 kilogrammes of beet-root are required for the production of one kilogramme of sugar. The sugar manufactured from the beet-root in France a few years ago was stated to amount to 55,000 tons, or one half of the entire consumption of the kingdom. The Courrier Francais calculated that the beet-root sugar made in France in 1838 amounted to 110 million lbs., and the journal added, there is no doubt that, in a few years, the produce will be equal to the entire demand. The cultivation then extended over 150,000 acres, and in the environs of Lille and Valenciennes it has sometimes been as high as 28,000 lbs. per acre.

From returns of the produce and consumption of beet-root sugar published in the Moniteur, it appears that on the 1st Dec. 1851, there were 335 manufactories in operation, or 81 more than in the corresponding period of 1850. The quantity of sugar made, including the portion lying over from the previous year, amounted to 19,625,386 kilogrammes, and that stored in the public bonding warehouse to 10,556,847. At the end of June, 1852, 329 manufactories were at work, or two more than at the same period in 1851. The quantity sold was 62,211,663 kilogrammes, or 9,167,018 less, as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. There remained in stock in the manufactories 91,434,070 kilogrammes, and in the entrepot 4,597,829 kilogrammes, being an increase of 2,568,662 kilogrammes in the manufactories, and a decrease of 1,292,962 in the entrepots. The manufacture of beet-root sugar is every year assuming in France increased importance, and attracts more and more the attention of political economists as a source of national wealth, and of government, as affording matter of taxation. Thirty new factories, got up upon a very extensive scale, are enumerated as going into operation this year. They are located, with but two exceptions, in the north of France; fifteen of them are in the single department of Nord. Indeed, the manufacture of beet-root sugar is confined, almost exclusively, to the five northern adjacent departments of Nord, Pas de Calais, Somme, Aisne, and Oise. The best quality retails at 16 cents the pound.

I take from a table in the Moniteur the following statement of the number of factories and their location, with the amount of production up to the 31st May, 1851. At that date the season is supposed to end. A separate column gives the total production in the season of 1842, showing an increase in ten years of more than double, viz., of 41,582,113 kilogrammes, or, in our weight, of 93,559,754 pounds.

Number of Kilogrammes Kilogrammes Departments. Factories. Prod. 1850-1. Prod. 1843.

Aisne 30 5,307,754 3,103,178 Nord 155 44,142,224 15,334,063 Oise 8 1,589,939 751,746 Pas-de-Calais 70 16,665,084 5,856,944 Somme 23 3,404,776 2,683,421 Scattered about 18 2,707,190 3,505,602 ------ ------------ ------------ 304 73,817,607 30,234,954

This information was given by M. Fould, Minister of Finance, upon the introduction of a bill making an appropriation for the purchase of 455 saccharometers, which had become necessary by reason of the late law ordering that from and after the 1st of January, 1852, the beet sugars were to be taxed according to their saccharine richness. The Minister declared that at that date there would be in active operation in France 334 sugar factories and 84 refining establishments.

The Moniteur Parisien has the following:--

"Notwithstanding the advantages accorded to colonial sugar, and the duties which weigh on beet-root sugar, the latter article has acquired such a regular extension that it has reached the quantity of 60,000 tons--that is to say, the half of our consumption. France (deducting the refined sugar exported under favour of the drawback) consumes 120,000 tons, of which 60,000 are home made, 50,000 colonial, and 10,000 foreign. The two sugars have been placed on the same conditions as to duties, but it is only from the 1st inst. (Jan. 1852), that the beet-root sugar will pay a heavier duty than our colonial sugar. In spite of this difference we are convinced that the manufacture of beet-root sugar, which is every day, improved by new processes, will be always very advantageous, and will attain in some years the total quantity of the consumption. In Belgium the produce of the beet-root follows the same progress. The consumption of sugar there was, in 1850, 14,000 tons, of which 7,000 was beet-root, made in 22 manufactories. This year there are 18 new ones, and although their organisation does not allow of their manufacturing in the same proportion as the 22 old ones, they will furnish at least 3,000 tons. The quantity of foreign sugar in that market does not reckon more than 4,000 tons. This conclusion is the more certain, as in 1848-1849, the beet-root only stood at 4,500 tons in the general account. It may therefore be seen from these figures what progress has been made. The same progressive movement is going on in Germany. In 1848 it produced 26,000 tons, and in 1861, 43,000. The following table shows the importance of this improvement. It comprises the Zollverein, Hanover, and the Hanse Towns:--

Cane Sugar. Beet-root. Totals. Tons. Tons. Tons. 1848 60,500 26,000 86,500 1849 54,000 34,000 88,000 1851 45,000 43,000 88,000

Thus we find that in the period of four years cane sugar has lost 15,000 tons and it will lose still more when new manufactories shall have been established. The consumption of Russia is estimated at 85,000 tons, of which 35,000 is beet-root, and what proves that the latter every day gains ground is, that the orders to the Havana are constantly decreasing, and prices are getting lower. In 1848 Austria consumed 40,000 tons, of which 8,000 were beet-root. Last year (1851,) she produced 15,000 tons. The production of the continent rising to 200,000 tons, and the consumption remaining nearly stationary, it is evident that Brazilian and Cuban sugars will encumber the English market, independently of the refined sugar of Java, which Holland sends to Great Britain. When the continental system was established by the decrees of Milan and Berlin, the Emperor Napoleon asked the savans to point out the means of replacing the productions which he proscribed: it is to the active and useful impulse which his genius impressed on all minds, that France and Europe owe this fresh manufacture--a creation the more valuable as its fortunate development required the co-operation of chemical science and agricultural improvement."

The quantity of sugar extracted from beet-root in the commencement of the process, amounted to only 2 per cent.; but it was afterwards made to yield 5 per cent., and it was then supposed possible to extract 6 per cent. On this calculation the fiscal regulations for the protection of colonial sugars in France were founded; but recent experiments have been made, by means of which as much as ten and a half per cent. of sugar has been obtained. The following notice of the improved process is given in a number of the Constitutionnel:--

"It appears that a great improvement is likely to be made in the manufacture of beet-root sugar. Those who are acquainted with the process of this manufacture, are aware that M. de Dombasle has the last six years exclusively devoted himself to bring to perfection the process of maceration, of which he is the inventor. Adopting recent improvements, this process is materially altered, and has now arrived at such a point of perfection that it could scarcely be exceeded. The Society for the Encouragement of National Industry recently appointed committees to examine the effect produced in the manufactory of Roville. They witnessed the entire progress of the work, every part of which was subjected to minute investigation. Similar experiments have been made in the presence of many distinguished manufacturers. We have not the least intention to prejudge the decision which may be made on this subject by the society we have alluded to; but we believe we are able to mention the principal results that have regularly attended the works of the manufactory this year. The produce in coarse sugar has been more than eight per cent. of the first quality, and more than two per cent. of the second quality, in all nearly ten and a half per cent. of the weight of beet-root used; and the quality of these sugars has been considered by all the manufacturers superior to anything of the kind that has hitherto been made, and admits of its being converted into loaf-sugar of the first quality. The progress of these operations is as simple as possible, and the expenses attending the manufacture are considerably less than that of the process hitherto adopted."

The cultivation of the beet in France appears likely to prove still more advantageous, in consequence of the discovery that the molasses drawn from the root may be, after serving for the manufacture of sugar, turned to farther advantage. It appears that potash may be made from it, of a quality equal to foreign potash. A Monsieur Dubranfaut has discovered a method of extracting this substance from the residue of the molasses after distillation, and which residue, having served for the production of alcohol, was formerly thrown away. To give some idea of the importance of the creation of this new source of national wealth (remarks the Journal des Debats), it will be sufficient to say that the quantity of potash furnished by M. Dubranfaut's process is equal to l/6th of the quantity of sugar extracted from the beet. Thus, taking the amount of indigenous sugar manufactured each year at seventy million kilogrammes (each kil. equal to 2 lbs. 2 oz. avoird.), there may besides be extracted from this root, which has served for that production, twelve million kilogrammes of saline matter, comparable to the best potash of commerce; and this, too, without, the loss of the alcohol and the other produce, the fabrication of which may be continued simultaneously. According to the present prices, the twelve millions of kilogrammes represent a value of from fourteen to fifteen million francs.

The States composing the German Union possessed towards the close of 1838, 87 manufactories of beet-root sugar in full operation, viz., Prussia, 63; Bavaria, 5; Wurtemburg, 3; Darmstadt, 1; other states, 15; besides 66 which were then constructing.

The only returns given for Prussia and Central Germany are 1836 to 1838, and the annual production of sugar was then estimated at eleven million pounds. The quantity now made is, of course, much greater.

At the close of 1888, Austria produced nine million pounds; she now makes fifteen thousand tons.

The growth of beet-root in Hungary, during the years 1837 and 1838, was extremely favorable, and the manufacture of sugar from it has become very extensive. It has been greatly encouraged by the Austrian government. It was estimated that fifty millions of pounds were manufactured in Prussia and Germany in 1839. In Bohemia there were, in 1840, fifty-two factories of beet-root sugar, and nine for the making of syrup out of potato meal. In 1838, the number was as high as eighty-seven.

The Dutch papers state that in a single establishment in Voster Vick, in Guilderland, about five million pounds' weight of the beet-root are consumed in the manufacture of sugar.

The following is a Comparative Statement of the number of Sugar Manufactories, and the Quantity of Beet-root upon which duty was paid for the Manufacture of Sugar in the Zollverein during the years ending the 31st of August, 1846 and 1847:--

-------------------+-------------+------------------------------------- | |Quantity of Beet-root upon which duty | |was paid for the Manufacture of Sugar. | +---------+---------+----------------- | Number of | | | Comparison in Name of the State |Manufactories| | | 1846-7 with the of the Zollverein | | 1845-6 | 1846-7 | preceding year. +------+------+ | +---------+------- | | | | | More in |Less in |1845-6|1846-7| | | 1846-7 |1846-7 -------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+------- Prussia | | |Cwts. ** | Cwts. | Cwts. | Cwts. Eastern Prussia | 2 | 2 | 12,393| 29,941| 17,548| -- Western Prussia | -- | -- | -- | -- | --- | -- Posen | 7 | 8 | 101,422| 121,914| 20,492| -- Pomerania | 5 | 4 | 89,865| 121,061| 31,196| -- Silesia | 16 | 22 | 590,545| 711,632| 121,087| -- Brandenburg | 3 | 3 | 140,421| 148,066| 7,645| -- Prussian Saxony | 38 | 42 |2,676,084|3,547,891| 871,817| -- Duchies of Anhalt | 4 | 5 | 266,345| 288,082| 21,737| -- Westphalia | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- Rhenish Provinces | 2 | -- | 2,479| -- | -- | 2,479 -------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+------- Total in Prussia | 77 | 86 |3,879,554|4,968,587|1,079,043| -------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+------- Luxemburg | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- Bavaria, Kingdom of| 8 | 7 | 50,952| 46,142| -- | 4,810 Saxony, " | 1 | 2 | 20,887| 34,230| 13,343| -- Wurtemburg, " | 2 | 2 | 59,521| 141,366| 81,845| -- Baden, Grand Duchy | 2 | 2 | 316,968| 328,608| 11,640| -- Hesse, Electorate | 2 | 3 | 25,376| 23,529| -- | 1,847 Hesse, Grand Duchy | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- Thuringia | 2 | 3 | 36,127| 38,218| 2,091| -- Brunswick, Dukedom | 2 | 2 | 65,707| 52,796| -- | 12,911 Nassau, Dukedom | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- Frankfort, FreeCity| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- +------+------+---------+---------+---------+------- Total, exclusively } | | | | | of Prussia } 19 | 21 | 575,538| 664,889| 89,351| +------+------+---------+---------+---------+------- Total in the | | | | | | Zollverein | 96 | 107 |4,455,092|5,633,476|1,168,394| -------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+------- [** Prussian cwts. are equal to 80 English cwts.]

This statement proves that the cultivation of the beet-root, and the subsequent manufacture into sugar, has greatly increased in the Zollverein. Eleven manufactories had been added to the number in the previous year, and an increase of 26 per cent. took place in the quantity of beet-root which was manufactured into sugar. Each manufactory used, upon an average, the following quantity during the undermentioned years:--

1841-2 1844-5 1846-7 Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. In Prussia generally 38,161 50,384 57,774 In the province of Saxony 55,412 70,423 84,473 In the province of Silesia 33,595 36,909 32,347 In the Zollverein, on an average in each manufactory 27,237 46,407 52,634

The increase is chiefly evident in the province of Saxony, where, in 1846-7, an augmentation of 1,087,851 cwt. of beet-root; in comparison to the preceding year, took place. If we compare the quantity of beet-root employed in Saxony with that of the whole Zollverein, we find that the former province requires 63 per cent, of the whole quantity used for the manufacture of sugar. The great activity in that province (chiefly in the district of Magdeburg) is rendered more apparent by the following table:--

Comparative Statement of the Number of Manufactories, and their Machinery and Utensils, employed for the Manufacture of Beet-root Sugar in the Prussian Province of Saxony during the years 1841-2 and 1846-7 respectively.

------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------- | |In the neighbourhood |Province of Saxony | of Magdeburg +---------+---------+---------+---------- | 1841-2 | 1846-7 | 1841-2 | 1846-7 +---------+---------+---------+---------- | No. | No. | No. | No. Manufactories | 40 | 39 | 15 | 15 Apparatus for grating | 58 | 65 | 27 | 32 Hydraulic presses | 136 | 209 | 72 | 93 Clarifying pans, with open | | | | firing | 81 | 68 | 24 | 24 Ditto, by steam | 50 | 76 | 33 | 42 Evaporating pans, with open | | | | firing | 130 | 123 | 55 | 54 Ditto, by steam | 46 | 71 | 28 | 32 Clarifiers, with open firing | 23 | 21 | 14 | 10 Ditto, by steam | 23 | 28 | 19 | 21 Boiling pans, with open firing| 76 | 61 | 33 | 24 Ditto, by steam | 20 | 35 | 12 | 17 Of which there are vacuum pans| 8 | 21 | 3 | 9 Steam-engines | 19 | 40 | 12 | 20 Horse-power | 210 | 457 | 153 | 267 Cattle mills | 19 | 9 | 4 | 2 Cattle employed | 79 | 38 | 19 | 12 | | | | | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. Quantity of beet-root used} | | | | for manufacture } |2,349,774|3,387,280|1,433,293|1,889,463 Or on an average in each} | | | | manufactory } | 58,744| 86,853| 95,553| 125,964 ------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------

The increase of power by machinery is surprising, chiefly by steam and hydraulic presses, which has not only effected a greater produce, but likewise a much larger increase of the quantity of beet-root required for manufacture. The works where draught cattle are employed have decreased, and are only in use where the manufacture of beet root sugar is combined with a farm.

In Russia, in 1832, there existed only 20 manufacturers of beet root sugar, but this number subsequently increased to 100, and they annually produced the twelfth of the total quantity of sugar which Russia receives from foreign parts. The number of those manufactories in 1840, was 140, and the importation of sugar, which reached to 1,555,357 lbs. in 1837, amounted to only 1,269,209 lbs. in 1839. The production of indigenous sugar is now set down at 35,000 tons.

In France, for many years past, the production of beet-root sugar has been rapidly increasing, in spite of a gradual reduction of the protection which it enjoyed against colonial and foreign sugar, until it has reached a quantity of 60,000 tons, or fully one half of the entire consumption. Independent of the refined sugar exported under drawback, the consumption of France may be now estimated at 120,000 tons, of which 60,000 tons are of beet-root, 60,000 tons of French colonial, and 10,000 tons at the outside of foreign sugar. The beet-root and the French colonial sugars are now placed on the same footing as regards duty, and a law was recently passed, subjecting beet-root sugar, from the 1st of January, 1852, to even a higher duty than French colonial sugar. Nevertheless, it is admitted that the manufacture of beet-root sugar is highly profitable and rapidly increasing, so that it is likely in a very short time to exclude foreign sugar from French consumption altogether.

In Belgium, the production of beet-root sugar is also rapidly increasing; in 1851 the entire consumption of sugar was estimated at 14,000 tons, of which 7,000 tons were of beet-root, and 7,000 tons of foreign cane sugar. The number of beet-root factories to supply that quantity was twenty-two, but this number has, already increased in the present year to forty. Many of these will be but imperfectly at work during this season, but it is estimated that of the entire consumption of 14,000 tons, at least 10,000 tons will consist of beet-root, and only 4,000 tons of foreign cane sugar. And from present appearances the manufacture of beet-root is likely to increase so much as to constitute nearly the entire consumption. So lately as 1848 and 1849 the production of beet-root sugar was only 4,500 tons.

In Austria, the consumption of sugar in 1841 was 40,000 tons, of which 8,000 tons were of beet-root, and 32,000 tons of foreign cane sugar. But the production of beet-root has increased so fast that it is estimated to produce in the present year 15,000 tons; and as no increase has taken place in the entire consumption, the portion of foreign cane sugar required in the present year will be reduced from 32,000 tons to 25,000 tons.

The following information, with regard to the state of the manufacture of beet-root sugar on the Continent last year, has been furnished by Mr. C.J. Ramsay, of Trinidad.

"My first start was for Paris, where I remained a week, procuring the necessary letters of introduction, to enable me to see some of the sugar works in the provinces. Whilst there I called upon Messrs. Cail and Co., the principal machine makers in France, mentioned the subject of my visit, and requested their assistance. Nothing could have been more liberal than the way in which they treated me. I was at once asked to look over their establishment and requested to call the next day, when letters of introduction to their branch establishments at Valenciennes and Brussels would be ready for me. This I of course did, and received not only these letters but some others, to sugar manufacturers in the neighbourhood of Valenciennes. Thus provided, and with letters from Mr. D'Eickthal, a banker in Paris, to Mr. Dubranfaut, the chemist, to Mr. Grar, a refiner of Valenciennes, to Mr. Melsens of Brussels, and to another sugar maker near Valenciennes, whose name I forget, and who was the only man from whom I did not receive the greatest politeness, I started for Valenciennes. My first essay was upon the latter personage, who evidently with a considerable grudge showed me a simple room in his works where four centrifugal machines were at work--raised the cry of ruin, if the French improvements were introduced in the West Indies, and informed me he had nothing else worth seeing. I returned to Valenciennes, thinking if this is the way I was to be treated, I might as well have stayed at home. That this was a solitary instance of illiberality, you will presently see. I next called upon Mr. Grar, by whom I was received in a very different manner; he at once offered to show me over his works, and especially that part of them where a new process, discovered by Mr. Dubranfaut, was carried on, every part of which was fully explained, Mr. Dubranfaut's laboratory is connected with these works, and having inspected the working part of the establishment Mr. G. then took me there, and introduced me to that gentleman, with whom I passed the remainder of the afternoon, receiving a full explanation of his new process, which is this:--a solution of hydrate of barytes is made in boiling water--the saccharine solution to be treated is heated to the same degree, and the two mixed together in the proportions of 46 parts of hydrate of barytes to every 100 parts of sugar contained in the solution, which has previously been ascertained by polariscopic examination. A saccharate of barytes is immediately formed in the shape of a copious precipitate; this, after being thoroughly washed and thus freed from all soluble impurities, is transferred into large, deep vats, and a stream of carbonic acid gas forced into it, which decomposes the saccharate of barytes, forming carbonate of barytes, and liberating the sugar in the shape of a perfectly pure solution of sugar in water, of the density of 20 to 23 degrees Baumé; the carbonate of barytes being thoroughly washed is again converted into caustic barytes by burning, so that there is little loss in the operation. The whole process is certainly very beautiful, and its economic working has been tried for a year, on a sufficiently large scale to leave no doubt as to the economy of the process in refining molasses, which is the only purpose it has yet been applied to.

The Messrs. Grar were so thoroughly satisfied with it, that when I was there they had taken down their original apparatus, and were re-erecting it on such a scale as to work up all the molasses by it, equal to almost five tons of sugar daily. Owing to this circumstance, I had not an opportunity of seeing the process on a working scale, but was shown the whole proceedings in the laboratory.

The only difficulties I see in applying this process at once to the cane juice, are the large quantity of barytes required, the expense of re-burning it and the entire change in works that would be necessary before it could be introduced. The advantage would be, the obtaining the whole sugar contained in the juice, free from all impurities, consequently white, and in the shape of a syrup marking 20 to 23 degrees instead of 8 or 10 degrees, thus saving fully half the evaporation now required. The sugar made in this way, I was told, contains no trace of barytes.

To show you the degree of economy practised in such establishments in France, I may mention that the washings of the saccharate of barytes are sold to the makers of potash and soda, who make a profit by boiling them down to obtain what salts they contain.

The carbonic acid is obtained by the combustion of charcoal in a closed iron furnace into which air is forced by an air pump, requiring, I believe, about one horse power. From the top of the furnace a pipe leads into a washing vessel, from which the gas is led into the bottom of the vats by pipes.

At Valenciennes I met with Mr. Cail, who, beside being an engineer and machine-maker, is interested in sugar-making, both in France and in the West Indies, and most thoroughly understands the subject. He invited me to accompany him to Douai, to see a new set of works which had been set agoing this month. I was of course too glad to accept his invitation, and started with him at six next morning, reached Douai at eight, and then proceeded to the works, which are a few miles out of town. In this work a new process is also employed; it is that of Mr. Rouseau, and is said to answer well. The beet root juice, as soon as possible after expression, is thrown up by a montjus into copper clarifiers with double bottoms, heated by steam at a pressure of five atmospheres. To every hundred litres of juice (=22 gals.) two kilogrammes of lime are added (about four and a half pounds English weight). The lime is most carefully prepared and mixed with large quantities of hot water till it forms a milk perfectly free from lumps. The steam is turned off, and the juice heated to 90 deg. A complete defecation has taken place, the steam is shut off, and the juice left a short time, to allow the heavier impurities to subside. It is then run off in the usual manner, undergoes a slight filtration through a cotton cloth placed over a layer of about four inches thick of animal charcoal, and runs into a second set of copper vessels placed on a lower level than the clarifiers; these vessels are heated by means of a coil of steam piping sufficient to make them boil. A second pipe passes into them, making a single turn at the bottom of the vessel; this is pierced on the lower side with small holes, through which a stream of carbonic acid gas is forced.

This decomposes the saccharate of lime, which has been formed in consequence of the large excess of lime added to the clarifiers.

The lime is precipitated as carbonate. When precipitation has ceased, steam is turned on, and the whole made to boil; this expels any excess of carbonic acid; the liquor is then run off, undergoes a similar partial filtration to that mentioned above, and is then passed through the charcoal filters to be decomposed. The sugar made by this process, directly from the beet-root juice, is nearly white. The molasses is re-boiled as often as six times; each time undergoing a clarification and filtration through animal charcoal. And the proceeds of the last re-boiling is certainly in appearance not worse than a great deal of muscovado I have seen shipped from Trinidad.

In this work there are about 150 people employed. The work goes on night and day, one gang replacing the other. The whole evaporation is done by two vacuum pans, each 6½ feet in diameter, 80,000 kilogrammes of beet-root are used daily, from which about 6,000 kilogrammes of sugar are obtained, equal to about 6 tons English weight.

In these and every other works I visited--eight in all--the centrifugal machines were in use, and had in most cases been so for two years; those lately made have been much simplified in construction, and work admirably. Cail & Co., of Paris, are the makers; their charge is 3,000 francs for each machine (£120 stg.). They require about one and a half horse power each. As they are wrought in France, one machine is about equal to work off a ton and a half of sugar daily, working all the 24 hours. Mr. Cail recommends a separate engine for those machines; so that they can be used at any time, independent of the other machinery. The charge put into a machine is about 80 kilogrammes, from which about 30 to 35 kilogrammes of dry sugar is obtained; the calculation is, I believe, 40 per cent. I weighed some of the baskets of sugar taken out after drying, and found them 35 kilogrammes. Sugar intended for the machine is never concentrated beyond 41 degrees Baumè; that made from the juice direct is allowed 18 to 34 hours to crystallize, and is put into the machine in a semi-liquid state; the motion at first is comparatively slow; in about three minutes the sugar appears nearly dry; about three-fourths of a gallon of brown syrup is then poured into the machine whilst in motion, and the speed brought up to its highest, about 1200 revolutions a minute; in 3 or 4 minutes more the machine is stopped, the sugar scooped out and thrown into baskets, the inside of the revolving part, and especially the wire cloth, carefully washed with a brush and water, and a fresh charge put in. The whole time betwixt each charge is about 15 minutes. From the large proportion of molasses you will see very plainly that those who do not intend to re-boil, need not think of centrifugal machines. The sugar dried in this way is not altogether white, but has a slight greyish yellow tinge.

Of the other sugar works which I visited, the only one of peculiar interest was that of Mr. Dequesne, near Valenciennes. Here the roots are first cut into small pieces by an instrument similar to a turnip slicer, then dried in a species of kiln, and stored up till required. In this way I was told beet-root could be preserved with very little deterioration for a full year, and this enables Mr. Dequesne to go on making sugar all the year round. When the sugar is to be extracted, the dried cuttings are put into a series of closed vessels connected by pipes, and by a system of continuous filtration of warm water through these vessels the solution of sugar is obtained, of a density equal, I believe, to 25 degrees Baumè; it is a good deal colored, and requires filtration through animal charcoal. Mr. Dequesne informed me that for five years he had been unable to make this mode of sugar-making cover its expenses, owing to the loss occasioned by fermentation taking place in the beet-root; but that he has now entirely overcome that difficulty; by what means I was not told.

The number of macerating vessels is fourteen, ten of which are working at a time, the other four filling and emptying.

A greater number of vessels, Mr. Dequesne thinks, would be advantageous, as cold instead of hot water could then be employed. He thinks a similar plan might be introduced in the West Indies with great advantage, and that by employing the proper means to prevent fermentation the sun's heat would be quite sufficient to dry the cane slices.

Mr. Dubranfaut and Mr. Rouseau's processes are patented in England. The terms for the use of the former would, I was told, be made so moderate, as to offer no obstruction to its being used in the colonies. What Mr. Rouseau's terms are I could not learn.

There are now 288 works making beet root sugar in France, and over 30 in Belgium. The same manufacture is rapidly spreading in Germany and Russia, and is now being introduced in Italy. Whilst at Valenciennes, I learned that two English gentlemen had just preceded me in visiting the works in that neighbourhood, mentioning that they had in view introducing the beet root sugar manufacture in Ireland.

The sugar crop of France was last year over 60,000,000 of kilogrammes (60,000 tons). For two years Belgium has been exporting to the Mediterranean. One maker told me that he had last year exported a considerable part of his crop. It would therefore appear, that even beet root sugar can compete in other than the producing country with the sugar of the tropics--a most significant hint that, unless the cane can be made to yield more and better sugar than is now generally got from it, there is some risk of its being ultimately beaten by the beet root, the cultivation of which is now carried on with so much profit that new works are springing up every year, in almost every country of the continent.

In going through the French works, I made inquiries as to how far the procedé Melsens had been adopted, and was everywhere told it was a total failure. I, however, determined to see Mr. Melsens and judge for myself how far it might be applicable to the cane, even if a failure with regard to the beet root. I, therefore, went on to Brussels, enclosed my letters of introduction and card, and received in return a note, appointing to meet me next morning. I found him one of the best and most obliging of men. He immediately offered to go over some experiments on beet root juice with me at his laboratory, where I accordingly spent the greater part of two days with him, and went over a variety of experiments; and from what I saw and assisted in doing, I feel strongly inclined to think that, notwithstanding the French commission at Martinique report otherwise, some modification of Mr. Melsens' process may be most advantageously employed in making cane sugar if not as a defecator, at least to prevent fermentation, and, probably, also as a decolorising agent.

Mr. Melsens showed me letters he had received from Java from a person with whom he had no acquaintance, stating that he had used the bisulphate of lime with complete success; and whilst I was with him he again received letters from the same person, stating that by its use he had not only improved the quality of sugar, but had raised the return to 9 per cent. of the weight of cane. From the letters which I saw, the process appears to have been tried on a very large scale, with the advantage of filters and a vacuum pan. Where the old mode of leaving half the dirt with the sugar, and boiling up to a temperature of 340 degrees or thereby, is continued, I fear there is not much chance of either bisulphate or anything else making any very great improvement.

The use of bisulphate of lime is patented in England and the colonies, but I believe I may state the charge for the right of using it will be made extremely moderate.

The points which appeared to me worthy of remark in visiting the beet-root sugar works are, the extreme care that nothing shall be lost--the great attention paid to cleanliness in every part of the process, besides the particular care given to defecation. No vessel is ever used twice without being thoroughly washed. Such a thing as the employment of an open fire in any part of the manufacture is quite unknown. Everything is done by steam, of a pressure of from 4 to 5 atmospheres. In the more recently started works, the evaporation is entirely carried on in vacuum. In some of the older works copper evaporators, heated by coils of steam piping, and having covers, with chimneys to carry off the vapor, are still used; but of the eight works I visited I only saw them in use in one of them, and they are nowhere used excepting to evaporate to the point when the second filtration takes place.

The coolers I saw were invariably made of iron, and varied in depth from 2 to over 6 feet. These very deep vessels are used for the crystallization of sugar, made of the fourth, fifth and sixth re-boilings of molasses, which requires from three to six months.

One thing struck me forcibly in going over the French and Belgian works; it was the extreme liberality with which I was allowed to go over every part of them; to remain in them as long as I pleased; had all my inquiries answered, and every explanation given; in most striking contrast to the grudging manner in which I have been trotted over some of the refineries in England, as if those who showed them were afraid I should gain any information on the subject of their trade.

Mr. H. Colman, speaking of the agriculture of the Continent, gives some information he obtained on the comparative cost of producing beet and cane sugar. A hectare (two and a half acres) produces, in the Isle of Bourbon, about 76,000 kilogrammes (a kilogramme is nearly two and one-fifth pounds) of cane, which will give 2,200 kilogrammes of sugar, and the cost for labor is 2,500 francs. A hectare of beet root produces 40,000 kilogrammes of roots, which yield 2,400 kilogrammes of sugar, and the expense of the culture is 354 francs. The cost of the cane sugar in this case is 27 centimes, and of the beet sugar 14 centimes only, per kilogramme.

These are extraordinary statements, and will be looked at by the political economist and the philanthropist with great interest. There are few of the northern states of Europe, or of the United States, which might not produce their own sugar; and when we take into account the value of this product, even in its remains after the sugar is extracted, for the fattening of cattle and sheep, and of course for the enrichment of the land for the succeeding crops, its important bearing upon agricultural improvement cannot be exaggerated.

According to M. Peligot, the average amount of sugar in beets is 12 per cent.; but, by extraction, they obtain only 6 per cent. The cane contains about 18 per cent. of saccharine matter, but they get only about 7½. The expense of cultivating a hectare of beets, according to Dombasle, is 354 francs. An hectare of cane, which produces 2,200 kilogrammes of sugar, in the Island of Bourbon, and only 2,000 in French Guiana, demands the labor of twelve negroes, the annual expense of each of whom is 250 francs, according to M. Labran.--(Commission of Inquiry in 1840.)

Sugar has become not only an article of luxury, but of utility, to such a degree, that a supply of it constitutes an important article of importation, and is of national consequence. For sugar the world has hitherto relied on the cane, with the exception of some parts of India, where the sugar palm yields it much more cheaply. The sugar cane is, however, a tropical plant, and, of course, its cultivation must of necessity be limited to such hot countries. France, during the wars of Napoleon, shut out from her Indian possessions or deprived of them, commenced making sugar from beets, and it proving unexpectedly successful and profitable, it has as we have just seen, extended not only over that empire, but nearly the whole of continental Europe, where it forms an important item in their system of cultivation and profit. The manufacture has been attempted in the United States; but though the facts of the ease and certainty with which the beets may be grown and their great value for stock has been fully ascertained, still little progress in the production of sugar from them has been made there.

MAPLE SUGAR.

There are few trees in the American forest of more value than the maple (Acer saccharinum). As an ornamental tree, it is exceeded by few; its ashes abound in alkali, and from it a large proportion of the potash of commerce is produced; and its sap furnishes a sugar of the best quality, and in abundance. It likewise affords molasses and an excellent vinegar. In the maple the sugar amounts to five per cent. of the whole sap. There is no tree whose shape and whose foliage is more beautiful, and whose presence indicates a more generous, fertile, and permanent soil than the rock maple: in various cabinet-work its timber vies with black walnut and mahogany for durability and beauty; and as an article of fuel its wood equals the solid hickory. Its height is sometimes 100 feet, but it usually grows to a height varying from forty to eighty feet. It is bushy, therefore an elegant shade tree. The maple is indigenous to the forests of America, and wherever there has been opportunity for a second growth, this tree attains to a considerable size much sooner than might be imagined. In the course of ten or fifteen years the maple becomes of a size to produce sugar. The trees which have come up since the first clearing, produce sap that yields much more saccharine than the original forest maples.

The whole interior of the northern part of the United States have relied, and still rely, more on their maple woodlands for sugar than on any other source; and as a branch of domestic manufacture and home production, the business is of no little consequence. The time occupied too in the manufacture is very limited, and occurs at a season when very little other labor can be performed.

Hitherto but comparatively little attention has been bestowed upon this important branch of industry in Canada. The inhabitants of that province might doubtless manufacture a sufficient quantity of maple sugar to supply the demand or consumption in this article for the whole population of the country. This variety of sugar may be refined, and made as valuable for table use as the finest qualities of West India sugar. On the south shore of Lake Huron, and the islands of that inland sea, there are forests of sugar

maple unsurveyed capable of producing a supply for the whole population. The Indians upon those islands have lately turned their attention pretty largely to the manufacture of sugar from the maple; and many tons have been exported from this source. If the Indians could obtain a fair value for their sugar, say seven or eight dollars per 100 lbs., they would extend their operations upon a large scale. Upon these islands alone, there are upwards of a million of full-grown maple trees, capable of yielding each from two and a half to three pounds of excellent sugar per annum; and if proper attention were given to this branch of production in that quarter, I see no reason why a most profitable business could not be carried on. Every farmer who has a grove of sugar maple, should endeavour to manufacture at least sufficient for the consumption of his own family. In most cases 150 trees of medium growth would yield an amount of sap that would make 300 lbs. of sugar, twenty-five gallons of molasses, and a barrel of vinegar. The labor required to manufacture this amount of sugar, molasses, and vinegar, would scarcely be felt by the well-organised cultivator, as the season for the business is at the close of the winter, and opening spring, when no labor can be done upon the land. In proportion to the amount of labor and money expended in the production of maple sugar, it is as capable of yielding as large a return of profits as any other branch of farm business. It is certainly an object of great national interest to the inhabitants of our North American Colonies, that they should supply their own market with such products as their highly-favored country is capable of producing. Sugar is an article which will ever find a ready sale at highly-remunerating prices, provided that it be properly manufactured and brought into market in good condition. It requires a little outlay at first to purchase buckets, cisterns, and boilers, to stock a sugar bush; but by carefully using the above necessary apparatus, they will last for a very long period. A farmer can supply himself with the suitable materials for performing the sugar business without any cost further than his own labor. The spring is the season of the year that everything should be put in readiness,--even the wood should be chopped and drawn to the spot, so that when the sap commences to run, there may be no impediments in the way to hinder the complete success of the business.

Large tracts of land in the Ottawa district are covered with the true sugar maple. It is found in great numbers in the eastern townships of Lower Canada, where considerable forests of miles in extent contain nothing else, and in other places it is mixed with various trees. There is scarcely a spot in Lower Canada where it is not to be met with. Capt. Marryatt has stated that there were trees enough on the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior, to supply the whole world with sugar. In the United States, the manufacture of the sugar was first attempted about the year 1752, by some farmers of New England, as a branch of rural economy. This gradually spread wherever the tree was known. Now it forms an article of food throughout a large portion of the country. Almost every farmer prepares sugar enough from the trees in his neighbourhood for the consumption of his family during the year, and has often a surplus for sale. It is much cheaper than muscovado, being sold at from 2d. to 3½d. per pound, whilst common muscovado cannot be bought for less than 4½d. to 5d. per pound.

The province of Canada produced nearly ten million pounds in 1852, 6,190,694 being made in Lower Canada, and 3,581,505 in Upper Canada. The quantity made in Lower Canada in 1849 was only about 1,537,093 lbs. The maple sugar product of the Canadas in 1848 was officially stated as follows:--

lbs. Upper Canada 4,160,667 Lower Canada 2,303,158 --------- 6,463,835

This product is therefore of immense importance to the British North American provinces, all of which, under a judicious system, might be made to produce vastly increased quantities of this wholesome and valuable commodity.

The importation of sugar in Canada may very safely be computed at £40,000 per annum, and the whole of this amount of money could be retained in the country if the people would only look well to the matter.

In tapping the tree, the gouge is the best implement that can be used, provided it is an object to save the timber. It is usual, when using the gouge, to take out a chip about an inch and a half in diameter; but this system is objectionable where the maple is not abundant, as it subjects the timber to decay; it is a better course to make an incision by holding the gouge obliquely upwards an inch or more in the wood. A spout, or spile, as it is termed, about a foot long, to conduct off the sap, is inserted about two inches below this incision with the same gouge. By this mode of tapping, the wound in the tree is so small that it will be perfectly healed or grown over in two years. A boiler, of thick sheet-iron, made to rest on the top of an arch, by which the sides would be free from heat, and only the bottom is exposed, is doubtless a secure and rapid process of evaporation. The sides and ends of the boiler may be made of well-seasoned boards, which will answer the same purpose as if made solely of sheet-iron. When the sap is boiled down into syrup or thin molasses, it must be taken out of the boiler and strained through a flannel cloth into a tub, where it should settle about twenty-four hours. The clear syrup should be separated from the sediment, which will be found in the bottom of the tub. The pure syrup must be boiled down into sugar over a slow fire. A short time, however, before the syrup is brought to a boiling heat, to complete the clarifying process, the whites of five eggs well beaten, about one quart of new milk, and a spoonful of saleratus, should be all well mixed with a sufficient amount of syrup, to make 100 lbs. of sugar. The scum which would rise on the top must be skimmed off. Caution is to be observed in not allowing the syrup to boil until the skimming process is completed. To secure a good article, the greatest attention must be bestowed in granulating the syrup. The boxes or tubs for draining should be large at the top and small at the bottom. The bottom of the tubs should be bored full of small holes, to let the molasses drain through. After it has nearly done draining, the sugar may be dissolved, and the process of clarifying, granulating, and draining repeated, which will give as pure a quality of sugar as the best refined West India article.

The greatest objections that are advanced against maple sugar are, that the processes made use of in preparing the sugar for market are so rude and imperfect that it is too generally acid, and besides charged with salts of the oxide of iron, insomuch that it ordinarily strikes a black color with tea. These objections may be removed without any comparative difficulty, as it has been proved to demonstration, by the application of one ounce of clear lime-water to a gallon of maple sap, that the acidity will be completely neutralised, and the danger of the syrup adhering to the sides of the boiler totally removed. The acid so peculiar to the maple sugar, when combined with lime in the above proportion, is found to be excessively soluble in alcohol; so much so, that yellow sugar can be rendered white in a few minutes by placing it in an inverted cone, open at the top, with small holes at the bottom, and by pouring on the base of the cone a quantity of alcohol. This should filtrate through until the sugar is white; it should then be dried and re-dissolved in boiling water, and again evaporated until it becomes dense enough to crystallise. Then pour it into the cones again, and let it harden. By this process a very white sample of sugar may be made, and both the alcohol and acids will be thoroughly dispelled with the vapor.

The process of making maple sugar it will be seen is very simple and easily performed. The trees must be of suitable size, and within a convenient distance of the place where the operations of boiling, &c., are to be performed. When gathered, the sap should be boiled as early as possible, as the quality of the sugar is in a great degree dependent on the newness or freshness of the sap. There is a tendency to acidity in this fluid which produces a quick effect in preventing the making of sugar; and which, when the sap is obliged to be kept for many hours in the reservoirs, must be counteracted by throwing into them a few quarts of slaked lime. During the time of sugar making, warm weather, in which the trees will not discharge their sap, sometimes occurs, and the buckets become white and slimy, from the souring of the little sap they contain. In this case they should be brought to the boiler and washed out carefully with hot water, and a handful of lime to each.

In reducing the sap, the great danger to be apprehended is from burning the liquid after it is made to the consistence of molasses, since, when this is done, it is impossible to convert it into sugar; a tough, black, sticky mass, of little value, being the result. Indeed, constant care and attention is required to produce a first-rate article: for though sugar may be made in almost any way where the sap can be procured, yet unless the strictest care is observed in the processes, in gathering and boiling the sap, clarifying the syrup, and in converting the syrup to sugar, a dirty inferior article will be made, instead of the beautiful and delicious sweet which the maple, properly treated, is sure to yield.

The quantity of sugar produced in a year varies considerably from the same trees. The cause of this difference is to be found in the depth of snow, continued cold, or a sudden transition from cold to warm, thus abridging the period of sugar-making. A sharp frost at night, with clear warm days, is the most favorable to the sugar-maker. Perhaps four pounds of sugar from a tree may be a pretty fair average of seasons generally, although we have known the growth to exceed six pounds, and sink as low as three. A man will take care of one hundred trees easily, during the season of sugar, which usually lasts from about the middle of March into April, perhaps employing him twenty days in the whole. Dr. Jackson, in his Report of the Maine Geological Survey, gives the following instances of the production of sugar in that State:--

Lbs. of Sugar. At the Forks of the Kennebec, twelve persons made 3,605 On No. 1, 2d range, one man and a boy made 1,000 In Farmington, Mr. Titcomb made 1,500 In Moscow, thirty families made 10,500 In Bingham, twenty-five families made 9,000 In Concord, thirty families made 11,000

A cold and dry winter is followed with a greater yield of sugar from the maple than a season very moist and variable. Trees growing in wet places will yield more sap, but much less sugar from the same quantity, than trees on more elevated and drier ground. The red and white maple will yield sap, but it has much less of the saccharine quality than the rock or sugar maple.

The work begins usually about the first of March. The tree will yield its sap long before vegetation appears from the bud: frequently the most copious flow is before the snow disappears from the ground.

Some persons have a camp in their maple orchards, where large cauldrons are set in which to boil down the sap to the consistency of a thick syrup: others take the liquid to their houses, and there boil down and make the sugar.

The process begins by the preparation of spouts and troughs or tubs for the trees: the spouts or tubes are made of elder, sumach, or pine, sharpened to fit an auger hole of about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The hole is bored a little upward, at the distance horizontally of five or six inches apart, and about twenty inches from the ground on the south or sunny side of the tree. The trough, cut from white maple, pine, ash, or bass wood, is set directly under the spouts, the points of which are so constructed as completely to fill the hole in the tree, and prevent the loss of the sap at the edges, having a small gimlet or pitch hole in the centre, through which the entire juice discharged from the tree runs, and is all saved in the vessels below. The distance bored into the tree is only about one-half an inch to give the best run of sap. The method of boring is far better for the preservation of the tree than boxing, or cutting a hole with an axe, from the lower edge of which the juice is directed by a spout to the trough or tub prepared to receive it. The tub should be of ash or other wood that will communicate no vicious taste to the liquid or sugar.

The sap is gathered daily from the trees and put in larger tubs for the purpose of boiling down. This is done by the process of a steady hot fire. The surface of the boiling kettle is from time to time cleansed by a skimmer. The liquid is prevented from boiling over by the suspension of a small piece of fat pork at the proper point. Fresh additions of sap are made as the volume boils away. When boiled down to a syrup, the liquor is set away in some earthen or metal vessel till it becomes cool and settled. Again the purest part is drawn off or poured into a kettle until the vessel is two-thirds full. By a brisk and continual fire, the syrup is further reduced in volume to a degree of consistence best taught by a little experience, when it is either put into moulds to become hard as it is cooled, or stirred until it shall be grained into sugar. The right point of time to take it away from the fire may be ascertained by cooling and graining a small quantity. The sediment is strained off and boiled down to make molasses.

The following is from a Massachusetts paper:--

The maple produces the best sugar that we have from any plant. Almost every one admires its taste. It usually sells in this market (Boston) nearly twice as high as other brown sugar. Had care been taken from the first settlement of the country to preserve the sugar maple, and proper attention been given to the cultivation of this tree, so valuable for fuel, timber, and ornament, besides the abundant yield of saccharine juice, we could now produce in New England sugar enough for our own consumption, and not be dependent on the labour of those who toil and suffer in a tropical sun for this luxury or necessary of life. But, for want of this friendly admonition,

"Axeman, spare that tree,"

the sturdy blows were dealt around without mercy or discretion; and the very generation that committed devastation in the first settlements in different sections of our country, generally lived to witness a scarcity of fuel; and means were resorted to for the purchase of sugar, that were far more expensive than would have been its manufacture, under a proper mode of economy in the preservation of the maple, and the production of sugar from its sap.

Those who have trees of the sugar maple, should prepare in season for making sugar. In many localities, wood is no object, and a rude method of boiling is followed; but where fuel is very scarce, a cheap apparatus should be prepared that will require but little fuel. In some sections, broad pans or kettles have been made of sheet-iron bottoms, and sides of plank or boards, care being taken (continued) to allow the fire to come into contact with the iron only. These pans cost but a trifle, and, owing to their large surface, the evaporation is rapid.

Another cheap construction for boiling with economy is, to make a tight box of plank, some four or five feet square--the width of a wide plank will answer, and then put into it, almost at the bottom, a piece of large copper funnel, say ten or twelve inches at the outer part, and then smaller. This funnel, beginning near one end, should run back nearly to the opposite side, then turn and come put at the opposite end, or at the side near the end, as most convenient, being in only two straight parts, that the soot may be cleared out. Each end should be made tight, with a flange nailed to the box. At the mouth of the large part there should be a door, to reduce the draught; here make the fire, and at the other end have a funnel to carry off the smoke. In this case, there is only sheet copper between the fire and the sap which surrounds the funnel, so that the heat is readily taken up by the liquid, and very little escapes. This is an economical plan for cooking food for stock, steaming timber, &c.

For catching the sap, various kinds of vessels are used. The cheapest are made of white birch, which last one season, or less. Troughs of pine, or linden or bass wood, may be made for a few cents each, and they will last for a number of years, if inverted in the shade of trees. But these are inconvenient; and, after the first year, they become dirty, and clog the sap. Pails with iron hoops are the best, and, eventually, the cheapest. By painting and carefully preserving them, they will cost, for a course of years, about one cent each for a year.

Mr. Alfred Fitch, in the "Genesee Farmer," says:--

In clarifying, I use for 50 lbs. of sugar one pint of skimmed milk, put into the syrup when cold, and place it over a moderate fire until it rises, which should occupy thirty or forty minutes; then skim and boil until it will grain; after which I put it into a tub, and turn on a little cold water, and in a few days the molasses will drain out, and leave the sugar dry, light, and white.

Mr. E.W. Clark, of Oswego, furnishes the following:--

On Fining Maple Sugar.--The sweet obtained from the maple tree is undoubtedly the purest known; but from mismanagement in the manufacture it frequently becomes very impure. Its value is lessened, while the expense of making it increases. I am sensible that the method which I shall recommend is not altogether a new one, and that it is more by attending to some apparently minute and trivial circumstances, than to any new plan, that my sugar is so good. Much has been written upon, and many useful improvements been made in, that part of the process which relates to tapping the trees, and gathering and evaporating the sap, &c.; but still, if the final operation is not understood, there will be a deficiency in the quality of the sugar. I shall confine myself to that part of the operation which relates to reducing the syrup to sugar, as it is of the first importance. My process is this:--When the syrup is reduced to the consistence of West India molasses, I set it away till it is perfectly cold, and then mix with it the clarifying matter, which is milk or eggs. I prefer eggs to milk, because when heated the whole of it curdles; whereas milk produces only a small portion of curd. The eggs should be thoroughly beaten and effectually mixed with the syrup while cold. The syrup should then be heated till just before it would boil, when the curd rises, bringing with it every impurity, even the coloring matter, or a great portion of that which it had received from the smoke, kettles, buckets, or reservoirs. The boiling should be checked, and the scum carefully removed, when the syrup should be slowly turned into a thick woollen strainer, and left to run through at leisure. I would remark, that a great proportion of the sugar that is made in our country is not strained after cleansing. This is an error. If examined in a wine-glass, innumerable minute and almost imperceptible particles of curd will be seen floating in it, which, if not removed, render it liable to burn, and otherwise injure the taste and color of it.

A flannel strainer does this much better than a linen one. It is, indeed, indispensable. As to the quantity of eggs necessary, one pint to a pailful of syrup is amply sufficient, and half as much will do very well. I now put my syrup into another kettle, which has been made perfectly clean and bright, when it is placed over a quick but solid fire, and soon rises, but is kept from overflowing by being ladled with a long dipper. When it is sufficiently reduced, (I ascertain this by dropping it from the point of a knife, while hot, into one inch of cold water--if done, it will not immediately mix with the water, but lies at the bottom in a round flat drop,) it is taken from the fire, and the foaming allowed to subside. A thick white scum, which is useable, is removed, and the sugar turned into a cask, placed on an inclined platform, and left undisturbed for six weeks or longer, when it should be tapped in the bottom and the molasses drawn off. It will drain perfectly dry in a few days.

The sugar made in this manner is very nearly as white as lump sugar, and beautifully grained. We have always sold ours at the highest price of Muscovadoes; and even when these sugars have sold at eighteen cents, ours found a ready market at twenty. Two hands will sugar off 250 lbs. in a day. From the scum taken off in cleansing, I usually make, by diluting and recleansing, one-sixth as much as I had at first, and of an equal quality.

It is not of much consequence as regards the quality of the sugar, whether care be taken to keep the sap clean or not. The points in which the greatest error is committed, are, neglecting to use a flannel strainer, or to strain after cleansing--to have the sugar kettle properly cleaned--and to remove the white scum from the sugar.

An important process of manufacturing maple sugar, which produces a most beautiful article, is also thus described in a communication by the gentleman who gained the first premium at the State Fair at Rochester in 1843, to the Committee on Maple Sugar of the New York State Agricultural Society.

In the first place, I make my buckets, tubs, and kettles all perfectly clean. I boil the sap in a potash kettle, set in an arch in such a manner that the edge of the kettle is defended all around from the fire. I boil through the day, taking care not to have anything in the kettle that will give color to the sap, and to keep it well skimmed. At night I leave fire enough under the kettle to boil the sap nearly or quite to syrup by the next morning. I then take it out of the kettle, and strain it through a flannel cloth into a tub, if it is sweet enough; if not, I put it in a cauldron kettle, which I have hung on a pole in such a manner that I can swing it on or off the fire at pleasure, and boil it till it is sweet enough, and then strain it into the tub, and let it stand till the next morning. I then take it and the syrup in the kettle, and put it altogether into the cauldron, and sugar it off. I use, to clarify say 100 lbs. of sugar, the whites of five or six eggs well beaten, about one quart of new milk, and a spoonful of saleratus, all we'll mixed with the syrup before it is scalding hot. I then make a moderate fire directly under the cauldron, until the scum is all raised; then skim it off clean, taking care not to let it boil so as to rise in the kettle before I have done skimming it. I then sugar it off, leaving it so damp that it will drain a little. I let it remain in the kettle until it is well granulated. I then put it into boxes made smallest at the bottom, that will hold from fifty to seventy lbs., having a thin piece of board fitted in, two or three inches above the bottom, which is bored full of small holes, to let the molasses drain through, which I keep drawn off by a tap through the bottom. I put on the top of the sugar, in the box, a clean damp cloth; and over that, a board, well fitted in, so as to exclude the air from the sugar. After it has done draining, or nearly so, I dissolve it, and sugar it off again; going through with the same process in clarifying and draining as before.

The following remarks from Dr. Jackson, of Boston, may be of interest to the sections of the country where maple sugar is made:--

The northern parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, have dense forests of the sugar maple, and at present only very rude processes are made use of in preparing the sugar for market, so that it is too generally acid and deliquescent, besides being charged with salts of the oxide of iron, insomuch that it ordinarily strikes a black color with tea. To remedy these difficulties was the object of my researches; while, at the same time, I was engaged in ascertaining the true composition of the sap, with a view to the theory of vegetable nutrition.

I received several gallons of freshly-drawn maple sap from Northampton, Warner, and Canterbury, and made analyses of each lot, separating the acids, salts, and the sugar. I also analysed the sap of the yellow and white birch, which do not give any crystallisable sugar, but an astringent molasses.

I shall now communicate to you the process by which I manufactured sugar maple sap, received from the Shakers of Canterbury, who collected it with care in a clear glass demijohn, and sent it forthwith, so that it came to me without any change of composition, the weather being cold at the time. The evaporation was carried on in glass vessels until the sap was reduced to about one-eighth its original bulk, and then it was treated with a sufficient quantity of clear lime-water to render it neutral, and the evaporation was completed in a shallow porcelain basin. The result was, that a beautiful yellow granular sugar was obtained, from which not a single drop of molasses drained, and it did not deliquesce by exposure to the air. Another lot of the sap, reduced to sugar without lime-water, granulated, but not so well, was sour to the taste, deliquesced by exposure, and gave a considerable quantity of molasses.

Having studied the nature of the peculiar acid of the maple, I found that its combinations with lime were excessively soluble in alcohol, so that the yellow sugar first described could be rendered white in a few minutes, by placing it in an inverted cone open at the bottom, and pouring a fresh quantity of alcohol upon it, and allowing it to filtrate through the sugar. The whitened sugar was then taken and re-dissolved in boiling water and crystallised, by which all the alcoholic flavour was entirely removed, and a perfectly fine crystallised and pure sugar resulted. Now, in the large way, I advise the following method of manufacturing maple sugar. Obtain several large copper or brass kettles, and set them up in a row, either by tripods with iron rings, or by hanging them on a cross-bar; clean them well, then collect the sap in buckets, if possible, so that but little rain-water will be mixed with the sap, and take care not to have any dead leaves in it. For every gallon of the maple sap add one measured ounce of clear lime-water, pass the sap into the first kettle and evaporate; then, when it is reduced to about one-half, dip it out into the second kettle, and skim it each time; then into the next, and so on, until it has reached the last, where it is reduced to syrup, and then may be thrown into a trough, and granulated by beating it up with an oar.

As soon as the first kettle is nearly empty, pour in a new lot of the sap, and so continue working it forward exactly after the manner of the West India sugar-boilers. The crude sugar may be refined subsequently, or at the time of casting it into the cones made of sheet iron, well painted with white lead and boiled linseed oil, and thoroughly dried, so that no paint can come off. These cones are to be stopped at first, until the sugar is cold; then remove the stopper and pour on the base of the cone a quantity of strong whiskey, or fourth proof rum. Allow this to nitrate through, until the sugar is white; dry the loaf, and redissolve it in boiling hot water, and evaporate it until it becomes dense enough to crystallise. Now pour it into the cones again, and let it harden. If any color remains, pour a saturated solution of refined white sugar on the base of the cone, and this syrup will remove all traces of color from the loaf.

One gallon of pasture maple sap yielded 3,451 grains of pure sugar. One gallon of the juice of the sugar cane yields, on an average, in Jamaica, 7,000 grains of sugar. Hence, it will appear that maple sap is very nearly half as sweet as cane juice; and since the maple requires no outlay for its cultivation, and the process may be carried on when there is little else to be done, the manufacture of maple sugar is destined to become an important department of rural economy. It is well known, by the Report of the Statistics of the United States, that Vermont ranks next to Louisiana as a sugar state, producing (if I recollect correctly) 6,000,000 of pounds in some seasons, though the business is now carried on in a very rude way, without any apparatus, and with no great chemical skill; so that only a very impure kind of sugar is made, which, on account of its peculiar flavor, has not found its way into common use, for sweetening tea and coffee. It would appear worth while, then, to improve this manufacture, and to make the maple sugar equal to any now in use. This can be readily accomplished, if the farmers in the back country will study the process of sugar-making, for cane and maple sugar are, when pure, absolutely identical. It should be remarked, that forest maples do not produce so much sugar as those grown in open fields or in groves, where they have more light, the under-brush being cleared away.

In Farmington, on the Sandy River, in Maine, I have seen a very fine grove of maples, but thirty years old, which produced a large yield of very good sugar. A man and two boys made 1,500 lbs. of sugar from the sap of these trees in a single season. The sap was boiled down in potash kettles, which were scoured bright with vinegar and sand. The sugar was of a fine yellow color, and well crystallised. It was drained of its molasses in casks, with a false bottom perforated with small holes--the cask having a hole bored at the bottom, with a tow plug placed loosely in it, to conduct off the molasses. This method is a good one, but the sap ought to be limed in boiling, as I have described; then it will not attach to the iron or copper boilers. The latter metal must not be used with acid syrup, for copper salts are poisonous.

There are several towns in the northern sections of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, that produce more than sufficient sugar for the consumption of their inhabitants. A lot of good sugar trees will average four pounds to the tree, in a favorable season. Many farmers have orchards that will yield five hundred to a thousand pounds of sugar in a year. As this is made at a season interfering very little with the general business of the farm, the sugar that the farmer makes is so much clear gain.

There is, on almost every hill-farm, some place favorable for the growth of a maple orchard--some rocky spots yielding little grass, and impervious for the plough. Such spots may be favorably chosen for the growth of a maple orchard; and whether the increase be used for manufacturing sugar or molasses, or for timber or fuel, the proprietor of the land will find a profit better than money at interest in the growth of this beautiful tree, which will spontaneously propagate itself in many positions.

Its great excellence consists in yielding sap for the manufacture of vast quantities of maple sugar in the country during the months of spring. An open winter, constantly freezing and thawing, is a forerunner of a bountiful crop of sugar. The orchard of maple trees is almost equal to a field of sugar cane of the same area, in the production of sugar. This tree reaches an age of 200 years.

Vermont is the second sugar-producing State in the Union. The amount of maple sugar produced there in 1840 was over 2,550 tons, being more than 17¾ pounds to each inhabitant, allowing a population of 291,948. At five cents a pound, this is worth. 255,963 dols. 20 cents.

The Statistics of the United States census for 1850, show that about thirty-five millions of pounds (15,250 tons) of maple sugar were manufactured in that year:--

Maine 97,541 New Hampshire 1,392,489 Massachusetts 768,596 Vermont 5,159,641 Connecticut 37,781 New York 10,310,764 New Jersey 5,886 Pennsylvania 2,218,641 Maryland 47,740 Virginia 1,223,908 North Carolina 27,448 South Carolina 200 Georgia 50 Alabama 473 Mississippi 110 Louisiana 260 Arkansas 8,825 Tennessee 159,647 Kentucky 388,525 Ohio 4,528,548 Michigan 2,423,897 Indiana 2,921,638 Illinois 246,078 Missouri 171,942 Iowa 70,684 Missouri 661,969 Minnesota 2,950 ----------- Total 32,776,671

There is a balance of about two million pounds produced by Rhode Island, Texas, Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico, Delaware, and Florida. The above statement does not include the sugar made by the Indians, east of the Mississippi river, which may be set down at 10,000,000 lbs., and west of that river 2,000,000 lbs.

Besides the above sugar crop, there was a yield by the sugar maple in the United States in 1850, of 40,000,000 gallons of maple molasses.

Maize Sugar.--The stem and branches of Indian corn, during the time that its grain is filling, abounds with sugar, even when grown in this country; so much so, that it might be turned to account by those of the peasantry who have small plots of ground attached to their cottages; and I applied a simple method by which a rich syrup may be obtained from it, equal in sweetness to treacle, and superior to it in flavor. The proper time for cutting down the plant (which should be done within an inch of the ground), is when the corn in the ear is small and full of a milky juice. All the large and old leaves should be stripped off, leaving only the young and tender ones; they should then be cut into short lengths, thoroughly bruised, and the juice entirely pressed out from them. Where the means cannot be obtained for expressing the juice by this method, the following may be employed:--After the plants have been cut into small pieces, put them into a large pot or copper, with only just sufficient water to extract the juice; boil for one hour, and then strain off the liquor; to each gallon of this liquor add a wine-glass full of lime-water whilst warm; but if it be the expressed juice, obtained as above mentioned, add double the quantity of lime-water. When the liquor is cold, for every three gallons beat up an egg with some of the liquor; put altogether into a boiler, and boil gently till the syrup acquires the consistence of treacle. Whilst this is going on, the liquor should every now and then be well stirred, and the scum which rises to the surface taken off. This syrup, which will be found a better substitute for sugar than treacle, and more wholesome, should be kept in lightly-covered vessels, in a dry place.

My own observations, twelve years ago, acquainted me with the fact, that when the grain in the ear has acquired one half of the full size, the quantity of sugar in the sap has passed its maximum, or begun to decrease, and continues to do so until it disappears entirely. Lopping off the young ears makes shorter work of it. It is like taking the young from an animal giving suck, in which case the milk soon ceases to flow into the breast, and that which produced it is elaborated into other fluids necessary to the nourishment of the different parts of the body of the parent. In the corn-stalk, when deprived of its ears, the elements of sugar are dissipated by increasing the size of the plant.

Sugar may also be obtained from the carrot and the parsnip, as well as from all sweet fruits. It is abundant throughout the vegetable kingdom; it forms the first food of plants when they germinate in the seed; when the first little sprout is projected from a grain of corn, a portion of the farina, or starch, is changed into sugar, which may be called the blood of the plant, and from it is drawn the nourishment necessary to its expansion and appearance above the surface of the earth. In the latter growth of many plants an inverse process is carried on, as in the Indian corn, which I have just spoken of. In this instance, as also numberless others, sugar is formed in large quantities in the body of the plant, and elaborated into farina, or starch, in the ear. The elements of which sugar and starch are composed are the same; the only difference is in their proportions. Chemists, being aware of this, have converted starch into sugar; and could do it with certainty to any extent, were any advantage to be gained by it; but hitherto starch has been higher in price than sugar.

SECTION II.

THE GRAIN CROPS, EDIBLE ROOTS, AND FARINACEOUS PLANTS FORMING THE BREAD STUFFS OF COMMERCE.

The vegetable substances, from which man derives his principal sustenance, such as the nutritious cereal grains, the tuberous rooted plants and the trees yielding farina, are very widely diffused, and necessarily occupy the main attention of the cultivator; their products forming the most important staples of domestic and foreign commerce. The cereal grasses and roots, cultivated in temperate regions, such as wheat, barley, oats, rye, and the potato, are so well known, and have been so fully described by agricultural writers that I shall not go much into details as to their varieties, culture, &c., but confine myself chiefly to their distribution, produce, statistics, and commercial importance. The food plants may be most conveniently arranged under three heads. Firstly--the Grain crops and legumes, which comprises the European cultivated grasses, wheat, barley, oats, &c.; and the tropical ones of rice, maize, millet, Guinea corn, &c. Secondly--Palms and other trees yielding farina, including the sago palms, plantain and banana, and the bread fruit tree. And Thirdly--the edible Root crops and Starch producing plants, which are a somewhat extensive class, the chief of which, however, are the common potato, yams, cocos or eddoes, sweet potatoes, the bitter and sweet cassava or manioc, the arrowroot and other plants yielding starch in more or less purity.

There is a great diversity of food, from the humble oak bark bread of the Norwegian peasant, or the Brahmin, whose appetite is satisfied with vegetables, to the luxurious diet of a Hungarian Magnate at Vienna.

The bread stuffs, as they are popularly termed, particularly wheat and wheat flour, maize, and rice, form very important articles of commerce, and enter largely into cultivation in various countries for home consumption and export. Russia, India, and the United States, carry on a very considerable trade in grain with other countries. Our local production being insufficient for food and manufactures, we import yearly immense quantities of grain and flour. In the four years ending 1852, the annual quantity of corn, of various, kinds, imported into the United Kingdom, exclusive of flour and meal, rice, sago, &c., averaged 8,085,903 quarters.

The flour and meal imported, omitting sago, arrowroot and other starches, averaged in the same period 4,143,603 cwts. annually.

The annual imports of breadstuffs for food, taking the average of the four years ending with 1852, may be thus summed up--

Tons. Corn and grain, 8,085,903 quarters, at 60 lb. the bushel 173,270 Flour and meal 207,180 Rice 40,817 Potatoes 42,440 Sago, arrowroot, &c. 5,000 ------- Total 468,707

Some portion of this quantity is doubtless consumed in the arts--as starch for stiffening linens, &c., and for other purposes not coming under the term of food, but I have purposely left out in the calculation about 30,000 to 40,000 quarters of rice in the husk annually imported.

Ireland took, in 1849, of foreign grain 2,115,129 quarters; 1,683,687 quarters in 1850; and 2,504,229 in 1851; as well as 256,837 cwts. of various kinds of meal and flour in 1849; 220,107 cwts. in 1850; and 341,680 cwts. in 1851. England also supplied her with about 500,000 quarters of grain and 350,000 cwts. of meal in each of those years.

The comparative returns of the importations of grain into the United Kingdom for the last four years, are as follows, in quarters:--

1852. 1851. 1850. 1849. Wheat 3,068,892 3,812,009 3,738,995 3,845,378 Barley 656,737 829,564 1,035,903 1,381,008 Oats 995,480 1,198,529 1,154,473 1,267,106 Rye 10,023 24,609 98,836 240,566 Beans 371,250 318,502 443,306 457,933 Peas 107,017 99,399 181,419 234,366 Maize 1,479,891 1,807,636 1,277,071 2,224,459 Other sorts 8,085 3,432 868 1,150 --------- --------- --------- --------- Quarters 6,667,375 8,124,280 7,930,871 9,651,966

The meal and flour imported in the same years, in cwts., were as follows:--

1852. 1851. 1850. 1849. Wheat 3,889,583 5,314,414 3,819,440 3,349,839 Barley 212 34 108 224 Oats 521 2,525 5,999 40,230 Rye 92 6,493 964 18,468 Indian corn 742 9,561 11,334 101,683 Other sorts 54 343 163 1,396 --------- --------- --------- --------- Cwts. 3,891,195 5,323,370 3,838,008 3,511,840

Before the famine in Ireland the imports seldom reached 20 millions of bushels of grain and meal of all kinds. In 1848 our imports were about 60 millions; in 1849, 85 millions; in 1850, 68 millions; in 1851, 75½ millions; in 1852, 69 millions, with good wheat harvests; showing the great shock received and the slowness of recovery.

With a rapidly increasing population in all parts of the civilized world, the production of bread is obviously the first object to be sought after, alike by the statesman and the peasant. I scarcely dare give the calculation of the immense amount which would be realised in any great country, by the single saving of a bushel to an acre, in the quantity of seed ordinarily sown. The same result would follow if an additional bushel could be produced in the annual average yield of the wheat crop.

According to Mr. H. Colman, the annual amount of seed for wheat sown in France is estimated at 32,491,978 bushels. If we could suppose a third of this saved, the saving would amount to 10,863,959 bushels per year. Suppose an annual increase of the crops of five bushels per acre, this would give an increase of production of 54,319,795 bushels. Add this, under improved cultivation, to the amount of seed saved, and the result would be 65,183,754 bushels--I believe under an improved agriculture this is quite practicable.

An eminent agricultural writer placed the average yield in England at eighteen bushels per acre; some years since a man of sanguine temperament rated it at over thirty bushels. In France it is stated, in the best districts, to average twenty-two bushels. These evidently are wholly conjectural estimates. In England Mr. Colman states that fifty bushels per acre were reported to him on the best authority, as the yield upon a large farm in a very favorable season. More than eighty bushels have been returned, upon what is deemed ample testimony, to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, as the product of a single acre. In France Mr. Colman had, upon credible authority, reports of forty, forty-four and seventy-two bushels. It would be of immense importance to any government to know the exact produce grown in any county, or district, or in the whole country; and this might be obtained by compelling, on the part of the owner or cultivator, an actual return of his crop; but it is of little use to found such returns on estimates purely conjectural.

From the best statistical accounts that can be obtained, the wheat annually produced in the United Kingdom.

England, Scotland, Ireland is 111,681,320 bushels. In France it is 198,660,000 " United States 100,503,899 "

The amount of seed ordinarily sown to the acre in France is from two to three bushels. The return of crop for the seed sown is represented as in the best districts averaging 6.25 for one; in the least productive 5.40 for one. My readers may be curious to know the calculations which have been made in some other countries in regard to this matter.

CENTRAL EUROPE Increase Countries. Year. for seed sown. Spain 1828 6 for one Portugal 1786 10 " Tuscany 10 " Plains of Lucca 15 " Piedmont--Plains of Marengo 4 to five Bologna 15 " Roman States--Pontine marshes 20 " Ordinary lands 8 " Kingdom of Naples--best districts 20 " Ordinary lands 8 " Malta--the best lands 38 to 64 " Ordinary lands 22, 25, 30 "

NORTHERN EUROPE.

Sweden and Norway 1838 4.50 for one Denmark 1827 6 " Russia, a good harvest 1819 5 " ---- province of Tambof 1821 4.50 " ---- provinces north of 50 deg. latitude 1821 3 " Poland 1826 8 " England 1830 9 " Scotland 1830 8 " Ireland 1825 10 " Holland 1828 7.50 " Belgium 1828 11 " Bavaria 1827 7 to 8 " Prussia 1817 6 " Austria 1812 7.05 " Hungary 1812 4 " Switzerland, lands of an inferior quality 1825 3 " Of a good quality, 8; of the best quality 12 " France, inferior lands, 3; best lands 6 "

(Statistique des Cereales de la France par Moreau de Jonnes.)

STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE.

As wheat forms the principal nutritious food of the world, claiming the industrious application of labor over the greater part of Europe, throughout the temperate regions of Asia, along the northern kingdoms of Africa, and extending far into the northern and southern regions of the American continents; as it has been cultivated from time immemorial, and has produced in various climates and soils many varieties; it is surprising that so little is generally known of the distinct varieties best adapted to particular climates--and that in Great Britain and the United States we have yet to learn the variety which will yield the largest and best amount of human food!

At the Industrial Exhibition in 1851, twenty-six premiums only were distributed for specimens of wheat; of these, five were awarded to British farmers, three to France, three to Russia, three to Australia, three to the United States, and one each or severally to other nations. Some beautiful specimens of wheat were exhibited from South Australia, weighing seventy pounds a bushel; which were eagerly sought after for seed wheat by our farmers and the colonists of Canada and the United States. But as is well observed by Professor Lindley, it has no peculiar constitutional characteristics by which it may be distinguished from other wheats. Its superior quality is entirely owing to local conditions; to the peculiar temperature, the brilliant light, the soil, and those other circumstances which characterise the climate of South Australia.

All kinds of wheat contain water in greater or lesser quantities. Its amount is greater in cold countries than in warm. In Alsace from 16 to 20 per cent.; England from 14 to 17 per cent.; United States from 12 to 14 per cent.; Africa and Sicily from 9 to 11 per cent. This accounts for the fact, that the same weight of southern flour yields more bread than northern, English wheat yields 13 lbs. more to the quarter than Scotch. Alabama flour, it is said, yields 20 per cent. more than that of Cincinnati. And in general American flour, according to one of the most extensive London bakers, absorbs 8 or 10 per cent. more of its own weight of water in being made into bread than the English. The English grain is fuller and rounder than the American, being puffed up with moisture.

Every year the total loss in the United States from moisture in wheat and flour is estimated at four to five million dollars. To remedy this great evil, the grain should be well ripened before harvesting, and well dried before being stored in a good dry granary. Afterwards, in grinding and in transporting, it should be carefully protected from wet, and the flour be kept from exposure to the atmosphere. The best precaution is kiln-drying. By this process the wheat and flour are passed over iron plates heated by steam to the boiling point. From each barrel of flour 16 or 17 pounds of water are thus expelled, leaving still four or five per cent. in the flour, an amount too small to do injury. If all the water be expelled, the quality of the flour is deteriorated.

The mode of ascertaining the amount of water in flour is this; take a small sample, say five ounces, and weigh it carefully; put it into a dry vessel, which should be heated by boiling water; after six or seven hours, weigh it; its loss of weight shows the original amount of water.

The next object is to ascertain the amount of gluten. Gluten is an adhesive, pasty mass, and consists of several different principles, though its constitution has not yet been satisfactorily determined. It is chiefly the nutritious portion of the flour. The remaining principles are mostly starch, sugar and gum. On an average their relative amount in 100 parts are about as follows:--

Average. Kobanga wheat, the best. Water 13 12 Gluten 12 16 Starch 67 60 Sugar and Gum 8 8 --- --- 100 97

Professor Beck examined thirty-three different samples from various parts of the United States and Europe, and he gives the preference to the Kobanga variety from the south of Russia. There would probably be a prejudice against it in this country, from the natural yellowish hue of its flour and bread.

The value of the vegetable food, grain, potatoes, rice and apples exported from the United States within the past few years is thus set down:--

Dollars. 1847 57,970,356 1848 25,185,647 1849 25,642,362 1850 15,822,273

To this has to be added nine or ten million dollars more for tobacco, 72 million dollars for cotton, and 180,000 dollars for hops and other minor agricultural staples--making the value of the raw vegetable exports about 98 million dollars. There is further the value of the products of the forest, timber, ashes and bark, tar, &c., which are equal to nearly seven millions more, as shown by the following figures:--

Dollars. 1847 5,248,928 1848 6,415,297 1849 5,261,766 1850 6,590,037

It appears from an official document of the American Treasury Department, that the average value of the breadstuffs and provisions annually exported from the United States from 1821 to 1836 inclusive, was 12,792,000 dolls.; in 1837 and 1838, about 9,600,000 dolls.; from 1839 to 1846, 16,176,000 dolls.; and for the last seven years as follows:--

Dollars. 1846 27,701,121 1847 68,701,921 1848 37,472,751 1849 38,155,507 1850 26,051,373 1851 21,948,651 1852 25,857,027

Out of the wheat crop in the United States in 1846 of 110 million bushels raised, 10 millions were used for seed, starch, &c.; 72 consumed for food, and 28 million exported. The 460 million bushels of Indian corn raised, were thus disposed of; exported to foreign countries 22 million bushels; sold to and consumed by non-producers, 100 million; consumed on the farms and plantations of the producers for human and animal food, seed, &c., 338 million bushels.

The United States now produce about 120 million bushels of wheat, and nearly 600 million bushels of corn. Their surplus of wheat, for export, may be taken at 20 million bushels, and of Indian corn an almost unlimited quantity. They export about one and a quarter million barrels of flour, and about one million of bushels of wheat to other markets besides those of Great Britain or her North American colonies, viz., to Europe, Asia, Africa, the West Indies and South America, California and Australia, manufactured flour being the article required for these latter markets. Nearly four million bushels of Indian corn, and 300,000 barrels of corn meal, are exported from the United States to the West Indies and other foreign markets.

From the abstracts of statistical returns prepared at the American Census office, it appears that Pennsylvania, in 1850, was the largest wheat producing State of the Union. I have had the curiosity to compare the most prominent States in respect to this crop, and give them below, with the crop of each, as shown by the returns:--

Bushels. Pennsylvania 15,482,191 Ohio 14,967,056 Virginia 14,516,900 New York 13,073,000 Michigan 4,918,000 Maryland 4,494,680

That the United States could export 6,000,000 bushels of wheat, and its equivalent in flour in 1845; 13,000,000 in 1846, 26,000,000 in 1847, and then fell back to 13,000,000 in 1848, and 6,000,000 in 1849, with their production of wheat constantly increasing throughout this period, shows a wonderful elasticity, and extensive home market. If the price of wheat is higher in proportion than for corn, the Americans export the former and consume the latter; if the demand for corn be also great, they kill their hogs and export corn, for the pork will keep. If there be no great demand for either, they eat their surplus wheat, feed their hogs with the corn, and export pork as having the greatest value in the least bulk.

DESTINATION OF FLOUR SHIPPED FROM THE UNITED STATES. -------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- WHERE TO. | 1847 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851 -------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- Swedish West Indies | 7,366| 7,573| 8,757| 5,315 Danish ditto | 52,150| 49,568| 44,802| 60,102 Dutch East Indies | 1,150| 4,625| 1,600| 1,873 Dutch West Indies | 11,387| 17,221| 18,354| 19,217 Holland and Belgium | 73,871| 727| 1,177| 594 England |2,475,076| 953,815| 369,777|1,004,783 Gibraltar | 23,974| 6,265| 2,543| 195 British East Indies | 3,034| 791| 1,646| 1,600 British West Indies | 320,363| 303,551| 250,776| 294,731 British American Colonies| 272,299| 294,891| 244,072| 252,380 France | 612,641| -- | -- | -- French West Indies | 28,966| 5,554| 5,480| 7,902 Hayti | 40,257| 10,903| 31,504| 43,867 Cuba | 50,046| 7,154| 5,584| 5,611 Spanish West Indies | 17,780| 6,429| 7,074| 2,285 Madeira | 4,856| 4,358| 6,321| 7,006 Cape de Verds | 1,634| 501| 455| 838 Mexico | 5,928| 11,633| 9,736| 14,964 Honduras | 10,686| 4,125| 4,725| 5,912 Central America | 550| 4,180| 746| 2,573 Columbia | 39,403| 32,251| 41,072| 47,477 Brazil | 270,473| 328,129| 295,415| 374,711 Argentine Republic | 10,684| 6,599| 4,901| 22,612 Chili | 5,977| 5,129| 2,848| 4,327 South America | 2,128| -- | 40| 200 West Indies | 4,902| 3,984| 1,702| 4,079 Africa | 25,728| 4,617| 5,524| 5,430 North-west Coast | 764| 1,180| 858| 2,593 Other ports | 29,866| 35,017| 18,949| 19,158 |---------|---------|---------|--------- Total--Barrels |4,382,496|2,108,013|1,385,448|2,202,335 |---------|---------|---------|--------- Average price | 5.95| 5.35| 5.00| 4.77 -------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------

Wheat, where the soil and the climate are adapted to its growth, and the requisite progress has been made in its culture, is decidedly preferred to all other grains, and, next to maize, is the most important crop in the United States, not only on account of its general use for bread, but for its safety and convenience for exportation. It is not known to what country it is indigenous, any more than any other cultivated cereals, all of which, no doubt, have been essentially improved by man. By some, wheat is considered to have been coeval with the creation, as it is known that upwards of a thousand years before our era it was cultivated, and a superior variety had been attained. It has steadily followed the progress of civilisation from the earliest times, in all countries where it would grow. In 1776 there was entailed upon America an enduring calamity, in consequence of the introduction of the Hessian or wheat fly, which was supposed to have been brought from Germany in some straw, employed in the debarkation of Howe's troops on the west end of Long Island. From that point the insect gradually spread in various directions, at the rate of twenty or thirty miles a year, and the wheat of the entire regions east of the Alleghanies is now more or less infested with the larva, as well as in large portions of the States bordering on the Ohio and Mississippi, and on the great Lakes; and so great have been the ravages of these insects that the cultivation of this grain has in many places been abandoned.

The geographical range of the wheat region in the Eastern Continent and Australia, lies principally between the 30th and 60th parallels of north latitude, and the 30th and 40th degrees south, being chiefly confined to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern and Southern Africa, Tartary, India, China, Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and Japan. Along the Atlantic portions of the Western Continent, it embraces the tract lying between the 30th and 50th parallels, and in the country westward of the Rocky Mountains, one or two more degrees further north. Along the west coast of South America, as well as in situations within the torrid zone, sufficiently elevated above the level of the sea, and properly irrigated by natural or artificial means, abundant crops are often produced.

The principal districts of the United States in which this important grain is produced in the greatest abundance, and where it forms a leading article of commerce, embrace the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The chief varieties cultivated in the Northern and Eastern States are the white flint, tea, Siberian, bald, Black Sea, and the Italian spring wheat. In the middle and Western States, the Mediterranean, the Virginia white May, the blue stem, the Indiana, the Kentucky white bearded, the old red chafet, and the Talavera. The yield varies from ten to forty bushels and upwards per acre, weighing, per bushel, from fifty-eight to sixty-seven pounds.

It appears that on the whole crop of the United States there was a gain during the ten years ending 1850, of 15,645,373 bushels. The crop of New England decreased from 2,014,000 to 1,078,000 bushels, exhibiting a decline of 936,000 bushels, and indicating the attention of farmers has been much withdrawn from the culture of wheat. Grouping the States from the Hudson to the Potomac, including the district of Columbia, it appears that they produced, in 1849, 35,085,000 bushels, against 29,936,000 in 1839. In Virginia there was an increase of 1,123,000 bushels. These States embrace the oldest wheat-growing region of the country, and that in which the soil and climate seem to be adapted to promote the permanent culture of the grain. The increase of production in the ten years has been 6,272,000 bushels, equal to 15.6 per cent. The area tilled in these States is 36,000,000 acres, only thirty per cent. of the whole amount returned, while the proportion of wheat produced is forty-six per cent. In North Carolina there has been an increase of 170,000 bushels, but in the Southern States generally there was a considerable decrease. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin contributed to the general aggregate under the sixth census only 9,800,000 bushels; under the last they are shown to have produced upwards of 25,000,000 bushels, an amount equal to the whole increase in the United States for the period.

When we see the growth of wheat keeping pace with the progress of population in the oldest States of the Union, we need have no apprehension of a decline in the cultivation of this important crop.

The amount of flour exported from New Jersey in 1751, was 6,424 barrels. From Philadelphia in 1752,125,960 barrels, besides 85,500 bushels of wheat; in 1767, 198,816 barrels, besides 367,500 bushels of wheat; in 1771, 252,744 barrels. From Savannah, in 1771, 7,200 lbs. From Virginia, for some years annually preceding the revolution, 800,000 bushels of wheat. The total exports of flour from the United States:

in 1791 were 619,681 barrels, besides 1,018,339 bushels of wheat; in 1800, 653,052 barrels, besides 26,853 bushels of wheat; in 1810, 798,431 barrels, besides 325,924 bushels of wheat; in 1820-21, 1,056,119 barrels, besides 25,821 bushels of wheat; in 1830-31, 1,806,529 barrels, besides 408,910 bushels of wheat; in 1840-41, 1,515,817 barrels, besides 868,585 bushels of wheat; in 1845-46, 2,289,476 barrels, besides 1,613,795 bushels of wheat; in 1846-47, 4,382,496 barrels, besides 4,399,951 bushels of wheat; in 1850-51, 2,202,335 barrels, besides 1,026,725 bushels of wheat.

In the London Exhibition very little wheat was exhibited equal to that from the United States, especially that from Genessee county, in the State of New York--a soft white variety, to the exhibitor of which a prize medal was awarded by the Royal Commissioners. The red Mediterranean wheat exhibited from the United States attracted much attention. The wheat from South Australia was probably superior to any exhibited, while much from the United States fell but little behind, and was unquestionably next in quality.

From the Second Report on the Breadstuffs of the United States, made to the Commissioner of Patents, by Lewis C. Beck, M.D., I am induced to make some extracts. He states:--

The analyses of several samples, the growth of various foreign countries, have afforded me an opportunity of comparing the American and foreign wheats and flours. With a few exceptions of peculiar varieties, it will be seen from the results that with ordinary care the wheat of this country will compare advantageously with that of any other. Indeed, on reviewing my analyses, I question whether there is any part of the world where this grain is generally of a finer quality than it is in the United States. But all the advantages which we possess in this respect will be of little avail so long as inferior and damaged breadstuffs are shipped from our ports.

In addition to the analyses which I have executed of the various samples of wheat and wheat flour according to the mode heretofore pursued, I have performed a series of experiments for the purpose of settling the important question in regard to the relative value of the fine flour of wheat, and the "whole meal." I have also consulted every work within my reach which could throw any light upon the different points that have presented themselves during the progress of the investigation.

The large number of samples of wheat and wheat flour which have been placed in my hands for examination, have left me no time for the analysis of our other breadstuffs.

It cannot be denied that the amount shipped to foreign ports during 1849 is considerably less than for the two preceding years. In the meantime, however, a new and important market has been opened in our territories on the Pacific. It may also be safely affirmed that the causes for foreign demand, and which must hereafter operate, still remain. These are the cheapness of land in this country, and the peculiar adaptation of our soil and climate to the growth of the two important cereals, wheat and maize.

Another fact, it seems to me, is of sufficient interest in connection with this subject, to be here noticed. The failure of the potato crop in various parts of the world for several years past has engaged the attention of scientific and practical men. Unfortunately, the nature of the blight which has seized upon this tuber has eluded the most careful inquiries; but it has been shown by well-conducted analyses that potatoes at their late prices are the most expensive kind of farinaceous food. This will be evident from the following statement:--

"Potatoes contain from about seventy to seventy-nine per cent. of water, while the proportion in wheat flour is from twelve to fourteen per cent; and while the gluten and albumen in potatoes scarcely rise to one per cent., in wheat flour the range may be set down at from nine to thirteen per cent. Again, the non-nitrogenous principles are as about seventy-five per cent. in wheat flour against fifteen or sixteen in potatoes. In short, whilst potatoes supply only twenty per cent. of heat-forming and nutritious principles, taken together, wheat supplies more than seventy per cent. of the former, and more than tea of the latter. The value of wheat to potatoes, therefore, is at least four to one; or, if wheat sells at fifteen shillings sterling per cwt., potatoes to be equally cheap, ought to sell at between three and four shillings."

The preceding results, for which I am principally indebted to Dr. Daubeny, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford,[25] show that unless a great change occurs in the culture of the potato, there must be an increased demand for other kinds of farinaceous food. And it is worthy of notice that while this blight is one of the causes which bring to our shores the starving population of Europe, the raising of the cereals not only furnishes profitable employment to the emigrant, but enables him to make the best return to those who are still obliged to remain.

Adaptation of the soil and climate of the United States to the culture of the cereals.--That the soil and climate of many portions of the United States are well adapted to the cultivation of the more important cereals, is fully shown by the results of all the researches which have thus far been prosecuted. I have indeed seen it asserted that the climate of England is the best for the cultivation of wheat, and preferable to any in our country; its humidity being the peculiarity to which this superiority is ascribed.[26] But this is undoubtedly the testimony of a too partial witness. A recent statement by an English author is the result of a more correct knowledge of the facts. He acknowledges that there is no ground for the expectation which has been entertained concerning the advantageous growth of maize in England. "Nor is ours," says he, "the most favorable country for wheat, but skill in husbandry has overcome great difficulties."[27] The mistake on this subject may have originated from the occurrence of a larger and plumper grain in the more humid climate; but analysis shows that the small grain raised in the hotter and drier air oftentimes greatly surpasses the former in its nutritious value.

Russia is said to be the great rival of this country in the growth of wheat, but I think it doubtful whether she possesses superior natural advantages; and I am sure she will find it difficult to compete with the industry and skill which here characterize the operations of husbandry, and the manufacture and shipment of breadstuffs.

Export of sophisticated and damaged flour.--It is a matter of deep regret that circumstances have occurred which must have a most injurious influence upon the trade in breadstuffs between this country and Great Britain. I refer to the mixtures of damaged, inferior, and good kinds of flour, which it appears on authentic testimony have been largely exported during the past year. Whether this fraudulent operation, which is said to have been principally confined to New York, is the result of the change in the inspection laws, as some assert, I am unable to say. But it requires no great foresight to predict that, if continued, it will create a distrust of our breadstuffs in foreign ports which it will be very difficult to remove. It cannot but excite the indignation of the many honorable dealers, that the unworthy cupidity of a few individuals should lead to such disastrous consequences.

I have as yet been unable to obtain samples of these sophisticated flours, and the only information which I have in regard to them is the general fact above stated, and concerning the truth of which there can be little doubt. No means should be left untried to devise some mode by which these frauds can be easily and certainly detected.

Injury sustained by breadstuffs during their transport and shipment.--During the past year, I have had abundant means of determining the nature of the injuries which are often sustained by our breadstuffs in their transport from the particular districts in which they are grown and manufactured to our commercial depots, and in their shipment to foreign ports. As this is one of the most important points connected with these researches, I have devoted much time to its investigation. From the results of numerous analyses, I think it may be safely asserted, that of the wheat flour which arrives in England from various ports of the United States, a large proportion is more or less injured during the voyage. The same remark may be made in regard to many of the samples sent from the Western States to the city of New York. Their nutritive value is considerably impaired, and without more care than is usually exercised, they are entirely unfit for export.

In my former report, I adverted to one of the great causes of the deterioration which our breadstuffs often suffer during their transport and shipment. This was the undue proportion of the great disorganizing substance, water, under the influence of what usually occurs, viz., an elevation of temperature above the ordinary standard. My recent investigations have served only to strengthen these views. There is no doubt that these are the conditions which cause the change of the non-nitrogenous principles into acids (the lactic or acetic), while a portion of the gluten is thus also consumed.

I have tried a series of experiments in reference to the action of moisture upon various samples of wheat and wheat flour. The samples were placed for twelve hours in the oven of a bath with a double casing, containing a boiling saturated solution of common salt, the temperature of which was about 220 deg. Fahr. Subjected to this test,

100 grains of Milwaukie wheat lost 12.10 grains. " " Guilderland (Holland) wheat lost 9.35 " " " Polish Odessa red wheat " 10.55 " " " Soft Russian wheat " 8.55 " " " Kobanga wheat " 8.15 "

After an exposure of the dried samples to the air for two or three days, they increased in weight from one to three grains in the hundred originally employed.

Nineteen different samples of wheat flour, which lost by exposure to the above heat from ten to fourteen grains in the one hundred, when similarly exposed to the air for eighteen hours, again increased in weight from 8.40 to 11.60 in the hundred grains originally employed.

These experiments show, what might indeed have been predicted as to the general result, that wheat in grain, if not less liable to injury than flour, yet if once properly dried, suffers much less from a subsequent exposure to air and moisture.

It is now ascertained that in presence of a considerable proportion of water, wheat flour under the influence of heat undergoes a low degree at least of lactic fermentation, which will account for the souring of the ordinary samples when exposed to warm or humid climates. The same result will inevitably follow from their careless exposure in the holds of vessels. That this is particularly the case with many of the cargoes of wheat flour shipped to Great Britain, there is little reason to doubt. This may be partly owing to the great humidity of the English climate, as the deterioration is observed as well in the flour which is the produce of that country as in that which is received from abroad.

It is stated by Mr. Edlin, quoted in an article on Baking, in the Encyclopædia Britannica, that, "as a general rule, the London flour" is decidedly bad. The gluten generally wants the adhesiveness which characterizes the gluten of good wheat."

I have observed that, in the analyses of some of the samples of damaged flour, the proportions of what is set down under the head of glucose and dextrine are unusually large. This is perhaps due to the change produced in the starch by the action of diastase, and which may under certain circumstances be formed in wheat flour. It would seem, according to M. Guérin, that starch may thus be acted on even at slightly elevated temperatures. In one of his experiments, at a temperature no higher than 68 deg. Fahr., a quantity of starch, at the end of twenty-four hours, was converted into syrup, which yielded seventy-seven per cent. of saccharine matter.[28] It may be thought that I have overrated the importance of this subject, but it is believed that a careful examination of the facts will relieve me from this charge. I am now satisfied that, if the proportion of water in our exported breadstuffs could be reduced to about five or six per cent., one of the great causes of complaint in regard to them would be completely removed.

Kiln-drying of breadstuffs, and exclusion of air.--The injury which our breadstuffs sustain by the large proportion of water can of course be prevented only by careful drying before shipment, and by the employment of barrels rendered as impervious as possible to the influence of atmospheric moisture.

In my first report, I have spoken favorably of the process of drying by steam, according to the plan patented by Mr. J.R. Stafford. I still think this mode possesses great advantages over those previously followed, and which almost always injured the quality of the grain or flour: but from some trials which I have made during the past year, it is inferred that the exposure to the heat is perhaps usually not sufficiently prolonged to answer the purpose intended by the operation. I have often observed that samples of wheat flour, after being exposed to the heat of the salt water-bath oven (220 deg. Fahr.) for two or three hours, lost weight by a further continuance of the heat. An apparatus has been patented by Mr. J.H. Tower, of Clinton, N.Y., consisting of a cylinder of square apartments or tubes, into which the grain or flour is introduced, and subjected to heat while in rapid revolution. I examined samples which had been subjected to this operation, and ascertained that wheat flour, originally containing 14.80 per cent. of water, had the proportion reduced to 10.25 per cent., while in wheat the proportion of water was reduced from 14.75 to 8.55 per cent.

Now it is probable that by either of the above modes, and perhaps by many others, the various kinds of breadstuffs may be brought to that degree of dryness which, with ordinary care, shall protect them from subsequent injury; but in order to secure this advantage, the operation must be carefully performed, and experiments must be made to ascertain how long an exposure to heat is necessary to bring the sample to the proper degree of dryness, and to determine whether in any respect its quality is impaired. It has already been stated that absolute desiccation is not necessary, even were it attainable; but any process in order to be effective should reduce the proportion of water to about six, or at most seven per cent.

I have heretofore adverted to the great care employed in the drying of grain in various foreign countries, and to which the preservation of it for a great number of years is to be ascribed.

The operation is not conducted in the hurried manner which is here thought to be so essential, but is continued long enough to effect the intended object. Thorough ventilation, as well as the proper degree of drying, and which is equally important, is thus secured.

It is said that in Russia the sheaves of wheat, carried into the huts, are suspended upon poles and dried by the heat of the oven. The grain shrinks very much during this process, but it is supposed to be less liable to the attacks of insects, and preserves its nutritive qualities for many years. During the winter, it is sent to market.--("The Czar, his Court and People." By John S. Maxwell, p. 272.)

With all the necessary attention which may be paid to the proper drying of our breadstuffs intended for export, another point is of equal importance, viz., the shipment in vessels rendered as impervious as possible to the influence of atmospheric moisture. For however carefully and thoroughly the drying, especially of wheat flour or maize meal, may have been performed, it will be nearly useless if the shipment is afterwards made in the barrels commonly employed.[29] And it is very certain that the transport and shipment of grain in bulk, as usually conducted, are attended with great loss. This difficulty might be removed at a trifling expense by adopting the plan suggested in the preceding report, and to which I would again respectfully call the attention of those who are engaged in this branch of trade.

I might here adduce a mass of testimony showing the importance of the matters just referred to, but will only advert to the following statements, which although made in allusion principally to maize, are equally applicable to our other breadstuffs. Maize meal, if kept too long, "is liable to become rancid, and it is then more or less unfit for use. In the shipments made to the West Indies, the meal is commonly kiln-dried, to obviate as much as possible this tendency to rancidity." "When ground very fine, maize meal suffers a change by exposure to the air. It is oxygenated. It is upon the same principle that the juice of an apple, after a little exposure to the air, is oxygenated, and changes its character and taste. If the flour could be bolted in vacuo, it would not be changed." "Intelligent writers speak of the necessity of preparing corn for exportation by kiln-drying as indispensable. Without that process, corn is very liable to become heated and musty, so as to be unfit for food for either man or beast. The kiln-dried maize meal from the Brandywine Mills, &c., made from the yellow corn, has almost monopolized the West India trade. This process is indispensable, if we export maize to Europe. James Candy says that from fifty years experience he has learned the necessity of this process with corn intended for exportation." "I have often found the corn from our country when it reached its destination, ruined by heating on the voyage. It had become musty and of little or no value. Kiln-drying is absolutely necessary to preserve it for exportation. We must learn and practice the best mode of kiln-drying it.[30]"

The nutritious value of the "whole meal" of Wheat, as compared with that of the fine flour.--The question whether what is called the whole meal of wheat, or that which is obtained by the mixture of the bran, contains more nutritious matter than the fine flour, is one of great importance. In my former report, I adverted to the statement made in regard to it by Professor J.F.W. Johnston, and which seemed to be almost conclusive in favor of the value of the whole meal. During the past year, however (1849), M. Eug. Peligot, an eminent French chemist, in an elaborate article "On the Composition of Wheat," to which more particular reference will be made hereafter, combats the opinion that the bran is an alimentary substance. He observes that "the difficulty of keeping the bran in flour intended for the manufacture of bread of good quality appears to result much less from the presence of the cellulose (one of the constituents of woody matter) contained in wheat than that of the fatty matter. This is found in the bran in a quantity at least triple of that which remains in the flour, and the bolting separates it from the ground wheat not less usefully than the cellulose itself."[31] M. Millon objects entirely to the views of M. Peligot on this point, and states some facts which are especially worthy of consideration. He asserts that, according to the views of the last named chemist, the separation at most of one part of fatty matter sacrifices fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five per cent. of substances which are of the highest nutritive value. This abstracts from wheat, for the whole amount raised in France, the enormous sum of about two hundred millions of pounds annually.

It seems that in France the question whether the bolting of flour is advantageous has always been decided in the most arbitrary manner. An ordinance of Louis XIV., issued in 1658, prohibited, under a very heavy penalty, the regrinding of the bran and its mixture with the flour; this, with the mode of grinding then in use, caused a loss of more than forty per cent.--(Comptes Rendus, February 19th, 1849.)

In large cities and elsewhere, there seems for some time to have been a growing prejudice against the use of brown bread; and it is said that now nearly all the peasantry of France bolt their flour. The increase of this practice, according to M. Millon, threatens the nation with an annual loss of from two to three hundred millions of francs. If the bran was entirely valueless, there would be a loss of more than one million a day.

It is quite difficult to determine the precise amount of bran which may have been removed from wheat, for various samples contain such a different proportion of bran that in the one case a removal of ten per cent, leaves more bran in the flour than a bolting of five per cent. in another.

The following is an analysis of bran by M. Millon; the sample being a soft French wheat grown in 1848:--

Starch, dextrine and sugar 53.00 Sugar of liquorice 1.00 Gluten 14.90 Fatty matter 3.60 Woody matter 9.70 Salts .50 Water 13.90 Incrusting matter and aromatic principles (by difference) 3.40 ------ 100.

The conclusion to be drawn from this analysis is, that bran is an alimentary substance. If it contains six per cent. more of woody matter than the rough, flour, it has also more gluten, double that of fatty matter, besides two aromatic principles which have the perfume of honey, and both of which are wanting in the fine flour. Thus by bolting, wheat is impoverished in its most valuable principles, merely to remove a few hundredths of woody matter.

The economical suggestion which springs from these views is, that the bran and coarse flour should be reground and then mixed with the fine flour. Millon states that he has ascertained, by repeated experiments, that bread thus made is of superior quality, easily worked, and not subject to the inconvenience of bread manufactured from the rough flour, such as is made in some places, and especially in Belgium.

Opinions similar to those above noticed are entertained by Professor Daubeny. "The great importance attached to having bread perfectly white is a prejudice," he says, "which leads to the rejection of a very wholesome part of the food, and one which, although not digestible alone, is sufficiently so in that state of admixture with the flour in which nature has prepared it for our use." After quoting the remarks of Professor Johnston on the same side of the question, he adds, "that according to the experiments of Magendie, animals fed upon fine flour died in a few weeks, whilst they thrived upon the whole meal bread." Brown bread, therefore, should be adopted, not merely on a principle of economy, but also as providing more of those ingredients which are perhaps deficient in the finer parts of the flour.--("Gardeners' Chronicle," January 27th, 1849, p. 53.)

The remarks of Dr. Robertson may also be here introduced. "The advantage," he observes, "of using more or less of the coverings of the grain in the preparation of bread has often been urged on economical principles. There can be no doubt that a very large proportion of nutritive matter is contained in the bran and the pollard; and these are estimated to contain about one-fifth part of the entire weight of the wheat grain. It is, unquestionably, so far wasteful to remove these altogether from the flour; and in the case of the majority of people, this waste may be unnecessary, even on the score of digestibility."[32] This subject can also be rendered apparent to the eye. If we make a cross section of a grain of wheat, or rye, and place it under the microscope, we perceive very distinct layers in it as we examine from without inwards. The outer of them belong to the husk of the fruit and seed, and are separated as bran, in grinding. But the millstone does not separate so exactly as the eye may by means of the microscope, not even as accurately as the knife of the vegetable anatomist, and thus with the bran is removed also the whole outer layer of the cells of the nucleus, and even some of the subjacent layers. Thus the anatomical investigations of one of these corn grains at once explains why bread is so much the less nutritious the more carefully the bran has been separated from the meal.[33] There can therefore be little doubt that the removal of the bran is a serious injury to the flour; and I have presented the above array of evidence on this point in the hope of directing public attention to it here, as has been done in various foreign countries.

After this, it will easily be inferred that I am not disposed to look with much favor upon the plan proposed by Mr. Bentz for taking the outer coating or bran from wheat and other grains previously to grinding.[34] Independently of the considerations which have already been presented, it is far from being proved, as this gentlemen asserts, that the mixture of the bran with the meal which results from the common mode of grinding is the chief cause of the souring of the flour in hot climates. On the contrary, the bran is perhaps as little liable to undergo change as the fine flour, and then the moistening to which, as I am informed, the grain is subjected previously to the removal of the husk, is still further objectionable, and must be followed by a most carefully-conducted process of kiln-drying.

Nutritious properties of various articles of food.--There seems to be some difference of opinion in regard to the nutritious properties of various kinds of food. It is generally, however, agreed that those which contain the largest proportion of nitrogenous matters are the most nutritious. It is on this account that haricots, peas, and beans, form, in some sort, substitutes for animal food. Tubers, roots, and even the seeds of the cereal grasses, are but moderately nutritious. If we see herbivorous animals fattening upon such articles, it is because, from their peculiar organisation, they can consume them in large quantities. It is quite doubtful whether a man doing hard work could exist on bread exclusively. The instances which are given of countries where rice and potatoes form the sole articles of food of the inhabitants, are believed to be incomplete. Boussingault states that in Alsace, for example, the peasantry always associate their potato dish with a large quantity of sour or curdled milk; in Ireland with buttermilk. "The Indians of the Upper Andes do not by any means live on potatoes alone, as some travellers have said they do: at Quito, the daily food of the inhabitants is lorco, a compound of potatoes and a large quantity of cheese. Rice is often cited as one of the most nourishing articles of diet. I am satisfied, however, after having lived in countries where rice is largely consumed, that it is anything but a substantial, or, for its bulk, nutritious article of sustenance."--("Rural Economy," Amer. edition, p. 409.) These statements are further confirmed by the observations of M. Lequerri, who, during a long residence in India, paid particular attention to the manners and customs of the inhabitants of Pondicherry. "Their food," he states, "is almost entirely vegetable, and rice is the staple; the inferior castes only ever eat meat. But all eat kari (curry), an article prepared with meat, fish, or vegetable, which is mixed with the rice, boiled in very little water. It is requisite to have seen the Indians at their meals to have any idea of the enormous quantity of rice which they will put into their stomachs. No European could cram so much at a time; and they very commonly allow that rice alone will not nourish them. They very generally still eat a quantity of bread."[35] In regard to the proportion of nutritious matter contained in grains of various kinds, it may be remarked that the tables which have been constructed as the results of various experiments are liable to an objection, which will be more particularly adverted to under another head. For example, two substances, by the process of ultimate analysis, may exhibit the same proportion of nitrogenous matter, and still differ very materially in their value as articles of food. Much depends on the digestibility of the form in which this matter is presented to the digestive organs. A strong illustration is afforded in the case of hay, the proportion of nutritive matter of which, about 9.71, would certainly not represent its power of affording nourishment to the human system. It is in truth quite impossible to arrive at any other than approximate results from the operations of chemistry, as to the amount of nutriment contained in a given quantity or weight of any article of food.[36] It is perhaps not irrelevant to notice in this place some of the researches which have recently been made upon fermentation, and particularly its effects in the manufacture of bread. It appears that when this process is brought about by the addition of yeast or leaven to the paste or dough, the character of the mass is materially altered. A larger or smaller proportion of the flour is virtually lost. According to Dr. William Gregory the loss amounts to the very large proportion of one-sixteenth part of the whole of the flour. He says, "To avoid this loss, bread is now raised by means of carbonate of soda, or ammonia and a diluted acid, which are added to the dough, and the effect is perfectly satisfactory. Equally good or better bread is obtained, and the quantity of flour which will yield fifteen hundred loaves by fermentation, furnishes sixteen hundred by the new method, the sugar and fibrin (gluten) being saved."--("Outlines of Chemistry," p. 352.)

Another author, Dr. R.D. Thomson, states, as the results of his experiments upon bread produced by the action of hydrochloric acid upon carbonate of soda, "that in a sack of flour there was a difference in favor of the unfermented bread to the amount of thirty pounds thirteen ounces, or in round numbers, a sack of flour would produce one hundred and seven loaves of unfermented bread, and only one hundred loaves of fermented bread of the game weight. Hence it appears that in the sack of flour by the common process of baking, seven loaves, or six-and-a-half per cent, of the flour are driven into the air and lost."--("Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals," &c., p. 183.)

The only objection to the general introduction of this process seems to be the degree of care and accuracy required in properly adjusting the respective qualities and quantities of acid and alkali, and which could seldom be attained even by those who are largely engaged in the manufacture of bread.

I cannot leave this subject without adverting to a practice which has prevailed in England and France, and perhaps also in this country, of steeping wheat before sowing it in solutions of arsenic, sulphate of copper, and other poisonous preparations.

The result has been that injurious effects have often followed, both to those who are employed in sowing such grain, and to those who have used the bread manufactured from it. The great importance of the subject led to the appointment of a commission at Rouen, in France, in December, 1842, having for its object to determine the best process of preventing the smut in wheat, and to ascertain whether other means less dangerous than those above noticed were productive of equally good results. The labors of this commission extended over the years 1843-'44-'45, and the experiments were repeated two years following on the farm of Mr. Fauchet, one of the commission, at Boisquilaume, in the department of the Seine Inferieure.

The results arrived at by this commission are--1st. That it is not best to sow seed without steeping. 2nd. That it is best to make use of the sulphate of soda and lime process, inasmuch as it is more simple and economical, in no way injurious to the health, and yields the soundest and most productive wheat. 3rd. That the use of arsenic, sulphate of copper, verdigris, and other poisonous preparations, should be interdicted by the government.--("Gardeners' Chronicle," January 6th, 1849, pp. 10 and 11.)

Composition of wheat and wheat flour, and the various modes of determining their nutritive value.--In my former report it was stated that the analyses of the various samples of wheat, the results of which were there given, had been chiefly directed to the determining the amount of rough gluten which they contained. My reasons for adopting this plan, and the arguments in favor of its general accuracy, as compared with other modes of analysis, and especially that by which the ultimate composition is ascertained, were also detailed. A more full examination of this subject has served only to strengthen the opinion already expressed, that for the great purpose to be answered by these researches, the process which I have adopted is, to say the least, as free from objection as any other, and if carefully and uniformly carried out, will truly represent the relative values of the several samples of wheat flour. As this is a matter of much consequence in a practical point of view, I trust I shall be excused for introducing some additional facts in regard to it.

The term gluten was originally applied to the gray, viscid, tenacious, and elastic matter, which is obtained by subjecting wheat flour to the continuous action of a current of water. But it appears that this is a mixture of fibrine and caseine, with what is now called glutine, and a peculiar oily or fatty matter. Now these substances may be separated from each other, but the processes employed for this purpose are tedious, and to insure accuracy the various solvents must be entirely pure--a point which, especially in the case of alcohol and ether, is not ordinarily easy to be attained. This will be rendered still more evident by a reference to a French process, which will hereafter be noticed.

But were it much less difficult in every case accurately to separate the constituents of gluten, it would not, in my opinion, be of the least practical utility. It is to the peculiar mechanical property of this gluten that wheat flour owes its superior power of detaining the carbonic acid engendered by fermentation, and thus communicating to it the vesicular spongy structure so characteristic of good bread.[37] It may also be added, that the results of more than one hundred trials have satisfied me that a diminution or loss of elasticity in the gluten is the surest index of the amount of injury which the sample of flour has sustained. Whether, therefore, the sample contains a certain proportion of nitrogen, or whether it contains albumen, fibrine, and caseine in sufficient quantity, it may still want the very condition which is essential to the manufacture of good bread. My objection, therefore, to the mere determination, however accurate, of the proportion of nitrogen contained in wheat flour, or of the various principles which form the gluten, is, that it does not represent the value of the various samples for the only use to which they are applied, viz., the making of bread. The remarks of Mulder, the celebrated Dutch chemist, upon the subject of manures, are so applicable to this point that I cannot refrain from quoting them. "It has," he says, "become almost a regular custom to determine the value of manures by the quantity of nitrogen they yield by ultimate analysis. This method is entirely erroneous; for it is based upon the false principle, that by putrefaction all nitrogeneous substances are immediately converted into ammonia, carbonic acid, and water! But these changes sometimes require a number of years. Morphine, for example, is prepared by allowing opium to putrefy; and the process for preparing leucin, a substance which contains 10.72 of nitrogen, is to bring cheese into putrefaction. Cheese, therefore, does not perhaps in a number of years resolve itself into carbonic acid, ammonia, and water, but produces a crystalline substance, which contains no ammonia. Hence the proportion of nitrogen yielded by manures is not a proper measure of their value, and therefore this mode of estimating that value ought to be discontinued."[38] We infer, therefore, that the proportion of nitrogen furnished by food of various kinds is not the true measure of their nutritious value, and cannot for practical purposes take the place of that process by which the amount of rough gluten is determined.

No better illustration can be given of the uncertainty which attends the inferences drawn from the ultimate composition, than the fact heretofore stated in regard to hay, the nutritive value of which is placed in the tables containing the results of these analyses, at a figure nearly the same as that of ordinary wheat flour.[39] In the paper on the "Composition of Wheat," by M. Peligot--(" Comptes Rendus," February 5th, 1849)--to which I have already referred, the author gives the results of the various analyses which he has made, and details the process he adopted.

Aware of the complex and difficult nature of the examination as conducted by him, he seems to doubt in regard to some of the results given in his tables In the fourteen samples which he analysed, the proportion of water ranges from 13.2 to 15.2, which is a rather higher average than is yielded by our American samples, especially those which have not been shipped across the Atlantic. Of the nitrogenous matter, soluble and insoluble, the proportions range from 9.90 per cent, to 21.50 per cent.; the former being from a sample of very soft and white French wheat; the latter from a very hard wheat with long grains, from Northern Africa, cultivated at Verriéres. Another sample from Egypt yielded 20.60 per cent, of these nitrogenous matters, both of which are very remarkable proportions.

In describing the process for ascertaining the amount of insoluble nitrogenous matters, this author adverts to their estimation either by the quantity of nitrogen gas furnished, or of ammonia formed, the last being preferred for substances, which, like wheat, contain only a few hundredths of nitrogen. The results which he obtained by this method were compared with those yielded by the direct extraction of the gluten by softening the farina under a small stream of water. "These results," says he, "differ but little from each other when we operate upon wheat in good condition, although the gluten which we thus obtain holds some starch and fatty matter, while the starch which is carried away by the water contains also some gluten." The loss and gain, as I have already explained, and as has been proved by these and other comparisons, are nearly balanced, and the amount of rough gluten will therefore afford a fair exhibit of that of the insoluble nitrogenous matters in this grain.

The salts in the samples of wheat analysed by M. Peligot, were either wanting or were in small proportion; while the amount of fatty matter ranged from 1.00 to 1.80 and 1.90 per cent.

These results agree very well with those which I have obtained. But it is probable that the proportion is liable to great variation, inasmuch as it is inferred that the fatty matter originates from starch through its exposure to the general deoxidising influence which prevails in plants.[40] There are also many difficulties attending the accurate determination of this matter, and which are probably the cause of the higher proportion often given. It is properly remarked by M. Peligot that the ether employed in this process should be free from water, and that the flour ought also to be very dry. By neglecting these precautions, we separate not only the fatty matter, but also a certain amount of matters soluble in the water, which is furnished as well by the wheat as by the ether.

It would not, I think, be difficult to point out some incorrect views entertained by this chemist, and more especially those which relate to the fatty matter. Some of his processes for the separation of various substances, if not faulty, require so many conditions for success as to render the results, at least in other hands, exceedingly uncertain.

But the capital error which he has committed is that concerning the bran, already adverted to, which he considers injurious to the flour, chiefly in consequence of the large proportion of fatty matter which it contains.

In regard to the soluble nitrogenous matter usually called albumen, from its resemblance to the animal substance of the same name, I have to remark that in my trials the proportion has been found to be considerably less than that often given in tables of the composition of wheat. In one sample it was found to be as low as 0.15 per cant., in another it did not rise above 0.20 per cent. The amount was usually so inconsiderable, that I did not think it worth while to retard the progress of the work by following out processes which could add little to the utility of these investigations.

Although much time and labor have been expended upon the analyses of the ash of plants, I have but slight confidence in the results heretofore given. The difficulties which attend the obtaining the ash in a proper condition, and the fact that the products of all the organs and parts of the plants have been analysed together, must necessarily impair the accuracy of the experiments, and render the inferences drawn from them of uncertain value. Much, indeed I may say almost everything, still remains to be done in this department of agricultural chemistry.

Weight of wheat as an index to its value.--Much has been said in regard to the relative weights of the bushel of wheat of different varieties or under different modes of culture.

As ordinarily determined, this weight ranges from fifty-six to sixty-five or sixty-six pounds, being in a few cases set down somewhat higher. It is said also that the bushel of wheat weighs less in some years than it does in others, and that the difference often amounts to two, or three, or even four pounds. Though this may seem of comparatively little consequence for a few bushels, yet, for the aggegate of the wheat crop of the United States, or for a State, or even a county, it makes a great difference. Thus, were we to estimate the product of one year in the United States at one hundred and ten million bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds to the bushel, and another year at one hundred and eight million bushels, weighing sixty-two pounds, the difference in favor of the latter, though the least in quantity, would amount to five hundred and thirty-six million pounds in weight, or more than one million and a quarter of barrels of flour.--(Report of the American Commissioner of Patents for 1847, p. 117.)

It may be remarked, however, that it is not after all so easy to determine with accuracy the weight of a bushel of wheat, nor to decide upon the circumstances which have an influence in increasing the density of a grain of wheat. If the microscopical representations of wheat are to be relied on, it is probable that the increase in the density of wheat depends upon the increase in the proportion of gluten. I have found in several cases that, the proportion of water being the same, those samples of wheat which contain the largest proportion of gluten exhibit the highest specific gravity, or, in other words, will yield the greatest number of pounds to the bushel. But the weight of wheat will be influenced by the proportion of water which it contains; the drier the grain, the greater is its density; a fact which may account for the difference which has been observed in the weight of wheat in different seasons. If this is the cause, the calculation above given in reference to the United States is fallacious--but if the amount of gluten is actually, instead of relatively, increased by peculiarities in seasons, it is no doubt correct.

I have devised a series of experiments to test the accuracy of the statements made upon this point, but have not yet had leisure to complete them.

General conditions from the analyses of wheat flour.--The large number of analyses which I have made, and the uniformity of the processes pursued, enable me to draw some general conclusions which it may be useful to present in a connected form.

1. In the samples from the more northern wheat-growing States, there seems to be little difference in the proportion of nutritive matter that can be set down to the influence of climate. Thus, the yield of the wheat from Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, is scarcely inferior to that from New York, Indiana, and Illinois, although the two latter are somewhat farther south. Local causes, and more especially the peculiarities of culture and manufacture, have more influence, within these parallels of latitude, than the difference of mean temperature.

2. The samples from New Jersey, Lower Pennsylvania, the southern part of Ohio, Maryland (probably Delaware), Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia,[41] contain less water and more nutritive matter than those from the States previously enumerated. That the samples from Missouri, which is included within nearly the same parallels of latitude as Virginia, do not exhibit so high an average of nutritive matter as those from the latter State, must be ascribed principally to a want of care in the management of the crop, and perhaps also in the manufacture of the flour. Virginia flour, for obvious reasons, maintains a high reputation for shipment.

3. The difference in the nutritive value of the various samples of wheat depends greatly upon the variety, and mode of culture, independently of climate. The correctness of the former statement is shown by the much larger proportions of gluten yielded by many of the samples of hard wheat from abroad, the Oregon wheat in Virginia, and a variety of Illinois wheat, &c. And in regard to the effect of particular modes of culture, the various analyses of Boussingault may be referred to, and that in my table of a sample from Ulster county, New York.

4. The deterioration of many of the samples of wheat and wheat flour arises in most cases from the presence of a too large per centage of water. This is often the result of a want of proper care in the transport, and is the principal cause of the losses which are sustained by those who are engaged in this branch of business.

5. There seems to be little doubt that a considerable portion of the wheat and wheat flour, as well as of other breadstuffs, shipped from this country to England, is more or less injured before it reaches that market. It is also shown that this is mostly to be ascribed to the want of care above noticed, and to the fraudulent mixture of good and bad kinds. The remedy in the former case is the drying of the grain or flour before shipment, by some of the modes proposed, and the protection of it afterwards as completely as possible from the effect of moisture. The frauds which are occasionally practised should be promptly exposed, and those who are engaged in them held up to merited reproach.

6. It has been fully shown, by the results of many trials, that the flour obtained by the second grinding of wheat, or the whole meal, contains more gluten than the fine flour. Hence the general use of the latter, and the entire rejection of the bran, is wasteful, and ought in every way to be discouraged.

7. It cannot but be gratifying to us that the average nutritive value of the wheat and wheat flour of the United States is shown by these analyses to be fully equal to, if not greater than, that afforded by the samples produced in any other part of the world. And it will, in my opinion, be chiefly owing to a want of proper care and of commercial honesty, if the great advantages which should accrue to this country from the export of these articles are either endangered or entirely lost.

TABLE EXHIBITING THE PER CENTAGE COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS SAMPLES OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN WHEAT FLOUR, BY LEWIS C. BECK, M.D. (1849). ----------------------------------+-----+-------+------+-------------- | |Gluten | | Glucos | Kind of Wheat Flour, and from | | and | |dextrine,| whence obtained |Water|albumen|Starch| &c. |Bran ----------------------------------+-----+-------+------+---------+---- Country Mills, New Jersey |12.75| 11.55 | 65.95| 8.10 | .65 West Jersey Wheat |12.80| 12.32 | 69.48| 5.90 | .50 White Wheat, New Jersey |11.55| 12.60 | 66.85| 8.50 | .50 Pennsylvania Wheat |11.90| 13.16 | 66.20| 7.25 | .75 ditto ditto |13.35| 12.73 | 66.90| 6.50 | .52 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |13.35| 14.72 | 71.28 | .65 Pelham Wheat, Ulster Co., N.Y. |10.79| 13.17 | 67.74| 7.60 | .70 "Pure Genesee" Wheat |13.20| 11.05 | 75.20 | .55 Ohio Wheat, "fine" |12.85| 12.25 | 73.90 |1.00 Ohio Wheat, "superfine" |13.00| 9.10 | 77.80 | .10 Winter Wheat, Ohio |13.10| 11.56 | 66.84| 7.90 | .60 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |13.05| 12.69 | 73.61 | .65 Michigan Wheat, "superfine" |13.25| 11.10 | 74.80 | .85 Michigan Wheat |12.25| 10.00 | 67.70| 8.75 | .75 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |12.75| 11.20 | 66.00| 8.50 |1.05 Illinois Wheat |12.73| 14.61 | 65.20| 6.45 | .80 Magnolia Mill, St. Louis, Mo. |13.13| 10.27 | 69.75| 6.15 | .35 Mound Mill, St. Louis |13.48| 10.53 | 67.35| 8.15 | .20 Walsh's Mill, St. Louis |12.70| 10.63 | 69.40| 6.65 | .40 Washington Mill, St. Louis |12.88| 11.00 | 68.65| 7.27 | .20 Missouri Mill, St. Louis |13.00| 10.46 | 67.79| 8.35 | .40 O'Fallan's Mill, St. Louis |12.85| 11.25 | 68.24| 7.00 | .66 Phoenix Mill, St. Louis |13.22| 10.10 | 68.70| 7.30 | .15 Nonantum Mill, St. Louis |12.10| 11.02 | 68.60| 7.93 | .35 Franklin Mill, St. Louis |12.25| 10.29 | 69.85| 7.26 | .35 Eagle Mill, St. Louis |11.00| 10.15 | 69.50| 8.65 | .20 Winter Wheat, Missouri |14.00| 9.30 | 70.05| 6.30 | .35 Wisconsin Wheat |12.80| 13.20 | 68.90| 6.50 | .70 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |12.80| 13.46 | 72.54 |1.20 Maryland Wheat |13.00| 12.30 | 66.65| 7.10 | .65 Richmond City Mill |11.70| 13.00 | 67.50| 6.90 | .50 Haxall and Co., Richmond, Va. |11.40| 12.80 | 68.50| 6.60 | .35 Virginia Wheat, "superfine" |12.05| 12.95 | 74.50 | .50 Haxall and Co., "best brand, '49" |11.40| 13.25 | 68.20| 6.25 | .60 Haxall and Co., "2nd brand, '49" |11.00| 13.20 | 75.60 | .20 Richmond City Mill, '49 |11.90| 10.50 | 70.00| 7.10 | .50 Oregon White Wheat, Va. |12.80| 14.80 | 71.30 |1.10 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |13.85| 14.50 | 65.15| 5.90 | .60 Gallego Mill, Richmond, Va. |11.50| 13.50 | 68.35| 6.00 | .65 Ship Brandywine, Liverpool |13.38| 10.62 | 67.60| 7.75 | .65 Ship Fanchon, Liverpool |13.83| 11.38 | 67.45| 6.34 |1.00 Ship New World, Liverpool |13.65| 11.60 | 65.80| 7.70 | .65 Ship Juniata, Liverpool |12.50| 14.14 | 64.20| 8.36 | .80 Ship Stephen Lurman, Liverpool |11.65| 13.18 | 64.50| 9.55 | .68 Ship Leila, Liverpool |13.22| 13.18 | 64.65| 8.00 | .95 Ship Oxenbridge, Liverpool |13.90| 10.13 | 68.42| 7.30 | .25 | |& bran | | | Ship Italy, Liverpool |12.94| 10.60 | 68.56| 7.90 | Ship West Point, Liverpool |14.30| 12.30 | 63.00| 9.45 | .95 Ship W.H. Harbeck, Liverpool |13.53| 10.18 | 66.95| 8.80 | .30 Ship Princeton, Liverpool |13.40| 11.52 | 65.60| 7.90 | .85 Ship Columbus, Liverpool |13.50| 10.45 | 66.45| 8.50 |1.03 Ship Russell Glover, Liverpool |13.45| 10.47 | 66.20| 8.83 |1.05 Ship South Carolina, Liverpool |13.80| 9.00 | 70.80| 5.95 | .38 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |13.30| 9.45 | 76.90 | .35 Ship Cambridge, Liverpool |14.50| 8.52 | 70.60| 5.40 | .40 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |14.10| 9.10 | 70.55| 5.45 | .20 Ship Columbus, Liverpool |14.85| 8.47 | 76.48 | .20 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |14.15| 9.00 | 76.60 | .25 Ship Ashburton, Liverpool |13.55| 11.68 | 69.22| 5.30 | .25 Wheat grown in Canada West |12.80| 7.23 | 74.12| 5.10 | .75 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |12.60| 8.45 | 78.55 | .40 Chilian Wheat |12.44| 9.45 | 67.80| 8.37 |1.30 Chilian Wheat |12.85| 8.65 | 71.60| 6.10 | .60 | |& bran | | | Valparaiso Wheat |12.50| 14.55 | | | French Wheat |13.20| 9.85 | 69.00| 7.65 | .30 Spanish Wheat |13.50| 10.30 | 68.90| 7.00 | .30 Canivano Wheat |11.33| 16.35 | 63.10| 6.50 |2.30 Canivano Wheat |11.15| 15.40 | 67.25| 5.70 | .60 ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |12.60| 18.70 | 67.00 |1.70 Hard wheat, grown near Malaga |10.87| 12.15 | 64.38| 12.60 | | | | |& lactic acid ditto ditto (2nd grinding) |10.00| 14.50 | 60.20| 15.30 | ----------------------------------+-----+-------+------+---------+----

There is no crop, the skilful and successful cultivation of which on the same soil, from generation to generation, requires more art than is demanded to produce good wheat. To grow this grain on fresh land, adapted to the peculiar habits and wants of the plant is an easy task. But such fields, except in rare instances, fail sooner or later to produce sound and healthy plants, which are little liable to attacks from the malady called "rust," or which give lengthened ears or "heads," well filled with plump seeds.

Having long resided in the best wheat-growing district in the Union, the writer has devoted years of study and observation to all the influences of soil, climate, and constitutional peculiarities, which affect this bread-bearing plant. It is far more liable to smut, rust, and shrink in some soils than in others. This is true in western New York, and every other section where wheat has long been cultivated. As the alkalies and other fertilizing elements become exhausted in the virgin soils of America, its crops of wheat not only become smaller on an average, but the plants fail in constitutional vigor, and are more liable to diseases and attacks from parasites and destructive insects. Defects in soil and improper nutrition lead to these disastrous results. Soils are defective in the following particulars:

1. They lack soluble silica, or flint in an available form, with which to produce a hard glassy stem that will be little subject to "rust." Soluble flint is never very abundant in cultivated soils; and after they have been tilled some years, the supply is deficient in quantity. It is not very difficult to learn with considerable accuracy the amount of silica which rain-water as it falls on the earth will dissolve out of 1,000 grains of soil in the course of eight or ten days. Hot water will dissolve more than cold; and water charged with carbonic acid more than pure water which has been boiled. The experiments of Prof. Rogers of the University of Virginia, as published in Silliman's Journal, have a direct bearing on this subject. The researches of Prof. Emmons of Albany, in his elaborate and valuable work on "Agriculture," as a part of the Natural History of New York, show that 10,000 parts of soil yield only from one to three parts of soluble silica. The analyses of Dr Jackson, as published in his Geological Survey of New Hampshire, give similar results. Earth taken from an old and badly exhausted field in Georgia, gave the writer only one part of soluble flint in 100,000.

What elements of crops rain water, at summer heat, will dissolve out of ten or twenty pounds of soil, in the course of three months, is a point in agricultural science which should be made the subject of numerous and rigid experiments. In this way, the capabilities of different soils and their adaptation to different crops may be tested, in connection with practical experiments in field culture, on the same kind of earth.

Few wheat-growers are aware how much dissolved flint an acre of good wheat demands to prevent its having coarse, soft, and spongy stems, which are anything but a healthy organization of the plant. In the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. 7, there is an extended "Report on the Analysis of the Ashes of Plants, by Thomas Way, Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester," which gives the result of sixty-two analyses of the ash of wheat, from as many samples of that grain, mostly grown on different soils and under different circumstances.

In this report are given the quantity of wheat per acre, the weight of straw cut close to the ground to the acre, and also that of the chaff. These researches show, that from ninety-three to one hundred and fifty pounds of soluble flint are required to form an acre of wheat; and I will add from my own investigations, that three-fourths of this silica is demanded by nature during the last sixty days preceding the maturing of the crop. This is the period in which the stem acquires its solidity and strength, and most of its incombustible earthy matter. The quantity of this varies from three to fifteen per cent. of the weight of the straw. Prof. Johnston and Sir Humphry Davy give instances in which more than fifteen per cent. of ash was found; and Prof. Way gives cases where less than three per cent. were obtained. The mean of forty samples was four and a half per cent. Dr. Sprengel gives three and a half as the mean of his analyses. M. Boussingault found an average of seven per cent. As flint is truly the bone of all the grass family, imparting to them strength, as in cane, timothy, corn, oats, rye, rice, millet, and the proportion of this mineral varies as much in wheat-straw, as bone does in very lean and very fat hogs or cattle.

A young growing animal, whether a child or a colt, that is kept on food which lacks bone-earth, (phosphate of lime,) will have soft cartilaginous bones. Nature cannot substitute iron or any other mineral in the animal system, out of which to form hard strong bones; nor can any other mineral in the soil perform the peculiar function assigned to silica in the vital economy of cereal plants. To protect the living germs in the seeds of wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, &c, the cuticle or bran of these seeds contains considerable flint. The same is true of chaff.

The question naturally arises,--How is the farmer to increase the quantity of soluble silica or flint in his soil? This is a question of the highest practical importance. There are three principal ways in which the object named may be attained. First, by keeping fewer acres under the plough. Land in pasture, if well managed, will gain its fertility, and in the process accumulate soluble silica in the surface soil. In this way more wheat and surer crops may be made by cultivating a field in wheat two years than four or six. If the field in the mean time be devoted to wool-growing, butter or cheese-making, or to stock-raising, particular care must be taken to make great crops of grass or clover to grow on the land, and have all the manure, both solid and liquid, applied to its surface.

There are many counties in England that yield an average of thirty-two bushels of wheat per acre for ten crops in succession. There are but few of the old counties in the United States which average the half of that quantity: and yet America has greater agricultural capabilities than that of Great Britain.

Another way to increase soluble silica in the soil, is to grow such crops, in rotation with wheat culture, as will best prevent the loss of dissolved flint, at any time by leaching and washing, through the agency of rain water. This remark is intended to apply more particularly to those large districts devoted to cotton and tobacco culture, plants that take up no considerable amount of silica, and which by the constant stirring of the earth, and the clean tillage which they demand, favor the leaching of the soil. To keep too much of a plantation of these crops, is to lessen its capabilities for producing good crops of corn, wheat, and barley, at a small expense. Corn plants, well managed, will extract more pounds of silica in three or six months from the soil, than any other. As not an ounce of this mineral is needed in the animal economy of man or beast, it can all be composted in cornstalks, blades, and cobs, or in the dung and urine derived from corn, and be finally reorganized in the stems of wheat plants. Corn culture and wheat culture, if skilfully and scientifically conducted, go admirably together. Of the two, more bread, more meat, and more money can be made from the corn than from the wheat plant in this country. But so soon as what is called "high farming" in England, shall be popular in the United States, the crops both of wheat and corn grown here will demonstrate how little we appreciate the vast superiority of our climate for the economical feeding and clothing of the human family, over that of our "mother country." In several counties in England, it takes from twelve to fourteen months to make a crop of wheat, after the seed is put into the ground. At or near the first of December, 1847, Mr. M.B. Moore, of Augusta, Ga., sowed a bushel of seed wheat on an acre and a half of ground, which gave him over thirty bushels by the middle of May following. This ground was then ploughed, and a fine crop of hay made and cut in July. After this, a good crop of peas was raised, and harvested in October, before it was time to seed with wheat again, as was done. While the mean temperature of England is so low, that corn plants will not ripen, in Georgia one can grow a crop of wheat in the winter, and nearly two crops of corn in succession in the summer and autumn, before it is time to sow wheat again. No writer, to my knowledge, has done full justice to the vast agricultural resources of the southern portion of the American confederacy. But there is much of its soil which is not rich in the elements of bread. Nothing but the careful study of these elements, and of the natural laws by which they are governed, can remedy defects in wheat culture anywhere, but especially on very poor land.

All alkaline minerals, such as potash, soda, lime, ammonia, and magnesia, hasten the solution of the several insoluble compounds of silica in the soil. This fact should be remembered by every farmer. To undertake an explanation of the various ways in which alkalies, oxides, and acids act and re-act upon each other in the surface of the earth, when subject to tillage, would be out of place in this outline view of wheat-growing in the United States. I may state the fact, however, as ascertained by many analyses, that a cubic foot of good wheat soil in the valley of the Genesee, contains twenty times more lime than do the poorest soils in South Carolina and Georgia. The quantity of gypsum, bone-earth, and magnesia, available as food for plants, varies in an equal degree. Not only lime, but phosphoric acid, potash, and magnesia are lacking in most soils, if one desires to raise a large crop of wheat, and have the seeds of the grain weigh as much as the straw. In a number of the specimens of wheat analyzed by Prof. Way, when cut close to the roots, the dry wheat outweighed the dry straw.

Having secured the growth of a bright, hard, glassy stem, the next thing is to develop a long, well-filled ear. To this end, available ammonia or nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, and magnesia are indispensable. Ammonia (spirits of hartshorn) is necessary to aid in forming the combustible part of the seed. The other ingredients named are required to assist in making the incombustible part of the grain. In 100 parts of the ash of wheat, there are the following substances, viz.:--

Silica 2.28 Phosphoric acid 45.73 Sulphuric acid 0.32 Lime 2.06 Magnesia 10.94 Peroxide of iron 2.04 Potash 32.24 Soda 4.06 Chloride of sodium 0.27 ----- Total 99.94

The quantity of ash in wheat varies from 1¼ to 2½ per cent.; the average is about 1.69. The amount of phosphoric acid in any given quantity of the ash of wheat varies from forty to fifty per cent. of the same.

Seeds that have a thick cuticle or bran, and little gluten, contain a smaller per centage of phosphoric acid, and more silica. About one-third of the ash is potash; in nearly all cases magnesia varies from nine to fourteen per cent.; lime from one and a half to six per cent. Peroxide of iron is seldom as abundant as in the ash above given, and the same is true of soda. Chloride of sodium is common salt, and exists in a small quantity. Salt is beginning to be much used as a fertilizer on wheat lands in western New York. It operates indirectly to increase the crop.

The following may be taken as about the average composition of the ash of wheat-straw. It is "Specimen No. 40," in the tables of Prof. Way, and I copy verbatim all that is said upon the subject: [Soil, sandy; subsoil, stone and clay; geological formation, silurian; drained; eight years in tillage; crop, after carrots, twenty tons per acre; tilled December, 1845; heavy crop; mown, August 12th; carried, August 20th; estimated yield, forty-two bushels per acre; straw long, grain good, weight sixty-two pounds to the bushel.] Length of straw, forty-two inches.

Relation of Grain, Straw and Chaff.

Actual quantities. Per centage. Grain 1633 lbs. 45.15 Straw 1732 47.89 Chaff 250 6.96 ---- Total 3615 lbs.

Specific gravity of grain 1.396 Weight of grain per acre 2604 lbs. " " straw " " 2,775 3/10ths. " " chaff " " 401 1/6th.

Mineral Matter in an Acre. Wheat 44 ½ lbs. Straw 113 Chaff 47 1/6th. ----------- Total 204 7/10ths.

Analysis of the Ash of the Grain. Per centage. Removed from an acre. lbs. ozs. Silica 5.63 2 8 Phosphoric acid 43.98 19 8 Sulphuric acid .21 0 1 1/6th. Lime 1.80 0 12 8/10ths. Magnesia 11.69 5 3 2/10ths. Peroxide of iron .29 0 2 Potash 34.51 15 5 6/10ths. Soda 1.87 0 13 3/10ths. ----- --- ---------- Total 99.98 44 6 l/10ths.

Analysis of Straw with its proportion of Chaff. Per centage. Removed per acre. lbs. ozs. Silica 69.36 111 1 7/10ths. Phosphoric acid 5.24 8 6 7/10ths. Sulphuric acid 4.45 7 2 2/10ths. Lime 6.96 11 2 2/20ths. Magnesia 1.45 2 5 Peroxide of iron .29 1 2 Potash 11.79 18 14 Soda none none. Chloride of sodium " " ----- --- ----------- Total 99.54 160 1 l/10ths.

If we subtract the 111 pounds of silica from 160 pounds of minerals in the straw and chaff, the difference between what are left and those in wheat, is not great. As the stems and leaves of wheat plants grow before their seeds, if all the phosphoric acid, potash, and lime available in the soil is consumed before the organization of the seeds begin, from what source is nature to draw her supply of these ingredients to form a good crop of wheat? If the farmer could reverse the order of nature, and grow a good supply of seeds first, and make straw afterwards, then many a one would harvest more wheat and less straw. But the cultivator must grow the stems, roots, and leaves of wheat, corn, and cotton, before nature will begin to form the seeds of these several plants: and every one should know that the atoms in the soil, which are consumed in organizing the bodies of cultivated plants, are, in the main, identical in kind with those required to make their seeds. The proportions, however, differ very considerably. Thus, while 100 parts of the ash of wheat contain an average of 45 parts of phosphoric acid, 100 of the ash of the wheat straw contain an average of only 5 parts. The difference is as 9 to 1. In magnesia the disparity is only a little less striking.

In what are called the organic elements of wheat (the combustible part) there are seven times more nitrogen in 100 pounds than in a like weight of straw. Hence, if the farmer converts straw into manure or compost, with the view ultimately of transforming it into wheat, it will take 7 pounds of straw to yield nitrogen enough to form one pound of wheat. Few are aware how much labor and money is annually lost by the feeding of plants on food not strictly adapted to the peculiar wants of nature in organizing the same. It is true, that most farmers depend on the natural fertility of the soil to nourish their crops, with perhaps the aid of a little stable and barn-yard manure, given to a part of them. As the natural resources of the land begin to fail, the supply must be drawn from other quarters than an exhausted field, or its cultivator will receive a poor return for the labor bestowed.

In Great Britain, where the necessity for liberal harvests and artificial fertilizing is far greater than in this country, the yield of wheat is said to be governed in a good degree by the amount of ammonia available as food for growing plants. This opinion is founded not at all on theory, but altogether on the teachings of experience. But in England, limeing and manuring are so much matters of constant practice, that few soils are so improverished as many are in the United States, With land as naked and sterile as is much that can be found in the whole thirteen colonies between Maine and Alabama, English farmers could hardly pay their tithes and poor rates, to say nothing of other taxes, rent, and the coat of producing their annual crops.

The first step towards making farming permanently profitable in all the older States, is to accumulate in a cheap and skilful manner the raw material for good harvests in the soil.

Over a territory so extensive as the United States, it is extremely difficult to lay down any rule that will be applicable even to a moiety of the republic. There are, however, many beds of marl, greensand, gypsum, limestone, saline and vegetable deposits available for the improvement of farming lands, in the Union. In addition to these, there are extraneous resources, the ocean with its fish, its shells, its sea-weeds, and its fertilizing salts, which will yield an incalculable amount of bread and meat. In the subsoil and the atmosphere, every agriculturist has resources which are not duly appreciated by one in a thousand.

As a general rule, the soil must be deepened before it can be permanently improved. One acre of soil 12 inches deep is worth more to make money from, by cultivating it, than four acres 6 inches in depth. Thus, admit that a soil 6 inches deep will produce 14 bushels of wheat, and that 12 bushels will pay all expenses and give 2 for profit. Four acres of this land will yield a net income of only 8 bushels. Now double the depth of the soil and the crop: making the latter 28 bushels, instead of 14 per acre, and the former 12 inches deep, in the place of 6. Fifteen bushels instead of twelve, will now pay all annual expenses, and leave a net profit not of two but of thirteen bushels per acre. If small crops will pay expenses, large ones will make a fortune; provided the farmer knows how to enrich his land in the most economical way. It is quite as easy to pay too dear for improving lands, as to lose money at any other business whatever.

The first thing for the operator to do is to acquire all the knowledge within his reach, from the experience of others who have done for their soils what he proposes to accomplish for his. Twenty or fifty dollars, invested in the best agricultural works in the English language, may save him thousands in the end, and double his profits in two years. The Agricultural Journals of the United States abound in information most useful to the practical farmer: and the back volumes, if collected and bound, will form a library of great value.

Rotation of Crops in connexion with Wheat Culture.--A system of tillage and rotation which will pay best in one locality, or on one quality of soil, and in a particular climate, will be found not at all adapted to other localities, different soils and latitudes. Hence, no rule can be laid down that will meet the peculiar exigencies of a farming country so extensive as the thirty States east of the Rocky Mountains. There are soils in Western New York, known to the writer, which have borne good crops of wheat every other year for more than twenty years, and produce better now than at the beginning of their cultivation. The resources of the earth in supplying the elements of wheat and corn are extremely variable. There are friable shaley rocks in Livingstone county, N.Y., which crumble and slake when exposed to the air, that abound in all the earthy minerals necessary to form good wheat. These rocks are hundreds of feet in thickness, and have furnished much of the soil in the valley of the Genesee. The Onondaga Salt Group, and other contiguous strata, which extend into Canada West, form soils of extraordinary capacity for growing wheat. Indeed, the rocks and "drift" of a district give character to its arable surface.

Nothing is more needed at this time than a good geological map of the United States, accompanied by an accurate and popularly arranged work on agricultural geology. The writer had hoped to give such a map in this report; but it is thought best to devote another year to the collection of geological surveys and facts, and to the making of more critical and extended researches before publishing.

In the matter of rotation of crops in connection with wheat culture, clover and corn are generally preferred in all the Northern, and most of the Middle States. In New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, and Illinois, so far as the writer is acquainted, a crop of wheat is made in rotation, either every third, fourth, or fifth year. Wherever wool growing is united with wheat culture, clover and wheat are the staple crops of the farm. Wool and superfine flour are exported; farmers taking nearly all the bran and shorts of the millers who purchase their wheat.

The offal of wheat makes not a little feed with chaff and cut straw. Many agriculturists grow peas, beans, turnips, beets, and carrots in large quantities, as well as clover, corn, oats, and barley. Peas and beans, both stems and pulse, when well cured, are excellent feed for sheep; and on good land they are easily grown. They prepare the soil well for wheat.

All the manure derived from sheep is husbanded with extreme care by the farmers who are gradually enriching their lands. On a deep, rich, arable soil, quite a number of sheep may be kept per acre, if highly cultivated; and their manure prepares the land for producing generous crops of wheat at a small expense. Of all business men, farmers should be the closest calculators of profit and loss.

Great care should be taken to sow good and clean seed on clean land. Previous to putting the seed in the ground (drilling is preferable to sowing broadcast), wheat should be soaked five or six hours--not longer--in strong brine. After this, add a peck or more of recently slaked lime to each bushel, and shovel it over well, that the lime may cover each seed. It is now ready to commit to the earth. Most good farmers roll the earth after seeding: some before.

In the Southern States, planters are in the habit of permitting their wheat to remain too long in the field after it is cradled, and in small shocks. Good barns are too scarce in all the planting States, and in some others.

Summer fallowing is generally abandoned, except in cases where old pastures and meadows, new prairie, or bushy bad fields are to be subdued. As a general rule, friable soils need not be ploughed long before the intended crop is expected to begin to grow. Among fertilizers, wood ashes, salt, bones, lime, guano, and poudrette have been used in wheat culture with decided advantage. In Great Britain, manure derived from the consumption of turnips and other root crops by sheep and neat cattle, is much used in preparing land for wheat. Sheep, clover and peas, corn and hogs, rotate well to insure the economical production of this staple. Manure is usually applied to the crop preceding wheat.

It may be interesting to some readers to see in this place the mean result of several organic analyses of wheat made by M. Boussingault. Wheat, dried at 230 deg. in vacuo, was found to contain:

Carbon 46.1 Oxygen 43.4 Hydrogen 5.8 Nitrogen 2.3 Ash 2.4 ----- Total 100.0

Charcoal may be regarded as a fair representative of carbon, and water as the representative of both oxygen and hydrogen. It will be seen by the above figures, that over 95 per cent. of wheat is made up of elements which greatly abound in nature in an available condition; and the same is true of all other plants. It is doubtless owing to this circumstance, that a comparatively small quantity of guano and other highly concentrated fertilizers are able to produce crops five, ten, and fifty times greater than their own weight. Azote, or nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, or nitric acid, (aqua fortis), and the incombustible part of plants are the elements which least abound in soils, and should be husbanded with the greatest care.

The Hon. C.P. Holcomb, of Delaware, furnishes some interesting remarks on the wheat crop of the United States:--

A short wheat crop in England, Mr. Webster says, affects the exchanges of the civilized world. In the vast increase of population in the absence of long wars and famines, the importance of this staple is constantly increasing. Its cultivation is the most attractive and pleasant of all descriptions of husbandry; and its rewards are generally remunerating, when the soil and climate are favorable, and the markets are not too distant.

It is important to know what our relation is to this staple of the world, and what is, and what is likely to be, our contribution to the great aggregate of production. Beyond feeding our own great and rapidly increasing population, it probably will not soon, if ever, be very great. It is a mistake, I apprehend, to suppose our country is naturally a great wheat-producing country. The wheat district at present, in comparison to the whole extent of our territory, is limited. It is confined, so far as any appreciable amount is grown, to about ten degrees of latitude and twenty degrees of longitude, and embracing about one half the number of the States. The crop of 1848 is estimated by the Commissioner of Patents at one hundred and twenty-six millions, and our population at twenty-two millions. This gives a less number of bushels, per head, to our population than the consumption of Great Britain, which is generally set down at one hundred and sixty millions, or six bushels to each inhabitant. But with us Indian corn is a great substitute; so are potatoes and oats in Ireland and Scotland. Still our consumption of wheat, including the black population, is undoubtedly less, per head, than theirs. But in the absence of any certain data, to ascertain either the actual production, or our consumption, our only safe course is to take the actual excess, or the amount exported, after supplying our own wants. This, for the fiscal year 1848, being the crop of 1847, amounted, in flour and wheat, to twelve millions two hundred and ninety-four thousand one hundred and seventy-five bushels, although Mr. Burke's figures would show a surplus of some forty millions! That there was not, and never has been any such surplus in the country is very evident, for the foreign demand was all the time good, and drew away all we had to part with.

The crop of 1848 was, undoubtedly, one of the best and largest we have ever grown; yet I have ascertained, by application at the registrar's office, that the exports for the fiscal year 1842, amounted in wheat to but 1,527,534 bushels, and in flour to 2,108,013 barrels, or less by 226,676 bushels than the exports of 1848. Twelve millions is comparatively a small surplus in a favorable season, for a country with a population of twenty-two millions of inhabitants. The loss of a small per cent. in an unfavorable season would at once sink this excess.

Let us now notice more in detail the different sections of our country as adapted to the growth of wheat.

The New England States, some of them aided in their recent enterprises by bounties offered by the state governments, have failed to insure such success as is likely to encourage them to continue the culture of wheat; or, at all events, to induce them to aim at increasing their product to any considerable extent, since, as one of their own farmers candidly states, "the attempt to grow a crop of wheat is an experiment."

The States south of North Carolina, and inclusive of a part of Delaware, have never heretofore succeeded in growing wheat to any considerable extent, though there were periods in their history--before the general introduction of the culture of cotton--when, if it had been practicable to make the cereal one of their staples, they would certainly have done so. Besides the common dangers from rust and blight, the fly, and sometimes the frost--as the past season--they have a most formidable enemy in the weevil. In Upper Georgia, in the Cherokee country in particular, wheat will probably be cultivated to some extent, and a limited cultivation of it by the planters for their own use will probably continue in several of the southern states. But the cotton, rice, and sugar states, like the manufacturing states of New England, will not soon, if ever, add much to the supply of wheat; the rich staples of the former, and the varied husbandry and grazing of the latter, suited to supply the immediate wants of a manufacturing population, will be likely to receive their attention in preference.

Kentucky and Tennessee, though their agricultural history dates back beyond the settlement of the north-western states, have already been out-stripped by at least two of them. In neither of these states has the culture of wheat ever been put forward, and regarded as one of their best staples, or as very favorably adapted to their soil and climate. Still, notwithstanding the formidable danger from rust, the production of Tennessee is estimated to be equal to nine bushels to each person, and Kentucky about seven and a half bushels. Missouri may be classed with Kentucky and Tennessee, which she much resembles in soil, climate, and productions, except that she raises much less wheat than either, her crop being placed by the Commissioner of Patents at only two millions, or less than four bushels to each resident of the state. But, besides that the experience of the past discourages the idea that these fine states are likely to become great wheat-producing states, the fact that the staple of cotton may be cultivated over a considerable portion of one of them, and that hemp and tobacco are among the valuable products of the other two; that Tennessee is the very largest corn-producing state in the Union, showing her soil and climate are particularly adapted to this description of grain, and that Kentucky and Missouri are unsurpassed as grazing countries, and there is little ground to suppose that any change in their husbandry will very greatly or suddenly augment the production of wheat. Let us come now to the States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and that fabulous wheat district or territory to the west of these again, from which, according to the vaticinations of some, may be drawn supplies of wheat to feed the population of both Europe and America, or fill warehouses that would sustain our people through a longer famine than that which afflicted the people of Egypt! I cannot help thinking that, to some extent, this generally fertile district of country has, so far as the production of wheat is concerned, been "shouted forth in acclamations hyperbolical." My own impression in regard to it is, including the states last named, derived in part from observation, from intercourse and correspondence with intelligent agriculturists of these states, and from a careful examination of a geological survey of two of them, that the soil and climate of this whole district of country are not particularly favorable to the production of wheat. The popular idea I know to be otherwise. I am not going to dwell upon it, or to examine the subject at any length. There is a single remark that may help to explain the reputation that has gone abroad in reference to the wheat-producing qualities of these lands. The prairie sod, when first broken up, generally produces wheat well, often most abundantly, provided it escapes the rust, insect, &c. But, when this ground has been much furrowed, becomes completely pulverized by exposure to the atmosphere, the light and friable mould, of which most of it is composed, drenched, as a good deal of it is, at times, with surface water, fails to hold or sustain the roots of the plant, it is thrown out, or winter-killed; and "winter-killed," "winter-killed," "winter-killed," we all know, is among the catalogue of disasters that almost annually reach us. Sometimes, when escaping the winter, the high winds of spring blow this light soil from the roots, exposing them to such an extent, that, in a dry time in particular, the wheat often perishes. When breaking up fresh prairies, there was much encouragement and promise of hope, but which, I believe, has not been, nor is likely to be, realized by their husbandmen, in the degree that early experiments induced them to look for.

As appears by the last report of the Commissioner of Patents, the crop of Illinois, in reference to population and production, is below that of Kentucky, and both Indiana and Illinois are below that of Tennessee. The crop of Indiana is set down at 8,300,000, her population at 1,000,000, or equal to 8½ bushels a-head. The production of Illinois is stated at 5,400,000, her population at 800,000, or less than seven bushels to each inhabitant--and both these "fair and fertile plains" are still farther behind the old "battered moors" of Maryland and Virginia.

Much of their wheat, too, is spring wheat, sown often on land where the fall crop had winter-killed, increasing the number of bushels much more than the value of the crop. I have heard it estimated that full one-third of all the wheat shipped from Chicago was of this description. Chicago is their great wheat depot. Several millions of bushels are shipped from this point, the contributions from parts of three States, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois; and which concentration of their joint product at this new western city, or something else, seems to have imparted to each and all these states the reputation of great wheat-growing states, though they are, in fact, with the advantage of a virgin soil, behind several of the western states, and two at least of the eastern or Atlantic States. The geological explorations of the Hon. Robert Dale Owen, undertaken under the authority of Congress, throws much light on the character of the soil of Wisconsin and Iowa, and the description given undoubtedly characterizes much of that region of country. The specific gravity of the soil, Mr. Owen states to be remarkably light; but what he represents to be a "striking feature in the character of the Iowa and Wisconsin soils, is the entire absence, in the most of the specimens of clay, and in a large proportion of silex." Again, he speaks of their being particularly adapted to the growth of the sugar-beet, which he truly says, "flourishes best in a loose fertile mould." Again, he detected no phosphates; but they might be there, as the virgin soil produced good wheat. So does the virgin soil of most of the prairie land.--"The soil was rich in geine," &c. But I submit that this does not describe a wheat soil, hardly in any one particular. Liebig tells us, that "however great the proportion of humus in a soil, it does not necessarily follow it will produce wheat"--and cites the country of Brazil.

Again, he adds, "how does it happen that wheat does not flourish on a sandy soil (which much of the soil of these states is described to be), and that a calcareous soil is also unsuitable to its growth, unless it be mixed with a considerable quantity of clay?"

The late Mr. Colman, in his European Agriculture, states, that "the soil preferred for wheat (in England) is a strong soil with a large proportion of clay. But the question after all is, not whether these States cannot grow wheat, and in comparatively large quantities, for we know that while their lands are fresh, they can and do--but whether, considering the hazard of the crop from winter-killing, the rust, the fly--the risk from the two former being equal to a large per cent. premium of insurance, they are not likely to find their interest in grazing, in raising and feeding stock, instead of attempting to extend their wheat husbandry. Lord Brougham has said, that grazing countries are always the most prosperous, and their population the most contented and happy. The meat markets of Great Britain are likely to prove better and more stable for us, than their grain markets.

The Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, a distinguished citizen, and large farmer of Indiana--distinguished throughout the Union for his zeal in the cause of agriculture--thus expresses himself on this subject: "After a full consideration of the subject, I am satisfied that stock-raising at the West is much more profitable than raising grain. Indeed, an examination of the north-western States shows a vast difference in the wealth of the grazier over those who crop with grain. The profits of wheat appear well in expectation on paper, but the prospect is blasted by a severe winter, appearance of insects, bad weather in harvesting, in threshing, for there are but few barns at the West, or transporting to market, or last, a fluctuation in the market itself."

Such is the opinion of Mr. Ellsworth, the result of observation and experience, himself largely interested in ascertaining the safest and surest course to be pursued. The destiny he has indicated for this beautiful fertile region of country, will undoubtedly be fulfilled; it will become a great pastoral, stock-raising, and stock-feeding country.

Ohio stands now, as she did at the census of 1840, at the head of all the wheat States, in the aggregate of production; her crop of 1848 being estimated at 20,000,000, which is about equal to 10½ bushels per head of her population. The geological survey of this State, and the character of the soil, as described in the Reports of the Board of Agriculture, in a large range of her counties, as a "clayey soil," "clayey loam," "clay subsoil," &c., shows Ohio to possess a fine natural wheat soil, if indeed, alter thirty years of a generally successful wheat husbandry, such additional testimony or confirmation was necessary.

Michigan has also been successful in the cultivation of wheat. Her burr-oak openings are unsurpassed in producing wheat. They are intervening ridges between low grounds, or marshes and bodies of water, and their location not generally considered very healthy. A doubt has also been suggested as to whether this soil, being a clayey loam, resting on a sandy and gravelly subsoil, is likely to wear as well as some other portions of the fertile soil of the State. The Commissioner of Patents puts her crop for 1848 at 10,000,000 of bushels, which is equal to 23½ bushels to each inhabitant! By the census of 1840, the population of Michigan was 212,267; number of bushels of wheat, 2,157,108. Her population in 1848 is estimated at 412,000. While she has barely doubled her population, she has, according to the above estimate, more than quadrupled her production of wheat--increased it at the rate of about one million bushels a year for eight consecutive years, making the quantity she grows to each head of her population more than double that of any State in the Union.

We can at least say, and appeal to the past history of the country to show it, that for a period of more than one hundred years, the supply of the Atlantic wheat States has generally been constant, and for the most part abundant. They have furnished the "staff of life" to several generations of men, and cotemporary with it, an annual amount for export, that materially assisted in regulating the exchanges of the country.

England requires for her own consumption, upon the average of years, somewhere about 32,000,000 bushels of wheat more than she produces. The average annual entries of foreign wheat for consumption in the United Kingdom, for the sixteen years ending with 1845, were about nine and a half million bushels. Inasmuch as the average number of acres in wheat crop were in 1846 about 4,600,000, the average produce 142,200,000 bushels, or over 30 bushels to the acre--an improvement in the harvest to the extent of two bushels per acre, will destroy the demand, and a deficiency to that extent will double it. Now as there is an available surplus at the neighbouring ports in Europe, in the Baltic and the Black Sea, of about 18,000,000 of bushels only, whenever there is a demand for home consumption, for, say 20,000,000 bushels, as was the case in each of the five years from 1838 to 1843, larger shipments from America will take place; but whenever there are good harvests, as in the six years from 1831 to 1837, in which the deficiency only ranged from 230,000 to 1,000,000 bushels, the trade is not worth notice. It must be remarked, however, that in a country like Britain, where capital is abundant, consumption great, speculation rife, the harvest so uncertain, and the stake so great that a cloudy day transfers thousands from one broker to another, the importation cannot be closely assimilated to the actual wants of the country. The ordinary yield of grain in the United Kingdom after deductions for seed, is about 400,000,000 bushels, and as nearly 100,000,000 bushels of grain and meal were imported in 1847, there must have been a general deficiency of nearly twenty-five per cent.

In the "Statistics of the British Empire," the average extent of land under grain culture, &c., in 1840, was estimated as follows:--

ENGLAND AND WALES. Produce per Acre. Total Produce. Wheat 3,800,000 3¼ quarters. 12,350,000 Barley and rye. 900,000 4 " 3,600,000 Oats and beans. 3,000,000 4½ " 13,500,000

SCOTLAND. Wheat 220,000 3 660,000 Barley 280,000 3½ 980,000 Oats 1,275,000 4½ 5,737,500

In Scotland, ten years ago, 150,000 acres were reckoned to be under cultivation with wheat, 300,000 with barley, and 1,300,000 with oats, which is the great crop and chief food of the people.

Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his "Statistics of British Commerce," 1852, states--"The annual average production of all sorts of corn in the United Kingdom has been estimated by competent parties at rather more than 60,000,000 quarters, and £80,000,000 in value; but in the absence of general official returns, we cannot vouch for its accuracy, although, from various comparisons, there are reasonable grounds for assuming this calculation to be as nearly correct as possible. Some persons in the corn trade imagine the aggregate production to approach almost 80,000,000 quarters; but I cannot find any data extant to warrant such an extended assumption."

The estimated produce of wheat, in quarters, and acreage, he states as follows:--

Quarters. Acreage. England 15,200,000 3,800,000 Ireland 1,800,000 600,000 Scotland 1,225,000 350,000 ---------- --------- Total 15,225,000 4,750,000

The average price of wheat per quarter in the last thirteen years, in England and Wales, has been as follows:--

s. d. 1840 66 4 1841 64 4 1842 57 3 1843 50 1 1844 51 3 1845 50 10 1846 54 8 1847 69 9 1848 50 6 1849 44 3 1850 40 4 1851 38 7 1852 41 0

The best wheat, as well as the greatest quantity, is raised in the midland counties. From two and a half to three Winchester bushels per acre are required for seed, and the average produce varies from twenty-two to thirty-two bushels per acre.

THE CONTINENT.

The quantity of wheat raised in France in 1835 was 71,697,484 hectolitres, of which eleven millions was required for seed. The average produce per hectare was stated at thirteen and a half hectolitres.

The total grain and pulse raised in that year was set down at 204,165,194 hectolitres.

Hectolitres. Maslin 12,281,020 Barley 18,184,316 Rye 32,999,950 Buckwheat 5,175,933 Maize and Millet 6,951,179 Oats 49,460,057 Peas and Beans 3,318,691

Oats, next to wheat is the largest crop grown in France, for the support of two million horses and three and a half million mules and asses.

According to the "Annuaire de l'Economie Politique de la Statistique," there were 13,900,000 hectares (each about 2½ acres) under cultivation with the cereals in France.

The primary article of consumption is wheat. At the rate of three hectolitres (1 qr. ¼ bush.) to each individual, every family would require thirteen to fourteen hectolitres, costing 210 to 280 francs (£8 15s. to £11 10s.) according as the price varies, between its present value fifteen francs, and its occasional cost twenty francs. In the reign of Louis XVI, Arthur Young referred with horror to the black bread eaten by the French. Since that time half a century has passed, and whilst the agricultural produce in France has tripled in value, the labourers who produce it continue, from custom and necessity, to eat a detestable bread made from rye, barley, or peas and potatoes; and, to make the matter still worse, it is badly baked, without yeast, and being sometimes kept for weeks, it becomes covered with mould, and altogether presents an appearance enough to turn the stomach of a savage.

According to Mr. McGregor's estimate some ten or twelve years ago, the land under wheat culture was 13,808,171 acres, producing 191,000,000 bushels; and 11,715 acres with spelt, or red wheat, the yield of which was 374,000 bushels.

The other crops were--

Acres Crops, bushels Maslin 2,251,438 32,000,000 Rye 6,369,879 76,000,000 Barley 2,936,453 45,000,000 Oats 7,416,297 134,000,000 Maize 1,561,372 20,000,000

Wheat and oats are grown all over Russia, which is the greatest corn land in the world.

In Austrian Italy the yield of grain has been reckoned at three million quarters, but this seems rather low. About one-half of this is maize and rye, and a quarter wheat.

It is reckoned that eight million quarters of grain are raised yearly in Denmark, but this seems doubtful. In 1839, a million quarters of grain, however, were shipped from that kingdom.

BRITISH AMERICAN PROVINCES.

According to the census return of 1852, the number of acres under grain crops, and the produce in Canada, were as follows:--

Lower Canada--Produce. Upper Canada--Produce.

Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Lower Canada--Produce Upper Canada--Produce Acres Bushels Acres Bushels Wheat 427,111 3,075,868 782,115 12,692,852 Barley 42,927 668,626 29,916 625,875 Rye 46,007 341,443 38,968 479,651 Oats 540,422 8,967,594 421,684 11,193,844 Buckwheat 51,781 530,417 44,265 639,381 Maize 22,669 400,287 70,571 1,666,513

Flour may be valued at 21s. the barrel.

The grain crops in Lower Canada are taken in the minot, and not in the bushel, except in the townships. In like manner, the acres are taken in arpents. An arpent is about one-seventh less than an acre; and a minot about one-eighth (some say one-twelfth) more than a bushel.

During the years 1850-1, Western Canada exported upwards of two million barrels of flour, and three million bushels of wheat, being equivalent to 13,600,000 bushels of wheat. The value of the wheat and flour exported in 1851 was £404,033. Canadian flour, like that of Genessee, is of very superior quality.

WHEAT.--UPPER CANADA. Bushels. To each inhabitant. Wheat crop of 1841 was 3,221,991 or 6.60 Do. 1847 7,558,773 " 10.45 Do. 1849 9,706,082 " 12.08 Do. 1851 12,692,852 " 13.33

The quantity of land under wheat in "Upper Canada was 782,115 acres, showing a yield of about sixteen and three quarter bushels to the acre. The wheat produced in 1852 was valued at nearly two million pounds sterling.

LOWER CANADA. Minots. Wheat crop in 1843 was 942,835 or 1.36 Do. 1851 3,075,868 " 3.46

UNITED STATES. Bushels. Wheat crop in 1839 was 84,832,272 or 4.96 Estimated by patent office 1847 114,245,500 " 5.50 Crop of wheat 1849 100,684,627 " 4.33

In order, however, to institute a fairer comparison, I will divide the States into three classes, viz.:--1st. States growing over six million bushels.

Bushels. Population. Bush, per head. Pennsylvania 15,367,691 2,311,736 6.65 Ohio 14,487,351 1,980,408 7.32 New York 13,131,498 4,148,182 3.16 Virginia 11,232,616 1,421,661 7.90 Illinois 9,414,575 851,471 11.06 Indiana 6,214,458 988,416 6.28 ---------- ---------- ----- Total 69,847,189 11,701,924 5.97

2nd. States growing over one million and less than six million bushels.

Bushels. Population. Bush, per head. Michigan 4,925,889 397,654 12.39 Wisconsin 4,286,131 305,191 14.04 Maryland 4,494,681 583,031 7.71 Missouri 2,981,652 682,043 4.38 Kentucky 2,140,822 982,405 2.15 North Carolina 2,130,102 868,903 2.45 Tennessee 1,619,381 1,002,525 1.61 New Jersey 1,601,190 481,555 3.27 Iowa 1,530,581 192,214 7.96 Georgia 1,088,534 905,999 1.21 South Carolina 1,066,277 668,507 1.60 ---------- --------- ---- Total 27,865,240 7,078,131 3.93

3rd. The remaining States and territories.

2,791,470 4,466,246 0.63

Total wheat crop in the United States, 100,503,899 bushels. Population, 23,246,301. Bushels per head, 4.33.

Increase:--U. States, 1839 84,823,272 bushels " 1849 100,503,896 " ----------- 15,680,627

Or 18.49 per cent. in ten years.

Upper Canada, 1841 3,221,991 " " 1851 12,692,825 " ---------- 9,470,861

Or nearly quadrupling itself in ten years.

Bushels. Population. Bush. per head. Pr. Ed. Island 1847 219,787 62,678 3.50 Newfoundland 1850 297,157 276,117 1.08 New Brunswick 1850 206,635 193,800 1.06

The Eastern States in 1849 raised 1,090,896 bushels. Population 2,668,106, or 0.41 each.

The population of Upper Canada is 952,904, and allowing five bushels for each, 4,760,020 bushels; and for seed at one and a half bushels per acre 1,173,173 bushels = 5,933,193; leaves for export 6,761,668 bushels. More than sufficient to supply the consumption of the whole of the Eastern States.

"Were the population of Lower Canada to consume flour at the given rate, it would require--

Bushels. 890,261 at five bushels each 4,451,305 Seed 640,000 --------- 5,091,305 Grown 3,075,868 --------- 2,015,437

Leaving a surplus of wheat in Canada 4,746,231 bushels, or at four and a half bushels for each, equal to 1,054,718 barrels of flour.

Professor Johnston in his report on New Brunswick, furnishes some valuable information as to the produce there.

The following table of average weights indicates a capacity in the soil and climate to produce grain of a very superior quality:--

----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+------- | | | | | Buck- | COUNTIES | Wheat | Barley | Oats | Rye | Wheat | Maize ----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+------- Saint John |61 | -- |41 | -- | 50 | -- Westmoreland |60 | 48 |35½ | -- | 48 | 59 Albert |58 | 50 |34¾ | 50 | 45 | -- Charlotte |59 | 45 |39 | -- | 57 | 59 King's |59½ | 48 |37 | -- | 48 | 60 Queen's |58½ | 50 |36½ | 53 | 43 | 61 Sunbury |57 | 55 |38 | 53 | 47 | 57 York |63 | 50 |38 | -- | 51 | 60 Carleton |64 | -- |38 | -- | 52 | 65 Kent |63 | -- |37 | -- | 50 | -- Northumberland |62 | 53 |37 | -- | 45 | 57 Gloucester |63 | 51 |39 | -- | -- | -- Restigouche |63 | 48 |42 | -- | -- | -- ----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+------

The general average weights for the whole Province are, for

Wheat 60 11-13 lbs. Barley 50 " Oats 38 " Rye 52½ " Buckwheat 48 8-11 " Indian Corn 59½ " Potatoes 63 " Turnips 66 " Carrots 63 "

The annexed statement shows not only the average yield per acre of each description of crop, but affords an opportunity of contrasting it with the like products in the State of New York:--

AVERAGE PRODUCE PER IMPERIAL ACRE.

New Brunswick State of New York Bushels Bushels Wheat 20 14 Barley 29 16 Oats 34 26 Rye 20½ 9½ Buckwheat 33¾ 14 Indian Corn 41¾ 25 Potatoes 226 90 Turnips 460 88 Hay 1¾ --

A possibility of error in striking the averages is suggested in the report; and to guard against it the following statement of the averages derived from the minimum returns is given, viz.:--Wheat 17¾ bushels; Barley, 27; Oats, 33; Buckwheat, 28; Rye, 18; Indian Corn, 36½; Potatoes, 204; Turnips, 389. The diminished averages scarcely affect the question of productiveness, as in every particular they exceed the averages for the favored Genesee Valley and the southern shores of Lake Ontario.

While the productiveness of the soil is thus proven by the statements of most experienced farmers, the average prices appear to be equally favorable to the Provincial growers. The following tables of averages set this in a clear point of view:--

AVERAGE PRICES OF GRAIN PER BUSHEL AND PER QUARTER.

Per Bushel Per Quarter Wheat 7s. 6d. 60s. 0d. Barley 4 2½ 33 8 Oats 2 0 16 0 Rye 4 10 38 8 Buckwheat 3 9 30 0 Indian Corn 4 8 37 4

ROOT CROPS AND HAY.

Potatoes 1s. 11d. per bushel. Turnips 1 2 " Eng. Hay 49 0 per ton. Carrots 2 5 per bushel. Man. Wurtzel 2 1 " Marsh Hay 20 0 per ton.

AVERAGE MONEY VALUE OF AN ACRE OF EACH CROP. New Brunswick Canada West State of Ohio Wheat £ 6 13 0 £2 4 7 £2 19 0 Barley 5 13 7½ 1 19 4½ 2 4 0 Oats 6 3 6 1 11 0 1 13 9 Rye 4 7 0 1 5 10½ 1 12 4 Buckwheat 5 5 0 3 5 0 1 16 3 Indian Corn 8 10 4 2 14 4½ 2 15 0 Potatoes 19 11 0 6 6 0 6 9 4½

On a review of the foregoing and other tables, Professor Johnston has drawn the following conclusions:--

"That grain and roots generally can be raised more cheaply in the Province of New Brunswick than in New York, Ohio, or Upper Canada; and that the Province ought to be able to compete with those countries and drive them from its home markets."

Such are the deductions of a skilful and scientific, practical and theoretical agriculturist, from the statements furnished by the most enterprising and successful of our colonists. Nevertheless, I cannot conceal a doubt whether all the elements of comparison have been duly weighed. The result, especially as regards wheat, is so contrary to pre-conceived opinions, that further investigations should be made. Is it not possible that, while an equality of expense in preparing the land for a wheat crop appears to have been assumed, the great care and expense necessary in New Brunswick to prepare the land, and an occasional succession of minimum returns would, to a very considerable extent, account for the supposed discrepancy?

Wheat has, from time immemorial, been a staple crop in the plains of Northern India, and especially in the Punjaub. The climate and soil are well fitted for this cereal, but owing to defects and carelessness in the agriculture and harvesting, the crops, though excellent, fall short of what most corn-growing countries produce. Further--owing to foul boats and granaries, and to the moist heat of the months immediately succeeding harvest, the wheat reaches England in a state too dirty and weevelled for market. The hard wheat is preferred by the natives in India to the soft, probably for no better cause than that the hardness of the grain more closely resembles their favorite food, rice.

BARLEY.

Oats, rye and barley, are the staple crops of northern and mountainous Europe and Asia. In England barley is grown principally in the eastern and some of the midland counties, and chiefly for malting. It is most extensively cultivated in the Himalaya and Thibet, replacing in many districts the wheat, and producing an admirable flour.

Since the establishment of the studs at Buxar, Ghazepore, &c., oats have been extensively cultivated. It is a winter crop.

Although believed to have been indigenous to the countries bordering on the torrid zone, this grain possesses the remarkable flexibility of maturing in favorable seasons and situations on the eastern continent as far north as 70 deg., and flourishes well in lat. 42 deg. south. Along the Atlantic side of the continent of America, its growth is restricted to the tract lying between the 30th and 50th parallels of north latitude, and between 30 and 40 deg. south. Near the westerly coast, its range lies principally between latitude 20 and 62 deg. north. The barley chiefly cultivated in the United States is the two-rowed variety which is generally preferred from the fulness of its grain and its freedom from smut. Barley has never been much imported from that country, as the Americans have been rather consumers than producers. The consumption of barley there in 1850 in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors amounted to 3,780,000 bushels, and according to the census returns, the quantity of barley raised was 4,161,504 bushels in 1840, and 5,167,213 bushels in 1850. In this country barley is extensively used for malting, distilling, and making beer; large quantities are consumed in Scotland, or carried into England.

In Prussia, about ten and a half million hectolitres of barley are annually raised. In the Canary Isles, about 354,000 bushels are annually exported. In Van Diemen's Land in 1844, 174,405 bushels of barley were grown on 12,466 acres.

The quantity of barley made into malt in the United Kingdom in the year ending 10th October, 1850, was 5,183,617 quarters, of which about four million quarters were used by 8,500 maltsters. The quantity of malt charged with duty in the year ending 5th January, 1851, was 636,641 tons; the average price per quarter, 26s. 2d.

Barley is at present extensively cultivated in the temperate districts and islands of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In Spain, Sicily, the Canaries, Azores and Madeira, two crops are produced in a year. In North America its growth is principally confined to Mexico, the middle, western, and northern States of the Union, and to the British North American provinces. The introduction of barley into the American colonies may be traced back to the period of their settlement. By the year 1648 it was raised in abundance in Virginia, but soon after its culture was suffered to decline, in consequence of the more profitable and increased production of tobacco. It has also been sparingly cultivated in the regions of the middle and northern States for malting and distillation, and has been employed, after being malted, as a substitute for rice.

Barley, like wheat, has been cultivated in Syria and Egypt for more than 3,000 years, and it was not until after the Romans adopted the use of wheaten bread, that they fed their stock with this grain. It is evidently a native of a warm climate, as it is known to be the most productive in a mild season, and will grow within the tropics at an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is one of the staple crops of northern and mountainous Europe and Asia. It is the corn that, next to rice, gives the greatest weight of flour per acre, and it may be eaten with no other preparation than that of boiling. It requires little or no dressing when it is sent to the mill, having no husk, and consequently produces no bran. In this country barley is chiefly used for malting and distilling purposes. In the year 1850, 40,745,050 bushels of malt paid duty, the number of maltsters in the United Kingdom being from 8,000 to 9,000. About one and a half million quarters of barley were imported in 1849, and a little over a million quarters in 1850, principally from Denmark and Prussia. The counties in England where this grain is chiefly cultivated are Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Herts, Leicester, and Nottingham. The produce of barley on land well prepared, is from thirty to fifty bushels or more per statute acre, weighing from 45 to 55 lbs. per bushel, according to quality. It is said to contain 65 per cent. of nutritive matter, while wheat contains 78 per cent.

The estimated average produce of barley in this country may be stated as follows:--

Acres. Crop. England 1,500,000 6,375,000 Ireland 320,000 1,120,000 Scotland 450,000 1,800,000 -------- ----------- 2,270,000 9,295,000

The average produce per acre, in the United Kingdom, is 4¼ quarters in England, 3½ in Ireland, and 4 in Scotland. The prices of barley per quarter have ranged, in England, from 36s. 5d. in 1840, to 27s. 6d. in 1842. In 1847 barley reached 44s. 2d., and gradually declined to 23s. 5d, in 1850.

OATS.

Oats are principally in demand for horses, and the extraordinary increase of the latter has occasioned a proportional increase in the culture of oats. They are grown more especially in the north and north-eastern counties; in the midland counties their culture is less extensive, but it is prevalent throughout most parts of Wales.

Nearly twice as much oats as wheat is raised in the United Kingdom, but the proportion grown in Scotland is not so large as is supposed. The following is a fair estimate of the comparative production:--

Acres. Produce. England 2,500,000 12,500,000 Ireland 2,300,000 11,600,000 Scotland 1,300,000 6,500,000 --------- --------- Total 6,100,000 30,500,000

We import annually about l¼ million quarters from foreign countries and nearly three-fourths of a million quarters from Ireland. The average produce per acre throughout the kingdom is five quarters. The price within the last 10 years has ranged from 28s. 7d. per quarter (the famine year) to 17s. 6d.

The oat, when considered in connection with the artificial grasses, and the nourishment and improvement it affords to live stock, may be regarded as one of the most important crops produced. Its history is highly interesting, from the circumstance that in many portions of Europe it is formed into meal, and forms an important aliment for man; one sort, at least, has been cultivated from the days of Pliny, on account of its fitness as an article of diet for the sick. The country of its origin is somewhat uncertain, though the most common variety is said to be indigenous to the Island of Juan Fernandez. Another oat, resembling the cultivated variety, is also found growing wild in California.

This plant was introduced into the North American Colonies soon after their settlement by the English. It was sown by Gosnold on the Elizabeth Islands in 1602; cultivated in Newfoundland in 1622, and in Virginia, by Berkley, prior to 1648.

The oat is a hardy grain, and is suited to climates too hot and too cold either for wheat or rye. Indeed, its flexibility is so great, that it is cultivated with success in Bengal as low as latitude twenty-five degrees North, but refuses to yield profitable crops as we approach the equator. It flourishes remarkably well, when due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, throughout the inhabited parts of Europe, the northern and central portions of Asia, Australia, Southern and Northern Africa, the cultivated regions of nearly all North America, and a large portion of South America.

In the United States the growth of the oat is confined principally to the Middle, Western and Northern States. The varieties cultivated are the common white, the black, the grey, the imperial, the Hopetown, the Polish, the Egyptian, and the potato oat. The yield of the common varieties varies from forty to ninety bushels and upwards per acre, and weighing from twenty-five to fifty pounds to the bushel. The Egyptian oat is cultivated south of Tennessee, which after being sown in autumn, and fed off by stock in winter and spring, yields from ten to twenty bushels per acre. In the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors oats enter but lightly, and their consumption for this purpose does not exceed 60,000 bushels annually in the United States.

In 1840, Ireland exported 2,037,835 quarters of oats and oatmeal, but in 1846, on account of the dearth, the grain exports fell off completely. Most of the grain grown in Ireland requires to be kiln-dried, and is, therefore, of lower value.

The oat, like rye, never has entered much into our foreign commerce, as the domestic consumption has always been nearly equal to the quantity produced. The annual average exports from the United States for several years preceding 1817, were 70,000 bushels.

By the census returns of 1840, the total produce of the United States was 123,071,341 bushels; of 1850, 146,678,879 bushels.

In Prussia 43 million hectolitres of oats are annually raised.

The quantity of oats imported into the United Kingdom, has been declining within the last few years. In 1849, we imported 1,267,106 quarters; in 1850, 1,154,473; in 1851, 1,209,844; in 1852, 995,479. In 1844, 221,105 bushels of oats were raised in Van Diemen's Land on 13,864 acres.

RYE.

Rye (Secale cereale) is scarcely at all raised in this country for bread, except in Durham and Northumberland, where, however, it is usually mixed with wheat, and forms what is called "maslin,"--a bread corn in considerable use in the north of Europe.

Geographically rye and barley associate with one another, and grow upon soils the most analogous, and in situations alike exposed. It is cultivated for bread in Northern Asia, and all over the Continent of Europe, particularly in Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Holland; in the latter of which it is much employed in the manufacture of gin. It is also grown to some extent in England, Scotland and Wales. With us it is little used as an article of food compared with wheat and oats, though in the north of Europe and in Flanders it forms the principal article of human subsistence, but generally mixed with wheat, and sometimes, also with barley; 100 parts of the grain consist of 65.6 of meal, 24.2 of husk, and 10.2 of water. The quantity of rye we import seldom reaches 100,000 quarters per annum.

The straw is solid, and the internal part, being, filled with pith, is highly esteemed for Dunstable work, for thatching and litter, and it is also used to stuff horse collars.

In Ireland there are 21,000 acres under culture with rye, producing 105,000 quarters.

In North America rye is principally restricted to the Middle and Eastern States, but its culture is giving place to more profitable crops.

In Bohemia, as in most parts of Germany, rye forms the principal crop, the product being about 3,250,000 quarters annually.

The three leading varieties cultivated in the United States are the spring, winter, and southern; the latter differing from the others only from dissimilarity of climate. The yield varies from 10 to 30 or more bushels per acre, weighing from 48 to 56 pounds to the bushel. The production of rye has decreased 4,457,000 bushels in the aggregate, but in New York it is greater by the last decennial census than in 1840, by about 40 per cent. Pennsylvania, which is the largest producer, has fallen off from 6,613,373 to 4,805,160 bushels. Perhaps the general diminution in the quantity of this grain now produced may be accounted for, by supposing a corresponding decline in the demand for distilling purposes, to which a larger part of the crop is applied in New York. This grain has never entered largely into its foreign commerce, as the home consumption for a long period nearly kept pace with the supply. The amount exported from the United States in 1801, was 392,276 bushels; in 1812, 82,705 bushels; in 1813, 140,136 bushels. In 1820-1 there were exported 23,523 barrels of rye flour; in 1830-1, 19,100 barrels; in 1840-1 44,031; in 1845-6, 38,530 barrels; in 1846-7, 48,892 barrels; in 1850-1, 44,152 barrels. During the year ending June 1, 1850, there were consumed of rye about 2,144,000 bushels in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors.

According to the American census returns of 1840, the product of the country was 18,645,567 bushels; in 1850, 14,188,637 bushels. We imported 246,843 quarters of rye and rye meal, in 1849, equivalent to 49,368 tons; but in 1850 the imports were only 94,078 quarters and in 1851 they were but 26,323 quarters. About 20,000 acres are under cultivation with rye in Ireland, the produce of which is 100,000 quarters.

BUCKWHEAT.

Buckwheat belongs to the temperate and arctic climates, and is cultivated in Northern Europe, Asia, and America for the farinaceous albumen of its seeds, which, when properly cooked, affords a delicious article of food to a large portion of the human race. It also serves as excellent fodder to milch cows, and the straw, when cut green and converted into hay, and the ripened seeds, are food for cattle, poultry, and swine.

It is raised most abundantly in Central Asia and the Himalaya. In the latter country the different varieties are grown at various elevations, between 4,000 and 12,000 feet. The finest samples exhibited in 1851 were from Canada, but some of excellent quality was also shown by the United States, Russia, and Belgium. The common variety grown in Europe is the Polygonum fagopyrum, and P. emarginatum is grown in China and the East. In this country the produce varies from 2 to 4 quarters per acre. The quantity of seed sown is 5 to 8 pecks the acre. Vauquelin found 100 parts of its straw to contain 29.5 of carbonate of potash, 3.8 of sulphate of potash, 17.5 of carbonate of lime, 13.5 of carbonate of magnesia, 16.2 of silica, 10.5 of alum, and 9 of water.

It is believed to be a native of Central Asia, as it is supposed to have been first brought to Europe in the early part of the twelfth century, at the time of the crusades for the recovery of Syria from the dominion of the Saracens; while others contend that it was introduced into Spain by the Moors, four hundred years before.

The cultivation of buckwheat, in one or other of its species, is principally confined to Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, Tartary, Japan, Algeria, Canada, and the middle and northern portions of the United States.

In America from 30 to 45 bushels per acre may be considered as an average yield in favorable seasons and situations, but 60 or more bushels are not unfrequently produced.

According to the census returns of 1840, the annual quantity raised in the United States was 7,291,743 bushels; of 1850, 8,950,916 bushels.

The average annual imports of buckwheat into this country have not exceeded 1,000 quarters, until last year (1852), when they reached 8,085 quarters. A small quantity of the meal is also annually imported.

MAIZE.

Maize (Zea Mays), is the common well-known Indian corn forming one of the most important of the grain crops, and has a greater range of temperature than the other cereal grasses. It was found cultivated for food by the Indians of both North and South America, on the first discovery of that continent, and thence derived its popular name. Maize succeeds best in the hottest and dampest parts of tropical climates. It may be reared as far as 40 degrees north and south latitude on the American continent; while in Europe it can grow even to 50 degrees or 52 degrees of latitude, some of the numerous varieties being hardy enough to ripen in the open air, in England and Ireland. It is now cultivated in all regions in the tropical and temperate zones, which are colonized by Europeans. It is most largely grown, however, about the Republics bordering on the northern shores of South America, California, the United States and Canada, the West India islands and Guiana, on the coasts of the Mediterranean, and partially in India, Africa, and Australia. We see the singular fact in Mexico of land which, after perhaps thousands of years' culture, is so little exhausted, that with a very little labor bestowed on it, a bad maize harvest will yield two hundredfold profit, while a good crop returns 600 fold.

This grain adopts itself to almost every variety of climate, and is found growing luxuriantly in the low countries of tropical Mexico, and nearly equally well on the most elevated and coldest regions of the table-land; in the rich valleys of the Cordilleras or the Andes, and on the sandy heights of those mountains wherever a rill of water can be brought to nourish its roots. In short, it ripens under the sun of America, in every part of both continents.

Though wheat is characterised as the most nutritious food for man in all quarters of the world, yet the Indian corn crop of the United States is not second in value to any product of the earth; cultivated in the middle and Eastern States, nay, even in the rich cotton-growing districts, Indian corn is fast rising in importance, and will soon equal in value that important commercial staple. This indigenous grain yields to the nation an annual average of five hundred millions of bushels, and has, within the last five years, attracted much attention as a life-sustaining food, more particularly at the period of Ireland's severe suffering, in 1847, and the following years. Nations, as well as statesmen and farmers, have found it an object worthy of their consideration and esteem.

When due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, and cultivated in a proper soil, maize may be accounted a sure crop in almost every portion of the habitable globe, between the 44th degree of north latitude and a corresponding parallel south. Among the objects of culture in the United States, it takes precedence in the scale of cereal crops, as it is best adapted to the soil and climate, and furnishes the largest amount of nutritive food. Besides its production in the North American Republic, its extensive culture is limited to Mexico, the West Indies, most of the States of South America, France, Spain, Portugal, Lombardy, and Southern and Central Europe generally. It is, however, also cultivated with success in Northern, Southern, and Western Africa, India, China, Japan, Australia, and the Sandwich Islands, the groups of the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and numerous other oceanic isles.

Maize is not a favorite grain as bread-corn with the European nations, for although it abounds in mucilage, it is asserted to contain less gluten, and is not likely to be much used by those who can procure wheaten flour, or even rye bread.

The large importations which were made by our Government during the prevalence of the potato disease, brought it into more general use among some classes, and the imports for home consumption are still extensive, having been as follows in the last few years:--

1848. 1849. Indian corn, quarters 1,582,755 2,249,571 " meal, cwts. 233,880 102,181

1850. 1851. Indian corn, quarters 1,286,264 1,810,425 " meal, cwts. 11,401

The trade in maize, or Indian corn, is totally new since 1846. The famine in Ireland in that year, and the potato rot in almost every successive year since, have now fully established it. Like the gold discoveries, the potato rot may be regarded as a providential means of effecting a great change in the condition of society. Those discoveries are not without their influence in the East, and, combined with the potato rot, they have rapidly increased the commerce between the East and West of Europe, while they are spreading broad paths between all Europe and the lands in the Southern Ocean. The imports of maize from all parts, in 1852, amounted to 1,550,000 quarters, of which about 1,100,000 quarters arrived in vessels from the Mediterranean, &c., calling at Queenstown or Falmouth for orders. The balance consisted of imports from America, France, Portugal, &c., and also of cargoes addressed direct to a port of discharge, without first calling off the coast for orders. The quantities received in 1851 and 1852 from the Mediterranean were as follows:--

1852. 1851. Received from qrs. qrs. Galatz 223,000 286,067 Ibraila 362,600 211,779 Salonica 35,640 95,377 Odessa 219,170 74,065 Egypt 50,960 86,260 Italy 8,250 162,544 Constantinople, Malta, Trieste, and other ports in the Mediterranean 190,720 286,358 --------- --------- 1,090,340 1,202,450

The various quarters from whence we derive supplies of this grain, are shown in the following table of the imports for the last three years, which I have compiled from the most recent Parliamentary returns.

INDIAN CORN AND MEAL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 1849. | 1850. | 1851. |-----------------|----------------|--------------- PLACES. | Corn. | Meal. | Corn. | Meal.| Corn. |Meal. | qrs. | cwts. | qrs. | cwts.| qrs. |cwts. ----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|---------|----- Russian Ports in | | | | | | Black Sea | 25,519| | 19,721| | 98,176| Denmark | 1,300| | 250| | 5| Hanover | 1,344| | | | | Belgium | 67| | | | | France | 135,115| 510| 102,978| 26| 164,128| 29 Portugal Proper | 61,446| | 67,518| 53| 21,922| Azores and Madeira | 17,214| 7| 7,794| 6| 4,356| 1 Spain and Bahama | | | | | | Islands | 26,856| 48| 19,982| 48| 34,771| Sardinian Territories | 13,357| | 25| 2| 1,302| 1 Tuscany | 11,481| 95| 15,612| 94| 34,760| Papal Territories | 8,927| | 1,876| | 75,588| Naples and Sicily | 18| | 10,066| | 101,489| Austrian Territories | 90,540| | 45,748| | 73,966| Malta and Gozo | 18,198| | 4,969| | 11,002| Ionian Islands | 5,390| | 7,324| | 5,967| Greece | 57,520| | 8,712| | 3,252| Egypt | 12,767| | 71,808| | 127,692| Turkish dominions, | | | | | | including Wallachia,| | | | | | Moldavia and Syria | 563,799| | 348,456| | 748,180| Morocco | 760| | | | | West Coast of Africa | 889| | 2,322| | | B.N.A. Colonies | 1,645| 164| 1,530| | 4,377| 7 U.S. of America |1,170,154|100,859| 538,155|11,253| 295,978|9,522 Brazil | 1,253| | 468| | 725| Other places | | | 1,756| | | | | | | | | 1 ----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|---------|----- |2,225,459|101,683|1,277,070|11,482|1,807,636|9,561 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Parliamentary Paper, No. 14, Sess. 1852.)

The many excellent properties of Indian corn, as a wholesome nutritious food, and the rich fodder obtained from the stalk and leaf for the nourishment of cattle, invite more earnest attention from the farmer and planter in the Colonies to its better and extended cultivation.

Though the average quantity of grain from each acre in the United States is not more than thirty or forty bushels, yet it is known that with due care and labor 100 to 130 bushels may be obtained.

In feeding cattle little difference is discoverable between the effects of Indian corn meal and oil-cake meal; the preference rather preponderates in favor of the latter.

Corn cobs, ground with the grain, have advocates, but this food is not relished, and swine decline it.

Indian corn contains about the same proportion of starch as oats (sixty per cent.), but is more fattening, as it contains about nine or ten per cent. of oily or fatty ingredients.

The following analysis of maize is given by Dr. Samuel David, of Massachusetts:--

FLESH FORMING PRINCIPLES.

Gluten, albumen, and casein 12.60

FAT FORMING PRINCIPLES.

Gum, sugar, starch, woody fibre, oil, &c. 77.09 Water 9.00 Salts 1.31 ----- 100.

Prof. Gorham, in "Thomson's Organic Chem.," published in London in 1838, gives another analysis:--

Fresh grain. Dried grain. Water 9.00 Starch 77.00 84.60 Gluten 3.00 3.30 Albumen 2.50 2.74 Gum 1.75 1.92 Sugar 1.45 1.60 Loss 5.30 5.84 ------ ------ 100. 100.

Professor Johnston supplies a table, which, he says, exhibits the best approximate view we are yet able to give of the average proportion of starch and gluten contained in 100 lbs. of our common grain crops as they are met with in the market.

From this table I extract the following:--

Starch, gum, &c. Gluten, albumen, &c. Wheat flour. 55 lbs. 10 to 15 lbs. Oats 65 " 18 lbs. Indian corn 70 " 12 " Beans 40 " 28 " Peas 50 " 24 " Potatoes 12 " 2-1/3 "

The Professor remarks that the proportion of oil is, in 100 lbs. of

Wheat flour 2 to 4 Oats 5 " 8 Indian corn 5 " 9 Beans and peas 2½ " 3 Potatoes 0¼ "

Maize is one of those plants in which potash preponderates, for analysis of its ashes gives the following proportions:--

Salts of potash and soda 71.00 ---- lime and magnesia 6.50 Silica 18.00 Loss 4.50 ------ 100.

Dr. Salisbury has also furnished the proximate analysis of five varieties of ripe maize or Indian corn:--

Proportions. One hundred grains of each. Water. Dry.

Golden Sioux corn, a bright, yellow, twelve-rowed} variety, frequently having fourteen rows } 15.02 84.98 Large eight-rowed yellow corn 14.00 86.00 Small eight-rowed ditto 14.03 85.97 White flint corn 14.00 86.00 Ohio Dent corn, one of the largest varieties of } maize } 14.50 85.50

COMPARATIVE ORGANIC ANALYSIS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Golden | Ohio | Small | Large | White | Sioux. | Dent | 8-rowed | 8-rowed | Flint | | Corn. | Corn. | Corn. | Corn. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Starch | 36.06 | 41.85 | 30.29 | 49.22 | 40.34 Gluten | 5.00 | 4.62 | 5.60 | 5.40 | 7.69 Oil | 3.44 | 3.88 | 3.90 | 3.71 | 4.68 Albumen | 4.42 | 2.64 | 6.00 | 3.32 | 3.40 Casein | 1.92 | 1.32 | 2.20 | 0.75 | 0.50 Dextrine | 1.30 | 5.40 | 4.61 | 1.90 | 3.00 Fibre | 18.50 | 21.36 | 26.80 | 11.96 | 18.01 Sugar and extract | 7.25 | 10.00 | 5.20 | 9.55 | 8.30 Water | 15.02 | 10.00 | 13.40 | 14.00 | 14.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Large quantities of starch are now made from this grain in Ohio; an establishment near Columbus consume 20,000 bushels of corn annually for this purpose. The offal of the grain is given to hogs, 500 to 600 head being annually fattened therewith. The quality of the starch is said to be superior to that of wheat, and commands a higher price in New York.

A corn plant, fifteen days after the seed was planted, cut on the 3rd June close to the ground, gave of--

Water 86.626 Dry matter 10.374 Ash 1.354 Ash calculated dry 13.053

By the above figures it will be seen that nearly 90 per cent, of the young plant is water; and that in proportion to the dry matter, the amount of earthy minerals which remain, as ash, when the plant is burnt, is large. This excess of water continues for many weeks. Thus, on the 5th July, thirty-three days from planting, the relations stood thus:--

Water 90.518 Dry matter 9.482 Ash 1.333 Ash calculated dry 14.101 (Ash very saline.)

Before green succulent food of this character is fit to give to cows, oxen, mules, or horses, it should be partly dried. Plants that contain from 70 to 75 per cent. of water need no curing before eaten. The young stalk cut July 12, gave over 94 per cent. of water. Such food used for soiling without drying would be likely to scour an animal, and give it the cholic.

The root at this time (July 12) gave of--

Water 81.026 Dry matter 18.974 Ash 2.222 Ash calculated dry 11.711 (Ash tastes of caustic potash.)

Ash of the whole plant above ground, 6.77 grains. Amount of ash in all below ground, 3.93 grains.

So late as July 26, the proportion of water in the stalk was 94 per cent.; and the ash calculated dry 17.66 per cent. The plant gained 21.36.98 grains in weight in a week preceding the 6th September. This was equal to a gain of 12.72 grains per hour.

The rapid growth of corn plants, when the heat, light, and moisture, as well as the soil are favorable, is truly wonderful. A deep, rich, mellow soil, in which the roots can freely extend to a great distance in depth and laterally, is what the corn-grower should provide for his crop. The perviousness of river bottoms contributes largely to their productiveness of this cereal. A compact clay, which excludes alike air, water, and roots, forbidding all chemical changes, is not the soil for Indian corn.

When farmers sell corn soon after it is ripe, there is considerable gain in not keeping it long to dry and shrink in weight. Corn grown by Mr. Salisbury, which was ripe by the 18th October, then contained 37 per cent. of water, which is 25 per cent. more than old corn from the crib will yield. The mean of man experiments tried by the writer has been a loss of 20 per cent. in moisture between new and old corn. The butts of cornstalks contain the most water, and husks or shucks the least, when fully matured and not dried. The latter have about 30 per cent, of dry matter when chemically desiccated.

COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF THE LEAVES AT DIFFERENT STAGES.

July 19. Aug. 2. Aug. 23. Aug. 30. Oct. 18. Carbonic acid 5.40 2.850 0.65 3.50 4.050 Silicia 13.50 19.850 34.90 36.27 58.650 Sulphuric acid 2.16 1.995 4.92 5.84 4.881 Phosphates 21.60 16.250 17.00 13.50 5.850 Lime .69 4.035 2.00 3.88 4.510 Magnesia .37 2.980 1.59 2.30 0.865 Potash 9.98 11.675 10.85 9.15 7.333 Soda 34.39 29.580 21.23 22.13 8.520 Chlorine 4.55 6.020 3.06 1.63 2.664 Organic acids 5.50 2.400 3.38 2.05 2.200 ----- ------ ------ ----- ------ 98.14 97.750 98.187 99.83 99.334

The above figures disclose several interesting facts. It will be seen that the increase of silica or flint in the leaf is steadily progressive from 13½ per cent. at July 19, to 58.65 at October 18.

Flint is substantially the bone earth of all grasses. If one were to analyse the bones of a calf when a day old, again when thirty days of age, and when a year old, the increase of phosphate of lime in its skeleton would be similar to that witnessed in the leaves and stems of maize. In the early stages of the growth of corn, its leaves abound in phosphates; but after the seeds begin to form, the phosphates leave the tissues of the plant in other parts, and concentrate in and around the germs in the seeds. On the 23rd of August, the ash of the whole stalk contained 19½ per cent. of phosphates; and on the 18th of October, only 15.15 per cent. In forming the cobs of this plant, considerable potash is drawn from the stalk, as it decreases from 35.54 per cent. August 16, to 24.69 October 18. When the plant is growing fastest, its roots yield an ash which contains less than one per cent. of lime; but after this development is nearly completed, the roots retain, or perhaps regain from the plant above, over 4½ per cent. of this mineral. Soda figures as high as from 20 to 31 per cent. in the ash obtained from corn roots. Ripe seeds gave the following results on the analysis of their ash:--

Silica 0.850 Phosphoric acid 49.210 Lime 0.075 Magnesia 17.600 Potash 23.175 Soda 3.605 Sodium 0.160 Chlorine 0.295 Sulphuric acid 0.515 Organic acids 5.700 ------ 99.175

The above table shows a smaller quantity of lime than is usually found in the ash of this grain. It is, however, never so abundant as magnesia; and Professor Emmons has shown that the best corn lands in the State of New York contain a considerable quantity of magnesia. All experience, as well as all chemical researches, go to prove that potash and phosphoric acid are important elements in the organisation of maize. Corn yields more pounds of straw and grain on poor land than either wheat, rye, barley, or oats; and it does infinitely better on rich than on sterile soils. To make the earth fertile, it is better economy to plant thick than to have the rows five feet apart each way, as is customary in some of the Southern States, and only one stalk in a hill. This gives but one plant to twenty-five square feet of ground. Instead of this, three square feet are sufficient for a single plant; and from that up to six, for the largest varieties of this crop.

Mr. Humboldt states the production of maize in the Antilles as 300 for one; and Mr. H. Colman has seen in several cases in the New England States of America, a return of 400 for one; that is to say, the hills being three feet apart each way, a peck of Indian corn would be sufficient seed for an acre. If 100 bushels of grain is in such case produced by an acre--and this sometimes happens--this is clearly a return of 400 for one.

Of the whole family of cereals, Zea Mays is unquestionably the most valuable for cultivation in the United States. When the time shall come that population presses closely on the highest capabilities of American soil, this plant, which is a native of the New World, will be found greatly to excel all others in the quantity of bread, meat, milk, and butter which it will yield from an acre of land. With proper culture, it has no equal for the production of hay, in all cases where it is desirable to grow a large crop on a small surface.

Although there has been much written on the Eastern origin of this grain, it did not grow in that part of Asia watered by the Indus, at the time of Alexander the Great's expedition, as it is not among the productions of the country mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of the fleet; neither is it noticed by Arian, Diodorus, Columella, nor any other ancient author; and even as late as 1491, the year before Columbus discovered America, Joan di Cuba, in his "Ortus Sanitatis," makes no mention of it. It has never been found in any ancient tumulus, sarcophagus, or pyramid; nor has it ever been represented in any ancient painting, sculpture, or work of art, except in America. But in that country, according to Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the ancient Peruvian historians, the palace gardens of the Incas, in Peru, were ornamented with maize, in gold and silver, with all the grains, spikes, stalks, and leaves; and in one instance, in the "garden of gold and silver," there was an entire cornfield, of considerable size, representing the maize in its exact and natural shape; a proof no less of the wealth of the Incas, than their veneration for this important grain.

In further proof of the American origin, it may be stated that this plant is still found growing, in a wild state, from the Rocky mountains in North America, to the humid forests of Paraguay, where, instead of having each grain naked, as is always the case after long cultivation, it is completely covered with glumes or husks. It is, furthermore, a well authenticated fact, that maize was found in a state of cultivation by the aborigines, in the island of Cuba, on its discovery by Columbus, as well as in most other places in America, first explored by Americans.

The first successful attempt to cultivate this grain in North America, by the English, occurred on James' river, in Virginia, in 1608. It was undertaken by the colonists sent over by the Indian company, who adopted the mode then practised by the natives, which, with some modifications, has been pursued throughout this country ever since. The yield, at this time, is represented to have been from two hundred to more than one thousand fold. The same increase was noted by the early settlers in Illinois. The present yield, east of the Rocky Mountains, when judiciously cultivated, varies from 20 to 135 bushels to an acre.

The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting every grade of size, color, and conformation, between the "chubby reed" that grows on the shores of Lake superior--the gigantic stalks of the Ohio valley--the tiny ears, with flat, close, clinging grains, of Canada--the brilliant, rounded little pearl--the bright red grains and white cob of the eight-rowed hæmatite--the swelling ears of the big white and the yellow gourd seed of the South. From the flexibility of this plant, it may be acclimatised, by gradual cultivation, from Texas to Maine, or from Canada to Brazil; but its character, in either case, is somewhat changed, and often new varieties are the result. The blades of the plant are of great value as food for stock, and is an article but rarely estimated sufficiently, when considering of the agricultural products of the Southern and Southwestern States especially.

To supply slaves on plantations with bread, including old and young, requires from twelve to thirteen bushels of corn each a year. Taking thirteen bushels as the average consumption of breadstuffs by the 22,000,000 of people in the United States, the aggregate is 286,000,000 bushels per annum.

The increase of production, from 1840 to 1850, was 214,000,000 bushels, equal to 56 per cent.

The production of New England advanced from 6,993,000 to 10,377,000 bushels, showing an increase of 3,384,000 bushels, nearly fifty per cent. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, increased 20,812,000 bushels, more than fifty per cent. In the production of this crop no State has retrograded. Ohio, which in 1840 occupied the fourth place as a corn-producing State, now ranks as the first. Kentucky is second, Illinois third, Tennessee fourth. The crop of Illinois has increased from 2,000,000 to 5,500,000 bushels, or at the rate of 160 per cent. in ten years.

Of the numerous varieties some are best adapted to the Southern States, while others are better suited for the Northern and Eastern. Those generally cultivated in the former are the Southern big and small yellow, the Southern big and small white flint, the yellow Peruvian, and the Virginian white gourd seed. In the more Northerly and Easterly States they cultivate the golden sioux, or Northern yellow flint, the King Philip, or eight-rowed yellow, the Canadian early white, the Tuscarora, the white flour, and the Rhode Island white flint.

The extended cultivation of this grain is chiefly confined to the Eastern, Middle, and Western States, though much more successfully grown in the latter. The amount exported from South Carolina, in 1748, was 39,308 bushels; from North Carolina, in 1753, 61,580 bushels; from Georgia, in 1755, 600 bushels; from Virginia, for several years preceding the revolution, annually 600,000 bushels; from Philadelphia, in 1765-66, 54,205 bushels; in 1771, 259,441 bushels.

The total amount exported from America in 1770, was 573,349 bushels; in 1791, 2,064,936 bushels, 351,695 of which were Indian meal; in 1800, 2,032,435 bushels, 338,108 of which were in meal; in 1810, 1,140,960 bushels, 86,744 of which were meal. In 1820-21, there were exported 607,277 bushels of corn, and 131,669 barrels of Indian meal; in 1830-31, 571,312 bushels of corn, and 207,604 barrels of meal; in 1840-41,535,727 bushels of corn, and 232,284 barrels of meal; in 1845-46, 1,286,068 bushels of corn, and 298,790 barrels of meal; in 1846-47 16,326,050 bushels of corn, and 948,060 barrels of meal; in 1850-51, 3,426,811 bushels of corn, and 203,622 barrels of meal. More than eleven millions of bushels of Indian corn were consumed in 1850, in the manufacture of spirituous liquors.

According to the census of 1840, the corn crop of the United States was 377,531,875 bushels; in 1850, 592,326,612 bushels.

The increase in the production of corn in Ohio has been (in ten years) 66 per cent. I have also before me the auditor's returns for the crop of 1850, as taken by assessors, and the number of acres planted. The auditor's returns are:--

Seventy-three counties 55,079,374 Darke county 524,484 Twelve counties, average 8,400,000 ---------- Total 64,003,858

This is an advance of 15 per cent. on the crop of 1840, and it is known that the crop of 1850 was better than that of 1849. The number of acres planted, and the average production was:--

Acres planted 1,810,947 Bushels produced 64,003,858 Average per acre 35-3/8 bush.

Considering how large a portion of hill land is planted, and how many fields are ill cultivated, the average is high. Many persons have believed that taking all years and all lands into view, the average of corn lands was not more than thirty bushels. But the immense fertility of bottom lands on the rivers and creeks of Ohio make up for bad cultivation and inferior soil. We may see something of the differences in the production of corn, by taking the averages of different counties, thus:--

Acres. Crop. Average. Butler 62,031 2,646,353 42½ Warren 42,322 1,757,409 42 Pickaway 65,860 2,627,727 40 Ross 69,520 2,918,958 42

Compare the average of these counties, which embrace some of the best lands in the State, with the following:--

Acres. Crop. Average. Carroll 10,107 316,999 32 Jackson 15,680 439,850 30 Monroe 23,375 728,242 31 Portage 10,426 329,529 32 Vinton 11,413 345,470 30

The last counties contain but little bottom land, and hence the average of corn is reduced one-fourth in amount. Of these counties, two are full of coal and iron. The resources of the last are more slow to develop, but in the end will be equally valuable.

But a small quantity of the corn of Ohio is exported as grain. It is first manufactured into other articles, and then exported in another form. The principal part of these are hogs, cattle, and whiskey. It is difficult to say exactly how much corn is in this way exported, but the following is an approximation--

Bushels. In Fat Cattle 4,000,000 In Fat Hogs 10,000,000 In Whiskey 2,500,000 ---------- Total 16,500,000

Taking into view the export of corn meal--about twenty millions of bushels--the residue goes to the support of the stock animals on hand, of which there are near three millions, exclusive of those fatted for market.

The exported corn in the shape of cattle, hogs, and whiskey, is worth about thirty cents cash, while on the farm it is not worth twenty--thus proving that it is more profitable to consume corn on the farm, than to export it in bulk. This fact is well known to good farmers, who seldom attempt to sell corn as a merchantable article.

No mining in the world has ever been equal to mining in a fertile soil, and no treasury is so reliable as a granary of surplus products.

Indian corn and meal generally find a market in the West Indies, Newfoundland, Spain, and Portugal. It commands a good price, and finds a ready sale in the ports which are open to its reception.

Deducting one-sixteenth for the amount exported, and one-tenth for seed, the quantity of maize annually consumed for food in the United States by a family of five persons is 85 bushels.

Maize may be considered as the great staple of the agricultural products of the States. It is exported in large quantities, in a raw state, or when manufactured into meal. Before it is manufactured into meal it is dried by a fire, in a kiln prepared for that purpose. By this process the meal is much less liable to become sour on the voyage, and can be preserved much longer in a warm climate. No inconsiderable quantities have likewise been consumed in distillation; and the article of kiln-dried meal for exportation is destined to be of no small account to the corn-growing sections of that country.

The improvement continually making in the quality of the seed augurs well for the productiveness of this indigenous crop, as it has been found that new varieties are susceptible of being used to great advantage.

The following was the produce of the different States in the years named, as given in the Official Census Returns:--

-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+------------- | 1840 | 1841 | 1843 | 1850 | Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels. -----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+------------- Maine | 950,528 | 988,549 | 1,390,799 | New Hampshire | 1,162,572 | 191,275 | 330,925 | Massachusetts | 1,809,192 | 1,905,273 | 2,347,451 | Rhode Island | 450,498 | 471,022 | 578,720 | Connecticut | 1,500,441 | 1,521,191 | 1,926,458 | Vermont | 1,119,678 | 1,167,219 | 1,252,853 | New York | 10,972,286 | 11,441,256 | 15,574,590 | New Jersey | 4,361,975 | 5,134,366 | 5,805,121 | Pennsylvania | 14,240,022 | 14,969,472 | 15,857,431 | Delaware | 2,099,359 | 2,164,507 | 2,739,982 | Maryland | 8,233,086 | 6,998,124 | 6,205,282 | Virginia | 34,577,591 | 33,987,255 | 45,836,788 | N. Carolina | 23,893,763 | 24,116,253 | 27,916,077 | S. Carolina | 14,722,805 | 14,987,474 | 18,190,913 | Georgia | 20,905,122 | 21,749,227 | 26,960,687 | Alabama | 20,947,004 | 21,594,354 | 24,817,089 | Mississippi | 13,161,237 | 5,985,724 | 9,386,399 | Louisiana | 5,952,912 | 6,224,147 | 8,957,392 | Tennessee | 44,986,188 | 46,285,359 | 67,838,477 | 52,000,000 Kentucky | 39,847,120 | 40,787,120 | 59,355,156 | 58,000,000 Ohio | 33,668,144 | 35,552,161 | 38,651,128 | 59,788,750 Indiana | 28,155,887 | 33,195,108 | 36,677,171 | 53,000,004 Illinois | 22,634,211 | 23,424,474 | 32,760,434 | 57,000,000 Missouri | 17,332,524 | 19,725,146 | 27,148,608 | Arkansas | 4,846,632 | 6,039,450 | 8,754,204 | Michigan | 2,277,039 | 3,058,090 | 3,592,482 | Florida Territory| 898,074 | 694,205 | 838,667 | Wisconsin | 379,359 | 521,244 | 750,775 | Iowa T. | 1,406,241 | 1,547,215 | 2,128,416 | D. of Columbia | 39,485 | 43,725 | 47,837 | +-------------+-------------+-------------+------------- Total | 377,531,875 | 387,380,185 | 494,618,306 | 500,000,000 -----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

The Indian corn crop of 1850, for the whole of the United States, is returned as over 500 million bushels, a gain of about 40 millions on that of 1840.

I give below the quantities of Indian corn and meal which were exported from the United States in the following years:--

Corn, Bushels. Meal, Bushels. Value. Dolls. 1790 1,713,241 1794 1,505,977 241,570 1798 1,218,231 211,694 1802 1,633,283 566,816 1806 1,064,263 108,342 1,286,000 1810 1,054,252 86,744 1,138,000 1814 61,284 26,438 170,000 1818 1,075,190 120,029 2,335,405 1822 509,098 148,288 900,656 1826 505,381 158,652 1,007,321 1829 897,656 173,775 974,535 1833 437,174 146,678 871,814

--(Pitkin's Statistics of the United Stales, and Seybert's Statistical Annals.)

System of culture pursued in the United States.--Maize, the corn, par excellence, of America, is grown in every State in the Union.

Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana, are in their order the greatest producers of this grain. In Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Maryland, Arkansas, and the New England States, it appears to be a very favorite crop. In Massachusetts, the most Northern and least favorable State on that account, being cold, a fair proportion is grown, the aggregate produce being greater there than in any of the grains, except oats; more, indeed, than might be expected, were not labor somewhat cheaper than in more Southern States, where the climate is more congenial. The ordinary produce is twenty-five bushels per acre; forty bushels is often raised, and in prize crops the weight has come up to 100 bushels per acre. In Ohio the average is fifty-five bushels to the acre. The eight and twelve-rowed varieties of Indian corn are those most usually grown in New York, and the average produce of a good field in that State is from forty to sixty bushels; on ordinary ground twenty-five to thirty is a fair crop. The same returns appeared to be derived from ground in New Jersey. Mr. Doubleday, of Binghampton, New York, estimates the produce of that neighbourhood at forty bushels, and the expense of raising the crop as follows, estimating the worth of the land at twenty-five dollars (say £5) per acre:--

Dollars. Cents. The interest of which is 1 16 One ploughing with double team, and harrowing 3 50 Seed and planting 1 00 Plaster or gypsum, and putting on the hill 0 37 Ploughing and hoeing twice, cutting or stalking the corn 2 75 Husking or thrashing 2 50 ----------------- 11 62

Average yield, forty bushels; cost of produce, twenty-nine cents. (1s. 4½d.) per bushel.

Nothing is here put down for manure or cartage, because the fodder, cut up and saved, as usually adopted, is equal to the manure required. It is looked upon that the preparation of ground for corn costs less than wheat; the approved plan is to plant on sward ground, ploughing at once, and turning the ground completely over, then harrowing longitudinally until, a good tilth is obtained. Should the soil not be rich enough, stable manure is first spread on the land.

Now suppose the corn to sell at seventy-five cents the bushel, the account would stand thus:--

Dollars. Cents. Forty bushels, at seventy-five cents. 30 00 Cost 11 62 --------------- Gain per acre 18 38

or £3 13s. 6d. British money profit per acre.

In Lichfield, Connecticut, the cost of produce has been, for the items as stated above, eighteen dollars twenty-five cents, or the cost of each bushel thirty-six and one-half cents. The acre produce was fifty bushels, so that it stood thus:--

Dollars. Cents. Fifty bushels, at seventy-five cents 37 50 Cost 18 25 ----------------- Gain 19 5

or £3 12s. per acre.

The cost of producing maize varies somewhat in the other States, thus:--

Per bushel. Cents. New Hampshire (Unity) the cost was 50 Fayette county, Pennsylvania 16 ¼ Donesville, Michigan, only 17 ½ Plymouth, Massachusetts 17 7/10

The cost on producing this crop was small, but it appears to have been a small crop, and did not bring more than thirty cents per bushel.

In Monroe county, the richest land in the State of New York, estimating the land at fifteen dollars per acre, the producing cost stood at:--

Dollars. Cents. Interest at six per cent. 0 45 One ploughing sward, cover or stubble 1 00 Harrowing, furrowing, seed, and planting 0 87½ Cultivating three times and hoeing 1 00 Husking the hill 1 00 Shelling and cleaning 1 00 --------------- 5 82½

This yielded fifty bushels, the cost of producing the bushel was eleven and three-fifths cents. This low cost was owing to the fact of no manure being used; and while it speaks volumes as to the natural fertility of American soils, yet it reflects very disgracefully upon the careless system adopted there, as under such treatment no land could continue, after some years, to produce a crop which could come into competition with those from newer and less exhausted lands; but if under a good system of tillage the ground was yearly renewed with manure, and those amendments which every soil requires, after a crop has been raised from it, added to the soil in top-dressing and in ploughing-in, we should never hear of the exhausted state of New England land, or see the sons of the soil moving west and cultivating newer soils, thus removing much of the capital and intelligence of a country away from it.

Supposing the corn of Monroe county sold at seventy cents per bushel, the balance would appear thus:--

Dollars. Cents. Fifty bushels, at seventy cents 35 00 Cost of production 5 82½ -------------- Gain 29 18½

£6 1s. per acre profit.

In Northern Ohio and in Illinois the cost of production averages twenty cents per bushel.

The mode of cultivation in Connecticut and the New England States has been thus described to me by Mr. L. Durand, an experienced agriculturist:--If the soil selected is light and mellow, it should be ploughed and subsoiled in the spring, first spreading on the coarse unfermented manure which is to be ploughed in. For marking the rows for planting, a "corn marker" may be used to advantage. It is made by taking a piece of scantling, three inches square and ten to twelve feet long, with teeth of hickory or white oak inserted at distances of two to four feet, according to the width designed for the rows. Then an old pair of waggon-thills and a pair of old plough-handles are put to it, and your marker is done. With a good horse to draw this implement, the ground may be made ready for planting very rapidly. It is better to leave the ground flat than to ridge it, for the latter mode has no advantage, except when the ground is wet. The difference in the two modes is chiefly this:--When the ground is ridged, the corn being planted between the edges of the furrows, it comes immediately in contact with the manure, springs up and grows rapidly the fore part of the season. When the ground is left flat, and the manure turned under the furrows, the corn will often look feeble at first, and in growth will frequently be much behind that on the ridges; and the inference early in the season is, that the ridged ground will give the best crop, but as soon as the roots of the corn on the flat ground get hold of the manure (say about the 20th of July), the corn will shoot rapidly ahead, and the full force of the manure will be given to the stalk just at the time of forming the grain. Corn cultivated in this way, if the soil is deeply tilled, will often keep green, while that on ridges is dried up.

Many farmers, at planting, shell the corn off the cob, and plant it dry. Others soak it a few days in warm water. But when the seed is only treated in this way, it is very likely to be pulled up by birds and injured by worms. The best way to prevent this is to first soak the corn in a strong solution of saltpetre; then take a quantity of tar, and having warmed it over a fire, pour it on the corn, and stir with a stick or paddle till the grain is all smeared with the tar; then add gypsum or plaster till the corn will separate freely, and no birds will touch the grain.

The time of planting, in the United States, varies with the season and the section of the country. In New England it may generally be planted from the 15th to the 25th May. Where the ground is flat, a light harrow or a cultivator is much better to go between the rows than the plough. Formerly a great deal of useless labor was spent in hilling up corn; in dry seasons this was worse than useless. The earth hauled round the stalk does not assist its growth, nor aid in holding it up; the brace roots, which come out as the stalk increases in height, support it; and it has been observed, that in a heavy storm and thunder gust, corn that is hilled will be broken down more than that which is not hilled. The ground which is kept level has also the advantage of more readily absorbing rain, rendering the crop less liable to suffer from drought. The field should have two or three regular hoeings, and the weeds be carefully kept under.

In harvesting the following will be found a good plan:--Let two hands take five rows, cutting the corn close to the ground. A hill should be left standing to form the centre of the shock, placing the stalks round it, so that they may not lie on the ground. After the shock is made of sufficient size, take a band of straw, and having turned down the tops of the stalks, bind them firmly, and the work is done.

Maize may be cut as soon as the centre of the grain is glazed, even if the stalks are green. There will be sufficient nutriment in the stalk to perfect the ear, and the fodder is much better than when it gets dry before it is cut. If the shocks are well put up, they may stand four or five weeks. The corn may then be knocked out, and the fodder secured for winter use.

The report of the Ohio Board of Agriculture for 1849, contains many interesting statements in reference to maize culture, made by the officers of numerous county agricultural societies. In Miami county, 2,030,670 bushels were grown, at an average yield of fifty-five bushels per acre. Three varieties are cultivated: the common gourd seed, for cattle; the yellow Kentucky, for hogs and distilling; and the white, for grinding and exportation. According to the returns from Green county, which produced 1,250,000 bushels of corn in 1849, "a regular rotation of clover, corn, wheat, and clover again, is best for corn; and no crop pays better for extra culture." The Harrison county Agricultural Society reports the pork crop at 4,800,000 pounds; and it gave its first premium for corn to Mr. S.B. Lukens, whose statement is as follows:--

"The ground had been in meadow ten years, was ploughed six inches deep about the middle of April, was harrowed twice over on the 9th May, and planted on the 11th four feet by two feet. It came up well, was cultivated and thinned when ten inches high; three stalks were left in a hill. About two weeks afterward it was again cultivated, and the suckers pulled off. About the last of June it was again cultivated, making three times the same way, as it was laid off but one way.

d. c. Expense of culture, gathering, and cribbing, was 17 10 Produce of 374-3/8 bushels, at 31¼ cents 117 10 ---------- Profit on three acres 100 00

The evidence on which a premium was awarded was such as should satisfy any one that 374 bushels were grown on three acres of land, and at a cost not exceeding 17 dollars 10 cents, delivered in the crib. This is producing corn at less than 5 cents a bushel.

Whether the statement be true to the letter or not, it shows conclusively the great value of a rich soil for making cheap corn. The Board of Agriculture estimates the crop of Ohio last year at 70,000,000 of bushels. Taking the United States as a whole, probably the crop of corn was never better than in the year 1849. One that has rich land needs only to plough it deep and well, plant in season, and cultivate the earth properly with a plough or cultivator, to secure the growth of a generous crop. On poor soils the case is very different.

To raise a good crop of corn on poor land, and at the least possible expense, requires some science and much skill in the art of tillage. Take the same field to operate in, and one farmer will grow 100 bushels of corn at half the cost per bushel that another will expend in labor, which is money. It unfortunately happens that very skilful farmers are few in number, in comparison with those who have failed to study and practice all attainable improvements. To produce cheap corn on poor land, one needs a clear understanding of what elements of the crop air and water will furnish, and what they cannot supply. It should be remembered that the atmosphere is precisely the same over ground which yields 100 bushels of corn per acre, that it is over that which produces only five bushels per acre. Now, the whole matter which forms the stems, leaves, roots, cobs, and seeds of corn, where the crop is 100 bushels per acre, is not part and parcel of the soil. A harvest equal to fifty bushels per acre can be obtained without consuming over ten per cent, of earth, as compared with the weight of the crop. No plant can imbibe more of the substance of the soil in which it grows, than is dissolved in water, or rendered gaseous by the decomposition of mould.

The quantity of matter dissolved, whether organic or inorganic, during the few weeks in which corn plants organise the bulk of their solids, is small. From 93 to 97 parts in 100 of the dry matter, in a mature, perfect plant, including its seeds, cob, stems, leaves, and roots, are carbon (charcoal) and the elements of water. It is not only an important, but an exceedingly instructive fact, that the most effective fertilisers known in agriculture are those that least abound in the elements of water and carbon. The unleached dry excrements of dunghill fowls and pigeons, have five times the fertilising power on all cereal plants that the dry dung of a grass-fed cow has, although the latter has five times more carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, per 100 pounds, than the former. Although it is desirable to apply to the soil in which corn is to grow as much of organised carbon and water as one conveniently can, yet, where fertilisers have to be transported many miles; it is important to know that such of the measure as would form coal, if carefully burnt, can best be spared. The same is true of those elements in manure which form vapor or water, when the fertiliser decomposes in the ground.

Carbonic acid and nascent hydrogen evolved in rotting stable manure are truly valuable food for plants, and perform important chemical offices in the soil; but they are, nevertheless, not so indispensable to the economical production of crops, as available nitrogen, potash, silica, magnesia, sulphur, and phosphorus. These elements of plants being less abundant in nature, and quite indispensable in forming corn, cotton, and every other product of the soil, their artificial supply in guano, night soil, and other highly concentrated fertilisers, adds immensely to the harvest, through the aid of a small weight of matter. In all sections where corn is worth 30 cents and over a bushel, great benefits may be realised by the skilful manufacture and use of poudrette. This article is an inodorous compound of the most valuable constituents of human food and clothing. It is the raw material of crops.

It is not necessary to restore to a cornfield all the matter removed in the crop to maintain its fertility. A part of each seed, however, ought to be carried back and replaced in the soil, to make good its loss by the harvest.

In every barrel of meal or flour sent to market (196 pounds), there are not far from 186 pounds of carbon (coal), and the elements of water. When a bird eats wheat or corn, I have reason to believe, from several experiments, that over 80 per cent, of the food escapes into the air through its capacious lungs in the process of respiration; and yet the 20 per cent, of guano left will re-produce as much wheat or corn as was consumed. Imported guano, which has been exposed to the weather for ages, often gives an increase in the crop of wheat equal to three pounds of seed to one of fertiliser; while it has given a gain of seven to one of corn, and fifty to one of green turnips.

Like other grains that have been long cultivated, Indian corn abounds in varieties. In Spain they count no less than 130, and in the United States the number is upwards of forty. The difference consists in size, color, period of maturation, and hardness and weight of grain. Of size there exists a considerable variety, from Zea Curagua of Chili, and the Egyptian or chicken corn, both extremely diminutive, to the large white flint, and ground seed corn of the United States. The differences in color are the red, yellow, and white. The period of maturation varies, apparently, very considerably; but it is questionable whether this variation is real, and independent of climate. In the Northern States of America, Indian corn ripens in a shorter period of time than it does in the South, owing, possibly, to the greater length of the summer day in those latitudes.

In selecting varieties, some experienced and judicious farmers prefer that which yields the greater number of ears, without regard to their size, or number of rows. Others prefer that which furnishes one or two larger ears, having from twelve to twenty-four rows. In the Northern States of America the yellow corn bears the highest price in the market, and is considered the most prolific and best suited to feed cattle and hogs. For bread, the white Button is preferred at the North, and the white ground seed is used for that purpose in other quarters. Preference, however, is most frequently given to white flint corn, which is unquestionably the heaviest, and contains the greatest proportion of farina.

In Mississippi many varieties are grown, principally those known as flint and bastard flint. The gourd-seed varieties are very objectionable in that climate, principally on account of their softness rendering them unfit for bread, and open to the attacks of insects in the field and the crib. They require a grain, white, hard, and rather flinty--white because of its great consumption in bread and hommony, in the preparation of both of which their cooks greatly excel. When meal is ground for bread, the mill is set rather wide, that the flinty part of the grain may not be cut up too fine, this being sifted out for "small hommony;" the farinaceous part of the grain is left for bread. This hommony is a beautiful and delicious dish. On most plantations the negroes have it for supper, with molasses or buttermilk. A hard flinty grain is necessary to head the weevil, with which not only the cribs but the heads of corn in the field are infested. These are the Calandra oryzæ, the true rice weevil, distinguished from his European cousin by the two reddish spots on each elytra or wing-cover, and known in America as the "black weevil;" also a little brown insect, not a true weevil, but a Sylvanus. This sylvanus, and another of the same genus, most probably the S. surinamensis, attack the corn in the field before it becomes hard, causing serious damage--but nothing to equal that occasioned by the black weevil.

I know of no generally successful method of staying or even checking the injury caused by the insects, though much might be written in the way of suggestion.

In Michigan, the dent variety in dry seasons produces the best crops on sandy loam, as its roots run deeper than the common eight-rowed yellow or white. In moist seasons the latter varieties usually do well. They are grown most generally in the Northern part of the State, while in the Southern section the Ohio dent is principally raised. The shuck and blade are much used as fodder for cattle, in the early part of winter.

Indian corn is very liable to change of character from soil and climate, growing smaller the farther North it is raised. The mixing of the eight-rowed yellow with the Ohio dent has, so far as my experience goes, been beneficial in increasing the yield. Sandy loam, or clay, is considered the soil best adapted to corn. It is usually planted in May, and harvested in September. The blade is not taken off there as at the South; some farmers cut up their corn when ripe, put it into shocks, and husk it late in the fall; others cut the stalks, bind them in sheaves, and stack them for winter in the fields, or put them away in barns or sheds; while others husk the corn on the hill without cutting the stalks, and late in the fall turn their cattle into the field to eat the fodder. Of these different modes the preference is usually given to cutting the stalks and putting them under cover after being well cured, and busting the corn on the hill. The corn is thought to ripen better in this way, and to keep better in the cribs. The Ohio dent, having a smaller ear containing less moisture than other varieties, ripens quicker and keeps better. This crop ranges from 25 to 65 bushels per acre, and the difference in the yield is to be attributed to the manner of cultivation. My experience shows that a crop of 45 bushels per acre costs 13 cents a bushel, including interest on land. Corn is principally raised in Michigan for home consumption, and the stalks and shucks, if well cured, are worths dollars per acre, compared with hay at 5 dollars per ton.

As much as 134 bushels per acre have been obtained, in some instances, in Massachusetts; till the last 20 years 35 bushels was considered an average crop, but by a due rotation of crops, and ploughing in long manure, at least 75 bushels to the acre are now raised. The kinds preferred there, are an eight-rowed variety, procured originally from Canada; the Cass corn, another eight-rowed variety, and the Dutton corn, each of which averages about 60 lbs. to the bushel.

Maize is a principal crop in the Connecticut River Valley, Western Vermont, and along the Lake shore; but in the high dividing ridge, and in the Northern counties bordering on Canada, the climate is too severe for its profitable cultivation.

"The kind mostly grown (observes Mr. Colburn, of Vermont) is the yellow eight-rowed, though some prefer the twelve and sixteen-rowed, known here by the name of the Button corn; but my experience in cultivating the different kinds for the last twenty-four years, has forced me to the conclusion that the common eight-rowed, mixed with a kind called the Brown corn, does the best; the kernel of the-latter bearing upon a chocolate hue, and the mixture of these two kinds of seed imparting a deep rich color to the whole, when they become blended, and enhancing the yield whenever the soil is in high tilth. Of this kind, the writer has raised, the past season, upon eleven acres on the Connecticut River alluvium, over eight hundred bushels shelled corn, four acres of which, with extra preparation, produced four hundred and sixteen bushels.

It will never do to carry seed corn from South to North, as it will not mature in a higher or colder climate than that from which it has been taken. Even half a degree of latitude sensibly affects the maturing of the blade, and renders it an uncertain crop in our high northern latitudes. To insure an extra yield of this valuable grain, the soil must be highly manured, deeply ploughed, thorough cultivated and hoed, and top-dressed with lime, house ashes, and plaster. This done, it is the most remunerative and profitable of all grain crops."

In Delaware there are many varieties, and everybody esteems his own kind the best. The grain varies from pure "flint" to pure "gourd seed"--of course the mixtures which are between these two varieties are most common--it inclines more to gourd seed than to flint. Mint weighs full standard fifty-six, the gourd seed from forty-nine to fifty-two pounds, and the mixtures range between. Flint ripens from ten days to two weeks earlier. It will not produce as many pounds per acre as the lighter gourd seed. Soil exerts its influence over the character of corn, a heavy soil tending to produce flint--light soil, gourd seed.

The corn is "cut up" in the fall, and after curing in the shuck, is husked; the shuck remaining on the stalk with the blades.

The average yield, on improved land, is fifty bushels; though crops of one hundred and twelve, and one hundred and sixty bushels per acre are reported to have been raised in the county, in 1849. The yield increases from year to year. A general and rapid improvement of the State is in progress, and in nothing is this seen more clearly than in the corn crop. Mossy "old sedge" fields, which have been laid out for years, are broken up, and will yield, if it be a good season, from five to ten bushels per acre; fence them, lime them with twenty to thirty bushels, and seed the oat crop with clover, and in two years the clover sod will return eighteen to twenty bushels of corn. Another dressing of lime, or its equivalent in marl, of which there is an abundance in the lower half of Newcastle County, will show thirty bushels of corn; and of wheat, if the farm manure be used on it, nine to twelve bushels will not be too much to expect.

In Arkansas, Indian corn is regarded as the "king of grains." It constitutes the chief food of every animal, from man down to the marauding rat, while its dried blade furnishes seven-tenths of the long food for working animals. The large white is the variety most esteemed, and most generally cultivated, for the reasons that it yields more grain and fodder, makes, when ground into meal, whiter and sweeter bread, and is less liable to injury from the weevils. The blade is usually esteemed the best long food for horses, exceeding in price the best Northern hay; the average price may be stated at about seventy cents per cwt. The shuck is fed to cows and young mules, they eat it, but with less relish than they do the blades, which are sweeter and more nutritious. The former are much used for mattresses, being preferred to moss, as they are cleaner, and easier manufactured. When mixed with coarse cotton, and properly prepared, they will make a mattress but little inferior to curled hair: price about fifty cents per cwt. The average price of this grain may be set down at forty cents per bushel; and the yield on upland in some parts of the State may be stated at thirty bushels per acre.

Five varieties of maize are grown in Peru. One is known by the name of chancayano, which has a large semi-transparent yellow grain; another is called morocho, and has small yellow grain of a horny appearance; amarello, or the yellow, has a large yellow opaque grain, and is more farinaceous than the two former varieties; blanco, white--this variety is large, and contains more farina than the former; and cancha, or sweet maize. The last is only cultivated in the colder climates of the mountains; it grows about two feet high, the cob is short, and the grains large and white; when green, it is very bitter, but when ripe and roasted, it is particularly sweet, and so tender that it may be reduced to flour between the fingers. In this roasted state it constitutes the principal food of the mountaineers of several provinces.

The natives remove the husk from the maize by putting it into water with a quantity of wood ashes, exposing it to a boiling heat, and washing the grain in running water, when the husk immediately separates from the grain.

In Jamaica I found maize to produce two crops in the year, and often three. It is usually grown there on the banks or ridges of the cane fields. It may be planted at any time when there is rain, and it yields from fifteen to forty bushels per acre, according to the richness of the soil, and the more or less close manner in which it is planted.

In the colony of New South Wales, including the district of Port Phillip, there were 20,798 acres under cultivation with maize in 1844, the produce from which was returned at 575,857 bushels; 27,058 bushels of maize were exported from Sydney in 1848.

Culture in the East Indies.--The growers on the hills of Nepaul reckon three kinds of maize: a white grained species, which is generally grown on the hill sides; a yellow grained one, grown in the low and hot valleys; and a smaller one, called "Bhoteah," or "Murilli Makii," which is considered the sweetest of the three, but from being less productive is not generally grown on good lands. Maize thrives best on a siliceous, well-drained, rich soil. A correspondent in my "Colonial Magazine," vol. ii. p. 309, says the finest Indian corn he ever saw was in the Himalayas of the Sikim-range, where the soil consists of a substratum of decomposed mica from the under or rocky stratum, with a superstratum of from three to six inches of decayed vegetable matter, from leaves, &c., of the ancient forests.

Throughout Hindostan, June is the usual time for sowing. In Behar, about two seers are usually sown upon a beggah; in Nepaul, twenty-four seers upon an English acre; in the vicinity of Poonah, one and a-half seer per beggah. Before the seed is sown the land is usually ploughed two or three times, and no further attention given to the crop than two hoeings. In Nepaul, where it is the principal crop cultivated, the seed is sown, after one delving and pulverisation of the soil, in the latter end of May and early part of June, in drills, the seeds being laid at intervals of seven or eight inches in the drills, and the drills an equal space apart. The drills are not raised as for turnip sowing, but consist merely of rows of the plant on a level surface. The seed is distributed in this manner with the view of facilitating the weeding of the crop, not for the purpose of earthing up the roots, which seems unnecessary. The Indian corn sowing resembles that of the gohya (or upland) rice, in the careful manner in which it is performed; the sower depositing each grain in its place, having first dibbled a hole for it five or six inches deep, with a small hand hoe, with which he also covers up the grain.

The after-culture of this crop is performed with great care in the valleys, but much neglected in the hills, especially on new and strong lands. In the former it undergoes repeated weeding during the first month of its growth, the earth being loosened round the roots, at each weeding, with the hand hoe. After the first loosening of the soil, which is performed as soon as the plants are fairly above ground, a top dressing of ashes or other manure is given. By this mode the crop gets the immediate benefit of the manure, which otherwise, from the extraordinary rapidity of its growth, could not be obtained by it. In three months from the time of sowing, the seed is ripe. The crop is harvested by cutting off the heads. In Nepaul these are either heaped on a rude scaffolding, near the cultivator's house, or, more commonly, they are suspended from the branches of the trees close by, where, exposed to wind and weather, the hard and tough sheath of the seed cones preserves the grain for many months uninjured.

Cattle are voraciously fond of the leaves and stems, which are very sweet, and even the dry straw, which Dr. Buchanan surmises may be the reason why it is not more generally cultivated by the natives, as the difficulty would be great to preserve the crop. So slow is the progress of changes in the regions of India, that near Kaliyachak, though the people give all other straw to their cattle, yet they burn that of maize as unfit for fodder. In Nepaul the stalks, with the leaves attached, often twelve feet long, cut by the sickle, are used as fodder for elephants, bedding for cattle, and as fuel. The maize crop within the hills of Nepaul suffers much from the inroads of bears, which are very numerous in these regions, and extremely partial to this grain. The average return from this crop is seldom below fifty seers, ranging frequently far above it.[42] Maize is increasing in cultivation in Java, and some of the Eastern islands. It is found to have the advantage there over mountain rice, of being more fruitful and hardy, and does not suffer from cold until the mean temperature falls to 45 deg. of Fahrenheit, and no heat is injurious to it. Several varieties of it are known, but for all practical purposes these resolve themselves into two kinds: one, a small grain, requiring five months to ripen, and a larger one, which takes seven to mature. In some provinces of Java it yields a return of 400 or 500 fold. Mr. Crawfurd found, from repeated trials, that in the soil of Mataram, in Java, an acre of land, which afforded a double crop, produced of the smaller grain 848½ lbs. annually.

RICE.

This is one of the most extensively diffused and useful of grain crops, and supports the greatest number of the human race. The cultivation prevails in Eastern and Southern Asia, and it is also a common article of subsistence in various countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It is grown in the Japan Islands, on all the sea coasts of China, the Philippine and other large Islands of the Indian Archipelago, partially in Ceylon, Siam, India, both shores of the Red Sea, Egypt, the shores of the Mozambique Channel, Madagascar, some parts of Western Africa, South Carolina, and Central America. Three species only are enumerated by Lindley:--Oryza sativa, the common rice, a native of the East; O. latifolia, a species having its habitat in South America; and O. Nepalensis, common in Nepaul. But there are a host of varieties known in the East; these, however, may for all practical purposes, be resolved into two kinds--the upland or mountain rice (O. Nepalensis, the O. mutica, of Roxburgh), and the lowland or aquatic species (O. sativa).

Zizania aquatica is exceedingly prolific of bland, farinaceous seeds, which afford a kind of rice in Canada and North-West America, where it abounds wild in all the shallow streams. The seeds contribute essentially to the support of the wandering tribes of Indians, and feed immense flocks of wild swans, geese, and other water fowl. Pinkerton says, this plant seems intended to become the bread-corn of the North. Two other species of Zizania are common in the United States of America.

Rice, the chief food, perhaps, of one-third of the human race, possesses the advantage attending wheat, maize, and other grains, of preserving plenty during the fluctuations of trade, and is also susceptible of cultivation on land too low and moist for the production of most other useful plants. Although cultivated principally within the tropics, it flourishes well beyond, producing even heavier and better filled grain. Like many other plants in common use, it is now found wild [it is to be understood that the wild rice, or water oat (Zizania aquatica), already referred to, which grows along the muddy shores of tide waters, is a distinct plant from the common rice, and should not be confounded with it], nor is its native country known. Linnæus considers it a native of Ethiopia, while others regard it of Asiatic origin.

The chief variety of this cereal is cultivated throughout the torrid zone, wherever there is a plentiful supply of water, and it will mature, under favorable circumstances, in the Eastern continent, as high as the 45th parallel of north latitude, and as far south as the 38th. On the Atlantic side of the Western continent, it will flourish as far north as latitude 38 degrees, and to a corresponding parallel south. On the Western coast of America, it will grow so far north as 40 or more degrees. Its general culture is principally confined to India, China, Japan, Ceylon, Madagascar, Eastern Africa, the South of Europe, the Southern portions of the United States, the Spanish Main, Brazil, and the Valley of Parana and Uruguay.

In 1834, 29,583 bags of rice were shipped from Maranham, but I am not aware what have been the exports since.

At the Industrial Exhibition in London, in 1851, there were displayed many curious specimens and varieties of rice, grown without irrigation, at elevations of three thousand to six thousand feet on the Himalaya, where the dampness of the summer months compensates for the want of artificial moisture. Among these American rice received not only honorable mention for its very superior quality, but the Carolina rice, exhibited by E.I. Heriot, was pronounced by the jury "magnificent in size, color, and clearness," and it was awarded a prize medal. The jury also admitted that the American rice, though originally imported from the Old World, is now much the finest in quality.

This grain was first introduced into Virginia by Sir William Berkeley, in 1647, who received half a bushel of seed, from which he raised sixteen bushels of excellent rice, most or all of which was sown the following year. It is also stated that a Dutch brig, from Madagascar, came to Charleston in 1694, and left about a peck of paddy (rice in the husk), with Governor Thomas Smith, who distributed it among his friends for cultivation. Another account of its introduction into Carolina is, that Ashley was encouraged to send a bag of seed rice to that province, from the crops of which sixty tons were shipped to England in 1698. It soon after became the chief staple of the colony. Its culture was introduced into Louisiana in 1718, by the "Company of the West."

The present culture of rice in the United States is chiefly confined to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. The yield per acre varies from twenty to sixty bushels, weighing from forty-five to forty-eight pounds when cleaned. Under favorable circumstances as many as ninety bushels to an acre have been raised.

Judge Dougherty, who resides near the borders of Henderson county, Texas, has raised a crop of several hundred bushels of upland rice. The crop averages thirty bushels to the acre. He thinks rice can be raised there as easily as Indian corn, and will be far more profitable.

Another variety is cultivated in America to a limited extent, called Cochin-China, dry, or mountain rice, from its adaptation to a dry soil, without irrigation. It will grow several degrees further north or south than the Carolina rice, and has been cultivated with success in the Northern provinces of Hungary, China, Westphalia, Virginia and Maryland; but the yield is much less than that already stated, being only fifteen to twenty bushels to an acre. It was first introduced into Charleston, from Canton, by John Brodly Blake, in 1772.

The American crop of rice in 1848, reached 162,058 tierces in market, and of these 160,330 tierces were exported from South Carolina. The largest rice crop grown in South Carolina for the past thirty years, was in 1847, when 192,462 tierces were raised; 140,000 to 150,000 is about the average, and it has only exceeded 170,000 on four occasions.

The amount of rice exported from South Carolina in 1724, was 18,000 barrels; in 1731, 41,957 barrels; in 1740, 90,110 barrels; in 1747-48, 55,000 barrels; in 1754, 104,682 barrels; in 1760-61, 100,000 barrels; from Savannah, in 1755, 2,299 barrels, besides 237 bushels of paddy or rough rice; in 1760, 3,283 barrels, besides 208 bushels of paddy; in 1770, 22,120 barrels, besides 7,064 bushels of paddy; from Philadelphia, in 1771, 258,375 pounds. The amount exported from the United States, in 1770, was 150,529 barrels; in 1791, 96,980 tierces; in 1800, 112,056 tierces; in 1810, 131,341 tierces; in 1820-21, 88,221 tierces; in 1830-31, 116,517 tierces; in 1840-41, 101,617 tierces; in 1845-46, 124,007 tierces; in 1846-47, 144,427 tierces; in 1850-51, 105,590 tierces.

According to the census of 1840, the rice crop of the United States amounted to 80,841,422 lbs.; in 1850, 215,312,710 lbs.

Rice being an aquatic plant, is best grown in low moist lands, that are easily inundated.

The ground is ploughed superficially, and divided into squares of from twenty to thirty yards in the sides, separated from each other by dykes of earth about two feet in height, and sufficiently broad for a man to walk upon. These dykes are for retaining the water when it is required, and to permit of its being drawn off when the inundation is no longer necessary. The ground prepared, the water is let on, and kept at a certain height in the several compartments of the rice field, and the seedsman goes to work. The rice that is to be used as seed must have been kept in the husk; it is put into a sack, which is immersed in the water until the grain swells and shows signs of germination; the seedsman, walking through the inundated field, scatters the seed with his hand, as usual; the rice immediately sinks to the bottom, and many even penetrate to a certain depth in the mud. In Piedmont, where the sowing takes place at the beginning of April, they generally use about fifty-five pounds of seed per acre. The rice begins to show itself above the surface of the water at the end of a fortnight; as the plant grows, the depth of the water is increased, so that the stalks may not bend with their own weight. About the middle of June this disposition is no longer to be apprehended; the rice is not so flexible as it was, so that the water can be drawn off for a few days to permit hoeing; after which the water is again let on, and maintained to the height of the plant. In July it is usual to top the stalks, an operation which renders the flowering almost simultaneous.

Rice generally flowers in the beginning of the month of August, and a fortnight later the grain begins to form. It is at this period especially that the stalks require to be supported, and this is effectually done by keeping the water at about half their height. The rice field is emptied when the straw turns yellow. The harvest generally takes place at the end of September. In the Isle of France rice is cultivated in very damp soils, upon which a great deal of rain falls, but which are not flooded, as in other tropical countries: but the process is not so certain nor the crop so great, as when inundation is employed. In Piedmont the usual return of a rice field is reckoned at about fifty for one. At Munzo, in New Granada, the paddy fields which are not inundated, under the influence of a mean temperature of 26 deg. centrigrade (79.0 deg. Fahrenheit), yield 100 for 1.--(Simmonds's "Colonial Magazine," vol. xi., p. 92.)

The rice now grown about New Orleans is as sweet, if not sweeter, than that imported from South Carolina, but it is deficient in hardness and brightness when ready for market, a defect owing entirely to two causes, neither of which is beyond the control of the planter. The one cause is the mode of culture, it being generally grown without due attention to the seed--seeded at too late a period of the season, and allowed to become rare-ripe upon the stalk. The other cause is the very imperfect mode of its preparation for market; this being invariably accomplished by the primitive pestle and mortar, or the old-fashioned "pecker mill." The same seed is planted in the same soil from year to year, a system which, it is generally conceded, will deteriorate the quality and production of any grain crop. A very large proportion of the rice grown in Carolina is prepared for market at the steam toll-mills, in the vicinity of Charleston; and a mill of this description near New Orleans, would remedy the greatest defect in the rice of the country, greatly increase the demand for the article, and undoubtedly yield a large return for the investment. The toll mills at and around Charleston are, and always have been, prosperous. The mills of Mr. Lucas, in England, erected to clean "paddy," i.e. "rough rice," sent there in bulk from Carolina, have succeeded also, and have increased the consumption of the article in that country. The "rough rice," "paddy," or grain, as it comes from the ear, is composed, first, of a rough, silicious outer covering, impervious to water, which is very useful in the neighbourhood of cities, for filling up low lots or pools, for horse beds, and for packing crockery and ice, being far better for the latter purpose than the sawdust used; second, a brown flour or bran, lying directly under the outer covering; and third, of the clean or white rice. There is no question that, as a common diet, it is better adapted to the climate of Louisiana than Indian corn; and it can be grown on the hitherto waste lands of the sugar plantations; it is always substituted by the physician, when practicable, as the food best adapted to the laborer, in seasons of diarrhoea and other similar diseases, is preferred before any other grain by the negro; and if the clean rice be ground and bolted, a meal is produced which can be made up into various forms of cake and other bread, of unrivalled sweetness and delicacy. The outer flour, or brown bran, which is separated from the chaff at the toll mill, is known as "rice flour," and corresponds to the "bran" of wheat, it is a most excellent food for horses, poultry, pigs and milch cows, and would always command a ready sale in New Orleans. It is used extensively for these purposes at and around Charleston, and is shipped thence, by the cargo, to Boston and other Northern ports.

No portion of the globe is better adapted to the growth of this grain than the delta of the Mississippi. The river is always "up and ready" to do the all-important duty of irrigation in March, April, May, and June, in which period of the year the crop ought to be made; and I am informed, and doubt not, that two cuttings can be obtained from the same plants, between March and the killing frosts of the succeeding November.

An interesting report by Dr. E. Elliot, on the Cultivation of Rice, was read before the Pendleton Farmer's Society, South Carolina, at a recent annual meeting, from which I shall make an extract.

In "Ramsay's History of South Carolina" it is stated:--"Landgrave Thomas Smith, who was Governor of the Province in 1693, had been at Madagascar before he settled in Carolina. There he observed that rice was planted and grew in low moist ground. Having such ground in his garden, attached to his dwelling in East Bay, Charleston, he was persuaded that rice would grow therein, if seed could be procured. About this time a vessel from Madagascar, being in distress, came to anchor near Sullivan's Island. The master inquired for Mr. Smith, as an old acquaintance. An interview took place. In the course of conversation Mr. Smith expressed a wish to obtain some seed rice to plant in his garden. The cook being called, said that he had a small bag of rice suitable for the purpose. This was presented to Mr. Smith, who sowed it in a low spot in Longitude Lane. From this small beginning did one of the great staple commodities of South Carolina takes its rise, which soon became the chief support of the colony, and its great source of opulence."

"Such is the historical account of the introduction of rice into South Carolina; and from that day to this, it has constituted one of her staple articles of production. Although the climate and soil were found admirably suited to the plant, the planters encountered incredible difficulty in preparing or dressing the rice for market. From the day of its introduction, to the close of the Revolution, the grain was milled, or dressed, partly by hand and partly by animal power. But the processes were imperfect, very tedious, very destructive to the laborer, and very exhausting to the animal power. The planter regarded a good crop as an equivocal blessing, for as the product was great so in proportion was the labor of preparing it for market. While matters stood thus, the planters were released from their painful condition by a circumstance so curious that it deserves a place in the history of human inventions. A planter from the Santee, whilst walking in King-street, Charleston, noticed a small windmill perched on the gable end of a wooden store. His attention was arrested by the beauty of its performance. He entered the store and asked who the maker was. He was told that he was a Northumbrian, then resident in the house--a man in necessitous circumstances, and wanting employment. A conference was held; the planter carried the machine to the Santee, pointed out the difficulties under which the planters labored, and the result was the rice pounding-mill. This man was the first Mr. Lucas, and to his genius South Carolina owes a large debt of gratitude. For what the cotton planter owes to Eli Whitney, the rice planter owes to Mr. Lucas. His mills were first impelled by water, but more recently by steam, and though much mechanical ingenuity and much capital have been expended in improving them, the rice pounding-mill of this day, in all essential particulars, does not differ materially from the mill as it came from the hands of Mr. Lucas.

This great impediment being removed, one formidable difficulty still remained in the way of the rice planters, and that was the threshing of the crop by flail. The labor requisite to accomplish this was so great, that we once heard a distinguished planter say, while having one large crop threshed out by flail, that he would regard another large crop as a calamity. Previous to 1830 threshing mills had been tried by various individuals, but with no apparent success. In that year the attempt was renewed, and we were present and witnessed the first trial of a thresher, constructed in New York, and which was tested on Savannah river, under the auspices of General Hamilton. The machinery was driven by apparatus similar to that employed for driving the cotton gin. The result was not very satisfactory, but there was ground for hope, and after an outlay of very large sums, and after many disappointments, the happy expedient was thought of, of testing the mill with steam instead of animal power. The experiment was completely successful, and it was manifest at once that the difficulties had not been in the imperfect construction, of the thresher, but in the insufficiency of the moving power.

It is now twenty years since we witnessed the working of the small mill alluded to, and the rice threshing-mill, with steam-engine attached, is now a splendid piece of operative machinery. The rice in sheaf is taken up to the thresher by a conveyor, it is threshed, the straw taken off, then thrice winnowed and twice screened, and the result in some cases exceeds a thousand bushels of clean rough rice, the work of a short winter day.

Humanity rejoices at these inventions--at this transfer to water and steam, of processes so slow and so exhausting to the human as well as to the animal frame--and in this feeling we are confident every planter deeply sympathises. Moreover, the relief they have afforded in other respects has been perfectly indescribable. Previous to these improvements all the finer portions of the winter were appropriated exclusively to the milling and the threshing of the crop with the flail, yet it is manifest they added not one particle to the value of the property; indeed, while going on, all other work, and all preparation for another crop had to be suspended, so that the condition of the plantation was not progressive, but retrograde.

A short recapitulation will show what has been accomplished by the enterprise of our planters in the last seventy years. At the close of the Revolution it is believed the rice fields were poorly drained, and when broken up were chiefly turned with the hoe, then trenched with the hoe; then came three or four hoeings and as many pickings. The rice was then cut with the sickle and carried in on the head, then threshed with the flail, then milled and dressed, in some cases wholly by human labor, and in others by a rude machine, called a pecker mill. Now, in 1852, the hoeing, the pickings, and the cutting with the sickle remain unchanged; but the lands are better drained, and in the turning the plough has superseded the hoe; the trenching, when, necessary, is done by animal power; the rice, when cut, is carried in on a flat and wagon, then threshed and milled by machinery, so perfect that it is difficult to imagine how it can be surpassed.

It is one hundred and fifty-nine years since the introduction of rice into Carolina, and there are grounds for supposing that our people have accomplished more during that period, in the cultivation and preparation of this grain, than has been done by any of the Asiatic nations who have been conversant with its growth for many centuries. We had the rare opportunity, a few years since, of seeing a Chinese book on rice planting, which contained many engravings. The language we could not read, but we comprehended a sufficient number of the engravings to institute a comparison between their system and our own, and the result was, in our method of irrigation we were their equals, while in economy of cultivation, and in the preparation of the grain for market and for use, we are greatly their superiors. Again, some six or seven years since the East India Company, of London, sent an agent to this country to procure American cotton seed, gins, and overseers, for the purpose of testing the practicability of raising cotton by our method in India. This agent, Captain Bayles, when in Savannah, was heard to say that he had especial directions from the Company to inform himself minutely of our system of rice culture. Here, then, was an embassage from the banks of the Ganges, a spot where rice has been cultivated probably for twenty centuries, to inquire into the method of cultivation and preparation, of a people amongst whom the grain had no existence one hundred and sixty years ago."

The following is the mode of culture for rice in Carolina:--It is sowed as soon as it conveniently can be after the vernal equinox, from which period until the middle, and even the last of May, is the usual time of putting it in the ground. It grows best in low marshy land, and should be sowed in furrows twelve inches asunder; it requires to be flooded, and thrives best if six inches under water; the water is occasionally drained off, and turned on again to overflow it, for three or four times.

When ripe the straw becomes yellow, and it is either reaped with a sickle, or cut down with a scythe and cradle, some time in the month of September; after which it is raked and bound, or got up loose, and threshed or trodden out, and winnowed in the same manner as wheat or barley.

Husking it requires a different and particular operation, in a mill made for that purpose. This mill is constructed of two large flat wooden cylinders, formed like mill-stones, with channels or furrows cut therein, diverging in an oblique direction from the centre to the circumference, made of a heavy and exceedingly hard timber, called lightwood, which is the knots of the pitch pine. This is turned with the hand, like the common hand-mills. After the rice is thus cleared of the husks, it is again winnowed, when it is fit for exportation.

A bushel of rice will weigh about sixty or sixty-six pounds, and an acre of middling land will produce twenty-five bushels.

Various machines have been contrived for cleaning rice, of which one secured by patent to Mr. M. Wilson, in 1826, and thus described by Dr. Ure, may be regarded as a fair specimen:--It consists of an oblong hollow cylinder, laid in an inclined position, having a great many teeth stuck in its internal surface, and a central shaft, also furnished with teeth. By the rapid revolution of the shaft, its teeth are carried across the intervals of those of the cylinder, with the effect of parting the grains of rice, and detaching whatever husks or impurities may adhere to them. A hopper is set above to receive the rice, and conduct it down into the clean cylinder. About eighty teeth are supposed to be set in the cylinder, projecting so as to reach very nearly the central shaft, in which there is a corresponding number of teeth, that pass freely between the former.

The cylinder may also be placed upright, or horizontal if preferred, and mounted in any convenient framework. The central shaft should be put in rapid rotation, while the cylinder receives a slow motion in the opposite direction. The rice, as cleaned by that action, is discharged at the lower end of the cylinder, where it falls into a shute, and is conducted to the ground. The machine may be driven by hand, or by any other convenient motive power.[43] The growth of rice in North America is almost wholly confined to two States; nine-tenths of the whole product, indeed, being raised in the States of South Carolina and Georgia. A little is grown in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The aggregate crop, for 1843, amounted to 89,879,185 lbs., while in 1847 it had risen to 103,000,000 lbs.

Besides the rice which is raised in the water, there is also the dry, or mountain rice, which is raised in some parts of Europe on the sides of the hills. It is said to thrive well in Cochin China, in dry light soils, not requiring more moisture than the usual rains or dews supply. By long culture the German rice, raised by the aid of water, is stated to have acquired a remarkable degree of hardness and adaptation to the climate. The upland rice of the United States is thought by some to be only a modified description of the swamp rice. It will grow on high and poor land, and produce more than Indian corn on the same land would do, even fifteen bushels, when the corn is but seven bushels. The swamp rice was originally cultivated on high land, and is not so now, because it is more productive in the swamp, in the proportion, as is said, of twenty to sixty bushels per acre; and the use of water likewise, it is stated, makes it easier of cultivation, by enabling the planter to kill the grasses. It is thought that on rich high land, rice may be made to produce twenty-five or thirty bushels to an acre in a good season. A letter from a gentleman in North Carolina gives the following account of some rice raised there. He says:--

"I have planted it the two past years with a view to private consumption only; not, however, with the success of my neighbours, who are famous, and have the things under their own management. They make from forty to fifty, and some, sixty bushels to the acre, on fine land that produces ordinarily from ten to fifteen bushels of Indian corn or maize. It is a larger grain than the gold or swamp rice, and very white; hence it is commonly called here the 'white rice.' It is planted generally about the middle of March, or 1st of April, in small ridges two-and-a-half feet apart, in chops at intervals of about eighteen inches, on the top of the ridge, ten or twelve seeds in each chop. A season that will make Indian corn, will, if long enough, make this rice; but it requires about four or five weeks more than the corn to mature. It ought to be cut before quite ripe, as it threshes off very easily, and is liable to great waste. Instead of the flail, we take the sheaf in the hand, and whip it across a bench in a close room until the rice leaves the straw. It does not stand the pestle as well as the swamp rice, but breaks a good deal in the beating; this, however, I have heard attributed to the dry culture."

A new variety of rice is mentioned as having been discovered in South Carolina, in 1838, called the big-grained rice. It has been proved to be unusually productive. One gentleman, in 1840, planted not quite half an acre with this seed, which yielded forty-nine and a half bushels of clean winnowed rice. In 1842, he planted 400 acres, and in 1843, he sowed his whole crop with this seed. His first parcel when milled, was eighty barrels, and netted half a dollar per cwt. over the primest rice sold on the same day. Another gentleman also planted two fields in 1839, which yielded seventy-three bushels per acre. The average crop before from the same fields of fifteen and ten acres, had only been thirty-three bushels per acre.

The following were the returns of produce on some of the leading estates of South Carolina, in 1848:--

-----------------+----------+-----------+---------+------------+---------- | Barrels | | | | | Shipped | Barrels | |Average Net |Net Income Plantation |__________| of | | Produce | Amount |Whole|Half|600 lbs.net| Weight |per barrel. | Dollars -----------------+-----+----+-----------+---------+------------+---------- 1. Prospect Hill |1,387| 10 | 1,495½ | 897,166|16 08-100ths| 24,001 2. Springfield | 737| 5 | 801½ | 480,937|16 60-100ths| 13,264 3. Brook Green |1,571| 15 | 1,716 |1,026,405|16 53-100ths| 28,261 4. Longwood |1,113| 4 | 1,227½ | 736,413|15 53-100ths| 19,021 5. Alderly | 484| 6 | 533 | 319,912|16 68-100ths| 8,851 -----------------+-----+----+-----------+---------+------------+---------- Total |5,292| 40 | 5,773½ |3,460,833| | 93,398 -----------------+-----+----+-----------+---------+------------+----------

Nos. 2 and 3 were sown with long grain rice, the others with small grain. These plantations were all on the river Waccamaw. The expenses of a well supplied rice plantation may be stated at 33-1/3 per cent. on the net income.

A gentleman from the United States, named Colvin, proposes to establish the cultivation of rice in the colony of Demerara. This is no new experiment, rice having been already grown with success in several parts of the colony--for instance, in Leguan, up the Canje Creek, and elsewhere; and some of it is of superior quality, preferable, indeed, to that imported. If Mr. Colvin's object be not merely to demonstrate the practicability of rice being grown in British Guiana, but to promote its cultivation on such a scale as may tend to render it in time one of the staples of the colony, he is deserving of support, and I hope that his efforts will be crowned with complete success.

The editor of the Gazeta, a local paper, has been shown some sprigs of rice raised near Matanzas, in Cuba, the smallest of which contains at least three hundred grains, perfectly opened, and of a larger size than is usually produced on the island. He observes that this phenomenon is not limited to a certain number of sprigs, but that the whole crop is similar--that this excess of production is to be attributed to the extraordinary abundance of rain this year. "Here we have a specimen," says the editor, "of the enormous production that could be raised in our fields of this excellent and nutritious grain, if it were cultivated in places contiguous to the rivers, where it could be flowed during drought."

The experiment of cultivating rice in France appears to have succeeded perfectly. A piece of ground of 100 hectares in extent (250 acres) was sown with rice last year in the lands of Arcachon, near Bordeaux, and the crop proved a highly satisfactory one. The seed is sown about the middle of April, and almost immediately appears above ground.

Rice may be kept a very long period in the rough--I believe a lifetime. After being cleaned, if it be prime rice, and well milled, it will keep a long time in this climate; only when about to be used (if old) it requires more careful washing to get rid of the must, which accumulates upon it. Some planters--the writer among the number--prefer for table use rice a year old to the new. The grain is superior to any other provisions in this respect. If a laborer in the gold diggings, or elsewhere, takes with him two days' or a week's provisions, in rice, and his wallet happens to get wet, he has only to open it to the sun and air, and he will find it soon dries, and is not at all injured for his purpose. Rough rice may remain under water twenty-four hours without injury, if dried soon after.

Passing eastward, rice begins to be found cultivated in Egypt, becomes more general in Northern India, and holds undisputed rule in the peninsulas of India, in China, Japan, and the East India islands--shares it in the west coast of Africa with maize, which, on the other hand, is the exclusively cultivated corn plant of the greatest part of tropical America, with only some unimportant exceptions. On the coast of Africa rice ripens in three months; they put it under water when cut, where it keeps sound and good for some time.

Rice is now the staple commodity of Bourbon, and it produces about 26,000 quintals annually. It forms, together with maize and mandioc, the principal article of food amongst the negroes and colored people.

The Bhull rice lands of Lower Sind.--Like all large rivers which flow through an alluvial soil, for a very lengthened course, the Indus has a tendency to throw up patches of alluvial deposit at its mouth; and these are in Sind called bhulls, and are in general very valuable for the cultivation of the red rice of the country. These bhulls are large tracts of very muddy swampy land, almost on a level with the sea, and exposed equally to be flooded both by it and the fresh water; indeed on this depends much of the value of the soil, as a bhull which is not at certain times well covered with salt water, is unfit for cultivation. They exist on both sides of the principal mouths of the Indus, in the Gorabaree and Shahbunder pergunnas, which part of the province is called by the natives "Kukralla," and was in olden days, before the era of Goolam Shah Kalora, a small state almost independent of the Ameers of Sind. On the left bank of the mouths of the river these bhulls are very numerous and form by far the most fertile portion of the surrounding district. They bear a most dreary, desolate, and swampy appearance--are intersected in all directions by streams of salt and brackish water, and are generally surrounded by low dykes or embankments, in order to regulate the influx and reflux of the river and sea. Yet from these dreary swamps a very considerable portion of the rice consumed in Sind is produced; and the Zemindars, who hold them, are esteemed amongst the most respectable and wealthy in Lower Sind.

To visit a bhull is no easy matter. Route by land there is none, and the only way is to go by boat, in which it is advisable to take at least one day's provisions and water, as the time occupied in the inspection will be regulated entirely by the state of the tide and weather. Very difficult is it too, to land on any of these places, the mud being generally two or three feet deep, and it is only here and there that a footing can be secured, in the embankment surrounding the field.

Let me now describe the mode of cultivating these anomalous islands, floating as it were in the ocean, and deriving benefit both from it and the mighty river itself, whose offspring they are. Should the river during the high season have thrown up a bhull, the Zemindar selecting it for cultivation, first surrounds it with a low bund of mud, which is generally about three feet in height. When the river has receded to its cold weather level, and the bhull is free of fresh water (for be it remembered, that these bhulls being formed during the inundation, are often considerably removed from the river branches during the low season), he takes advantage of the first high spring tide, opens the bund and allows the whole to be covered with the salt water. This is generally done in December. The sea water remains on the land for about nine weeks, or till the middle of February, which is the proper time for sowing the seed. The salt water is now let out, and as the ground cannot, on account of the mud, be ploughed, buffaloes are driven over every part of the field, and a few seeds of the rice thrown into every footmark; the men employed in sowing being obliged to crawl along the surface on their bellies, with the basket of seed on their backs; for were they to assume an upright position, they would inevitably be bogged in the deep swamp. The holes containing the seed are not covered up, but people are placed on the bunds to drive away birds, until the young grain has well sprung up. The land is not manured, the stagnant salt water remaining on it being sufficient to renovate the soil. The rice seed is steeped in water, and then in dung and earth for three or four days, and is not sown until it begins to sprout. The farmer has now safely got over his sowing, and as this rice is not as in other cases transplanted, his next anxiety is to get a supply of fresh water; and for this he watches for the freshes which usually come down the river about the middle and end of February, and if the river then reaches his bhull, he opens his bund, and fills the enclosure with the fresh water. The sooner he gets this supply the better, for the young rice will not grow in salt water, and soon withers if left entirely dry.

The welfare of the crop now depends entirely on the supply of fresh water. A very high inundation does not injure the bhull cultivation, as here the water has free space to spread about. In fact the more fresh water the better. If, however, the river remains low in June, July, and August, and the south-west monsoon sets in heavily on the coast, the sea is frequently driven over the bhulls and destroys the crops. It is in fact a continual struggle between the salt water and the fresh. When the river runs out strong and full, the bhulls prosper, and the sea is kept at a distance. On the other hand, the salt water obtains the supremacy when the river is low, and then the farmer suffers. In this manner much bhull crop was destroyed in the monsoons of 1851 and 1852, during the heavy gales which prevailed in those seasons. The rice is subject to attacks also of a small black sea crab, called by the natives Kookaee, and which, without any apparent cause, cuts down the growing grain in large quantities, and often occasions much loss.

The crop when ripe, which, if all goes well will be about the third week in September, is reaped in the water by men, either in boats, or on large masses of straw rudely shaped like a boat, and which being made very tight and close, will float for a considerable time. The rice is carried ashore to the high land, where it is dried, and put through the usual harvest process of division, &c.: and the bhull is then on the fall of the river again ready for its annual pickling.

The process of preparing the field for rice culture, in the Kandian country, Ceylon, is very simple.

When the paddy is to be cultivated in mud, a piece of ground is enclosed in a series of squares or terraces, by ridges raised with mud and turf; a quantity of water is directed into the field from an adjacent stream or tank, and is allowed to remain on it for fifteen days; at the expiration of this time the field is ploughed with a yoke of buffaloes, which operation is repeated at the end of fifteen days more, when, by the rotting of the weeds and other matter, the field has become manured. After another interval of fifteen days the field is again ploughed and the broken ridges are repaired. Eight days after the field is harrowed, and subsequently rolled or levelled; and when the water has been let out the seed is sown, having in most instances been previously made to germinate, by being spread on platforms and kept wet.

The water is turned in during night, to prevent crabs and insects from destroying the seedlings, and let out during the day; and this they continue to do till the plants attain the height of one foot. Water is only retained in the field until the ears are half ripe, otherwise they would ripen indifferently and be destroyed by vermin. A variety of coast paddy, called "moottoo samboo," was introduced into the Kandian province in 1832, which was found to produce a more abundant crop, by one third, than the native. It is of six months growth.

In Kashmir rice is the staple of cultivation, and the practice adopted there is thus described by a writer in my "Colonial Magazine," vol. x. p. 130. It is sown in the beginning of May, and is fit to cut about the end of August. The grain is either sown broadcast in the place where it is intended to stand till it is ripe, or thickly in beds, from which it is transplanted when the blade is about a foot high. As soon as the season will admit after the 21st of March, the land is opened by one or more ploughings, according to its strength, and the clods are broken down by blows with wooden mattocks, managed in general by women, with great regularity and address; after which water is let in upon the soil, which for the most part of a reddish clay, or foxy earth, is converted into a smooth soft mud. The seed grain, put into a sack of woven grass, is submerged in a running stream until it begins to sprout, which happens sooner or later, according to the temperature of the water and of the atmosphere, but ordinarily takes place in three or four days. This precaution is adopted for the purpose of getting the young shoots as quickly as possible out of the way of a small snail, which abounds in some of the watered lands of Kashmir, but sometimes proves insufficient to defend it against the activity of this destructive enemy. When the farmer suspects, by the scanty appearance of the plants above the water in which the grain has been sown, and by the presence of the snail drawn up in the mud, that his hopes of a crop are likely to be disappointed, he repeats the sowing, throwing into the water some fresh leaves of the Prangos plant, which either poison the snails or cause them to descend out of the reach of its influence. The seed is for the most part thrown broadcast into about four or five inches of water, which depth is endeavoured to be maintained. Difference of practice exists as to watering, but it seems generally agreed that rice can scarcely have too much water, provided it be not submerged, except for a few days before it ripens, when a dried state is supposed to hasten and to perfect the maturity, whilst it improves the quality of the grain. In general the culture of rice is attended with little expense, although dearer in Kashmir than Hindostan, from its being customary in the former country to manure the rice-lands, which is never done in the latter. This manure, for the most part, consists of rice straw rejected by the cattle, and mixed with cow-dung. It is conveyed from the homestead to the fields by women, in small wicker baskets, and is set on the land with more liberality than might have been expected from the distance it is carried. Many of the ripe lands are situated much higher than might be thought convenient in Hindostan, and are rather pressed into this species of culture than naturally inviting, but still yield good crops, through the facility with which water is brought upon them from the streams which fall down the face of the neighbouring hills. In common seasons the return of grain is from thirty to forty for one, on an average, besides the straw.

The rice of Bengal, by the exercise of some care and skill, has recently been so far improved as nearly to equal that of the Carolinas. Dr. Falconer has introduced into India the numerous and fine varieties of rice cultivated in the Himalayas; of these some of the best sorts were at his suggestion distributed to cultivators along the Doab canal.

A species of hill rice grows on the edge of the Himalaya mountains. The mountain rices of India are grown without irrigation, at elevations of 3,000 to 6,000 feet on the Himalaya, where the dampness of the summer months compensates for the want of artificial moisture. The small reddish Assamese rices, which become gelatinous in boiling, and the large, flat-grained, soft, purple-black Ketana rice, of Java and Malacca, shown at the Great Exhibition, were curious.

The fertility of the province of Arracan is very great, its soil being fit for the culture of nearly all tropical productions; rice, however, is alone cultivated to any great extent; the low alluvial soil which extends over the whole country, from the foot of the mountains to the sea, being admirably suited for its growth. About 115 square miles are under culture with rice. The export trade in rice of the district, is seen by the following statistical return; and it gives employment to from 400 to 700 vessels, aggregating 60,000 to 80,000 tons.

QUANTITY OF PADDY AND RICE EXPORTED FROM AKYAB, THE PORT OF ARRACAN. -------+---------+-------+---------+---------------------------------- | | | |Average price per 100 baskets | | | Total | of 12 seers, in Rupees |Maunds of|Maunds | value +------------------+--------------- | Paddy |of rice| Rupees | Rice | Paddy -------+---------+-------+---------+------------------+--------------- 1831-32| 380,600| 28,970| 130,591| 15.4 to 16.6 | 8 to 9 1832-33| 502,740|175,560| 232,915| 16 17 | 7.5 8 1833-34| 555,540|418,950| 430,830| 19 20 | 9 10 1834-35| 127,050|260,650| 176,717| 18 19 | 8 9 1835-36| 783,870|548,460| 354,791| 10 11 | 5 5.8 1836-37|1,737,841|641,010| 666,732| 10.8 12 | 5 6 1837-38|1,621,566|248,783| 650,385| 21 23 | 9 10.8 1838-39|1,364,100|332,380| 821,168| 24 25.1 | 8.8 11.12 1839-40|2,033,698|529,961|1,121,311| 21.8 23 | 9.8 10 1840-41|2,212,068|446,941|1,131,087| 20 21.8 |10 11 1841-42|1,265,388|270,000| 553,014| 19 20 | 8 9 1842-43|1,310,900|393,900| 472,889| 14 15 | 7.8 8 1843-44| 848,922|707,780| 633,710| 17 18 | 7 8 -------+---------+-------+---------+------------------+---------------- (" Colonial Magazine," vol. vi., p. 348.)

EXPORT OF RICE FROM MOULMEIN

Baskets Value 1840 67,318 38,708 1841 11,175 6,900 1842 64,055 40,034 1843 35,635 35,289 1844 71,822 44,529 1845 149,815 73,034 1846 193,267 101,465

--(Simmonds's "Colonial Magazine," vol. xii., p. 462.)

From Tavoy and Mergui rice was also exported, equal in value to 41,000 rupees, in 1846; 100 baskets of 12 seers each, are equal to 30 Bengal maunds. The basket of rice named above, is equal to 55½ lbs. English.

Paddy means rice in the husk--rice, the grain when unhusked--a distinction to be kept in mind.

The daily average consumption of rice in a family of five, is rated in the Straits' settlements at three and a quarter chupahs.

The Burmese and Siamese are the grossest consumers of rice. A common laboring Malay requires monthly 30 chupahs, or 56 pounds of rice, value 3s. 9d. or 4s. The Burmese and Siamese about 34 chupahs, or 64 pounds. Rice land in Penang yields a return which cannot be averaged higher than seventy-five fold--or nearly thirty guntangs of paddy for each orlong (1-1/3 acres); but it has been considered advisable to rate it here at sixty fold only.

The rice land of Province Wellesley gives an average return of 117½ fold; the maximum degree of productiveness being 600 guntangs of paddy to an orlong of well flooded, alluvial land, or 150 fold, equal to 300 guntangs of clean rice, weighing nearly 4,520 English pounds. The present average produce has been very moderately estimated at 470 guntangs the orlong of paddy. The quantity of seed invariably allotted for an orlong of land is four guntangs. In Siam forty fold is estimated a good average produce. At Tavoy, on the Tenasserim coast, the maximum rate of productiveness of the rice land was, in 1825, and is still believed to be, nearly the same as the average of Siam; while their average was only twenty-fold.--(Low, on "Straits Settlements.")

Rice in Cochin-China is the "staff of life," and forms the main article of culture. There are six different sorts grown; two on the uplands, used for confectionery, and yielding only one crop annually; the other sorts affording from two to five crops a year; but generally two, one in April and another in October; or three when the inundations have been profuse.

The late Dr. Gutzlaff stated, at a meeting of the Statistical Society of London, that the population of China was about 367,000,000, and the returns of the land subject to tax as used in rice cultivation there, gave nearly half an acre to each living person; and he further stated that in the southern and well watered provinces, it is anything but uncommon to take two crops of rice, one of wheat, and one of pulse, from the same land in a single season. Rice is the only article the Chinese ever offer a bounty for; the price fluctuates according to the seasons, from one and three-quarter dollars to eight dollars per picul. Siam and the Indian Islands, particularly Bali and Lombok, supply the empire occasionally with large quantities.

The price of rice in China varies according to the state of the canals leading to the interior; if they are full of water the prices rise; if on the contrary they are low, prices fall in proportion at the producing districts. The amount of consumption is controlled, in a considerable degree, by the cost of transit; when this is cheap prices rise from the general demand; but when land-carriage to any extent has to be resorted to, they fall; it raises prices so much at any great distance, that rice must be used very sparingly, from its enhanced price. It is obvious that if the waters are sufficiently high to allow a boat to pass fully loaded, she does so at an expense of nearly 50 per cent, less than she would do, if, from want of water, she could only take half the quantity; when transport is cheap every one obtains a full supply; when it is dear the rice districts have more than they can consume.

At home we are so much accustomed to the facilities of transit offered by railroads, canal boats, &c., that we do not readily take into consideration, that in China, except by water, all articles are conveyed from one place to another on men's shoulders. Taking the population of Canton at the usual estimate of a million, and allowing to each a catty a day, the quantity of rice required for one day's consumption alone in that city would be 10,000 piculs, of 133 lbs. each = 1,340,000 lbs.

Java is the granary of plenty for all the Eastern Archipelago; and the Dutch East India Company occupies itself in this culture with solicitude, well persuaded that a scarcity of rice might be fatal to its power. Ordinances to encourage and increase this branch of agriculture, have been promulgated at different times by an authority called to watch over the physical well-being of many millions of inhabitants.

As an evident proof that the culture of rice, of which it would be difficult to fix the quantity produced annually, increases considerably, I may mention that the exportation from Java, in 1840, was 1,488,350 piculs of 125 Dutch lbs.

Rice is cultivated in Java in three systems. The name of sawah is given to the rice fields, which can be irrigated artificially; tepar, or tagal, are elevated but level grounds; and gagah, or ladang, are cleared forest grounds. The two last only give one crop; a second crop may be obtained from the sawah, which then most commonly consists of katjang, from which oil is extracted, in kapus or fine cotton, and in ubie, a kind of potato.

There are, says Mr. Crawfurd, two distinct descriptions of rice cultivated throughout the Indian islands, one which grows without the help of immersion in water, and another for which that immersion is indispensably requisite. In external character there is very little difference between them, and in intrinsic value not much. The marsh rice generally brings a somewhat higher price in the market. The great advantage of this latter consists in its superior fecundity. Two very important varieties of each are well known to the Javanese husbandman, one being a large productive, but delicate grain, which requires about seven months to ripen, and the other a small, hardy, and less fruitful one, which takes little more than five months. The first we constantly find cultivated in rich lands, where one annual crop only is taken; and the last in well watered lands, but of inferior fertility, where two crops may be raised.

Both of these, but particularly the marsh rice, is divided into a great number of sub-varieties, characterised by being awned or otherwise, having a long or round grain, or being in color black, red, or white. The most singular variety is the O. glutinosa, of Rumphius. This is never used as bread, but commonly preserved as a sweetmeat. The rudest, and probably the earliest practised mode of cultivating rice, consists in taking from forest lands a fugitive crop, after burning the trees, grass, and underwood. The ground is turned up with the mattock, and the seed planted by dibbling between the stumps of trees. The period of sowing is the commencement of the rains, and of reaping that of the dry season. The rice is of course of that description which does not require immersion.

The second description of tillage consists also in growing mountain or dry land rice. This mode is usually adopted on the common upland arable lands, which cannot conveniently be irrigated. The grain is sown in the middle of the dry season, either broadcast or by dibbling, and reaped in seven or five months, as the grain happens to be the larger or the smaller variety.

The culture of rice by the aid of the periodical rains forms the third mode. The grain being that kind which requires submersion, the process of sowing and reaping is determined with precision by the seasons. With the first fall of the rains the lands are ploughed and harrowed. The seed is sown in beds, usually by strewing very thickly the corn in the ear. From these beds the plants, when 12 or 14 days old, are removed into the fields and thinly set by the hand. They are then kept constantly immersed in water until within a fortnight of the harvest, when it is drawn off to facilitate the ripening of the grain.

The fourth mode of cultivating rice is by forcing a crop by artificial irrigation, at any time of the year; thus, in one field, in various plots, the operations of sowing, ploughing, transplanting, and reaping may be seen at the same period.

The fertile, populous, and industrious countries of the Eastern Archipelago export rice to their neighbours. The most remarkable of these are Java, Bali, some parts of Celebes, with the most fertile spots of Sumatra, and of the Malay Peninsula. Rice is generally imported to these western countries from those farther east, such as the Spice Islands. Java is the principal place of production for the consumption of the other islands, and the only island of the Archipelago that sends rice abroad. The rice of the eastern districts is generally superior to that of the western. The worst rice is that of Indramayu, which is usually discolored. The subdivision of the province of Cheribon, called Gabang, yields rice of fine white grain, equal to that of Carolina. The rice of Gressie preserves best. All Indian rice is classed, in commercial language, into the three descriptions of table rice, white rice, and cargo rice. From the limited demand for the first, it is only to be had in Java, in small quantity. For the same reason the second is not procurable in large quantity, unless bespoken some time before-hand; but the third may be had at the shortest notice in any quantity required. Java rice is inferior in estimation to that of Bengal or Carolina in the markets of Europe.

The following statistics show the extent and progress of the culture in Java:--

In 1840. In 1841. --------- ---------- No. of Residencies in which rice is cultivated 18 18

" Regencies 69 68

" Districts 414 414

" Desas or villages 39,931 36,296

Amount of the population who take a part in it, without distinction of caste 6,704,797 6,857,372

Number of families, &c. 1,466,845 1,475,675

" " families who devote themselves to the cultivation 1,150,406 1,146,083

Number of men bound to obligatory service 1,321,767 1,325,746

Cleared grounds in bahus, of 71 decametres 1,470,047 1,540,054

Upon this extent the population had cultivated for the government, in bahus of 71 decametres 78,182 74,277

Extent of fields which the population had cultivated 1,286,139 1,381,216 on their own account, in bahus, &c.

Extent of land in fallow in bahus, &c. 105,726 84,561

Produce in piculs of fields cultivated by the population on its own account 21,273,278 23,810,573

Average produce of a bahu 16½ 17

Gross amount of the land tax of 1840 8,502,402 fl 9,030,761 fl.

Extent of rice fields newly cultivated in bahus 10,328 13,561

This comparative summary shows that the culture of rice increases yearly, and that the average produce of the fields is also continually increasing. These results have been obtained by the attention paid to the proper irrigation of the soil fit for this culture; and to the hydraulic works which the Government executes on its own account in the parts of the island where rice fields can be established, and where they are required to feed a population whose number is still increasing yearly.

I have seen, continues Mr. Crawfurd, lands which have produced, from time beyond the memory of any living person, two yearly crops of rice. When this practice is pursued, it is always the five-months grain which is grown. The rapid growth of this variety, has, indeed, enabled the Javanese husbandman, in a few happy situations, to urge the culture to the amount of six crops in two years and a half. Rice cultivated in a virgin soil, where the wood has been burnt off, will, under favorable circumstances, give a return of twenty-five and thirty fold. Of mountain rice, cultivated in ordinary upland arable lands, fifteen fold may be looked upon as a good return. In fertile soils, when one crop only is taken in the year, marsh rice will yield a return of twenty-five seeds. When a double crop is taken, not more than fifteen or sixteen can be expected. In the fine province of Kadu, an English acre of good land, yielding annually one green crop and a crop of rice, was found to produce of the latter 641 lbs. of clean grain. In the light sandy, but well watered lands of the province of Mataram, where it is the common practice to exact two crops of rice yearly without any fallow, an acre was found to yield no more than 285 lbs. of clean rice, or an annual produce of 570 lbs. --("History of the Indian Archipelago.")

The low estimation of Java rice is not attributable to any real inferiority in the grain, but to the mode of preparing it for the market. In husking it, it is, for the want of proper machinery, much broken, and, from carelessness in drying, subject to decay from the attack of insects and worms. When in the progress of improvement more intelligent methods are pursued in preparing the grain for the market, it will equal the grain of any other country. Machinery must be employed for husking the grain, and some degree of kiln drying will be necessary to ensure its preservation in a long voyage.

I know nowhere that rice is so cheap as in Java, except in Siam, whence it is exported at one-third less cost. A great deal of rice is exported from Siam to China by the junks, and also occasionally a little from Java.

The quantity exported from Java in 1830 was 13,521 coyans.

" " 1835 " 25,577 "

" " 1839 " 1,103,378 piculs

" " 1841 " 676,213 "

" " 1843 " 1,108,774 "

Rice is grown to some extent in the Dutch portion of Celebes; it yields at a minimum one hundred and fifty fold. The average annual delivery of rice to the Government, from 1838 to 1842, was 3,390,119 lbs. At present the Government pays sixty cents for a measure of forty pounds. That which is sold for the consumption of the inhabitants may be procured at the public warehouse for a guilder the 35½ lbs.; and that which is sold for export may be had at public auction for 125 florins the coyan of 3,000 lbs.

The following description of some varieties of rice cultivated in the Philippine islands, is given by Mr. Rich, botanist to the United States Exploring Expedition. The varieties are very numerous; the natives distinguish them by the size and shape of their grain:--

Binambang.--Leaves slightly hairy; glumes whitish; grows to the height of about five feet; flowers in December: aquatic.

Lamuyo greatly resembles the above; is more extensively cultivated, particularly in Batangas, where it forms the principal article of food of the inhabitants of the coast: aquatic.

Malagcquit.--This variety derives its name from its being very glutinous after bailing; it is much used by the natives in making sweet or fancy dishes; and also used in making a whitewash, mixed with lime, which is remarkable for its brilliancy, and for withstanding rain, &c.: aquatic.

Bontot Cabayo.--Common in Ilocos, where it is cultivated both upland and lowland; it produces a large grain, and is therefore much esteemed, but has rather a rough taste.

Dumali, or early rice.--This rice is raised in the uplands exclusively, and derives its name from ripening its grain three months from planting; the seed is rather broader and shorter than the other varieties; it is not extensively cultivated, as birds and insects are very destructive to it.

Quinanda, with smooth leaves.--This variety is held in great estimation by the people of Batangas, as they say it swells more in boiling than any other variety; it is sown in May, and gathered in October: upland.

Bolohan.--This variety has very hairy glumes; it is not held in much esteem by the natives, but it is cultivated on account of its not being so liable to the attacks of insects and diseases as most of the other upland varieties.

Malagcquit.--With smooth leaves, and red glumes (all the preceding are whitish); possesses all the qualities of the aquatic variety of the same name--that of being very glutinous after boiling. This rice is said to be a remedy for worms in horses, soaked in water, with the hulls on; it is given with honey and water.

Tangi.--Leaves slightly hairy, glumes light violet color. This upland variety is held in much esteem for its fine flavor.

435,067 arrobas of rice were exported from Manilla in 1847.

A simple but rude mill is in use in Siam, and many parts of India, for hulling paddy, which is similar to those used 4,000 years ago. It consists of two circular stones, two feet in diameter, resting one on the other; a bamboo basket is wrought around the upper one, so as to form the hopper. A peg is firmly set into the face of the upper stone, half way between its periphery and centre, having tied to it by one end a stick three feet long, extended horizontally, and attached by the other to another stick pending from the roof of the shed under which the mill is placed. This forms a crank, by which the upper stone is made to revolve on the other set firmly on the ground. The motion throws the rice through the centre of the stone, and causes it to escape between the edges of the two.

More starch is contained in this grain than in wheat. Braconnet obtained from Carolina rice 85.07, and from Piedmont rice 83.8 per cent. of starch. Vogel procured from a dried rice no less than 98 per cent. of starch. There are several patent processes in existence for the manufacture of rice-starch, which are accomplished chiefly by digesting rice in solutions, more or less strong, of caustic alkali (soda), by which the gluten is dissolved and removed, leaving an insoluble matter composed of starch, and a white substance technically called fibre. Under Jones's patent, the alkaline solution employed contains 200 grains of real soda in every gallon of liquor, and 150 gallons of this liquor are requisite to convert 100 lbs. of rice into starch. In manufacturing rice-starch on a large scale, Patna rice yields 80 per cent, of marketable starch, and 8.2 per cent. of fibre, the remaining 11.8 per cent. being made up of gluten, gruff, or bran, and a small quantity of light starch carried off in suspension by the solution.

Jones's process may be thus described:--100 lbs. of rice are macerated for 24 hours in 50 gallons of the alkaline solution, and afterwards washed with cold water, drained, and ground. To 100 gallons of the alkaline solution are then to be added 100 lbs. of ground rice, and the mixture stirred repeatedly during 24 hours, and then allowed to stand for about 70 hours to settle or deposit. The alkaline solution is to be drawn off, and to the deposit cold water is to be added, for the double purpose of washing out the alkali and for drawing off the starch from the other matters. The mixture is to be well stirred up and then allowed to rest about an hour for the fibre to fall down. The liquor holding the starch in suspension is to be drawn off and allowed to stand for about 70 hours for the starch to deposit. The waste liquor is now to be removed, and the starch stirred up, blued (if thought necessary), drained, dried, and finished in the usual way.[44] Rice is imported into this country in bags of 1½ cwt., and tierces of 6 cwt., not only for edible purposes, but, when ground into flour, for cotton manufactures, in aiding to form the weaver's dressings for warps. Rice-meal is commonly used for feeding pigs.

Imported. British Retained for home Plantation. Foreign. consumption of all kinds. Bags. Bags. Bags. 1843 136,319 35,125 60,965 1844 127,876 69,112 126,733 1845 173,794 5,713 114,933

Tons. Tons. Tons. 1847 38,736 3,033 28,375 1848 21,226 4,631 15,468 1849 19,397 1,410 14,961

Total imported. Re-exported. 1849 976,196 cwts. 290,732 cwts. " in the husk 31,828 qrs. 1850 785,451 cwts. 248,136 " " in the husk 37,150 qrs. 1851 714,847 cwts. 345,677 " " in the husk 31,481 qrs. 1852 989,316 cwts. 414,507 " " in the husk 23,946 qrs.

The quantity of rice retained for home consumption, by the corrected returns, in 1850, was 401,018 cwts. and 35,119 quarters; in 1851, 399,170 cwts. and 31,481 quarters; in 1852, 574,809 cwts. and 23,946 quarters. The aggregate imports range from 40,000 to 80,000 tons annually, of which about 500 to 800 tons are in the husk.

Among culmiferous plants and legumes used in the East, are the Panicum italicum, P. miliaceum, Eleusine coracana (the meal of which is baked and eaten in Ceylon under the name of Corakan flour), and Paspalum of several varieties. The pigeon pea (Cytisus Cajan), and a very valuable and prolific species of bean, called the Mauritius black bean (Mucuna utilis), growing even in the poorest soil, is cultivated in India and Ceylon. Sorghum vulgare is the principal grain of Southern Arabia, and the stems are also used extensively for feeding cattle. The plant bears its Indian name of joar, or juri, and is cultivated throughout Western Hindostan. Job's tears (Croix lachryma) is another cereal grass, native of the East Indies.

MILLET.

Millet of different kinds is met with in the hottest parts of Africa, in the South of Europe, in Asia Minor, and in the East Indies. It is a small yellowish seed, growing in dense panicles or clusters, the produce of a grassy plant with large and compact seeds, growing to the height, in India, of seven or eight feet.

The millets, known to Europeans as petit mais, are tropical or sub-tropical crops. In India they hold a second rank to rice alone; and in Egypt, perhaps, surpass all other crops in importance. In Western Africa they are the staff of life. The red and white millets shown by Austria, Russia, and the United States, at the Great Exhibition, were beautiful, and Ceylon exhibited fair samples. Turkey abounds in small grains.

Panicum miliaceum and P. frumentaceum are the species grown in the East Indies. Loudon says there are three distinct species of millet; the Polish, the common or German, and the Indian. Setaria Germanica yields German millet. The plants are readily increased by division of the roots or by seed, and will grow in any common soil. The native West Indian species are P. fascisculatwm and oryzoides. Millet receives some attention in New South Wales. In 1844 there were 100 acres of land under cultivation with it, and the amount grown in some years in this colony has been about 3,500 bushels.

In the United States millet is chiefly grown for making hay, being found a good substitute for clover and the ordinary grasses. It is a plant which will flourish well on rather thin soils, and it grows so fast that when it is up and well set it is seldom much affected by drought. It is commonly sown there in June, but the time of sowing will vary with the latitude. Half a bushel of seed to the acre is the usual quantity, sown broadcast and harrowed in. For the finest quantity of hay, it is thought advisable to sow an additional quantity of three or four quarts of seed. The ordinary yield of crops may be put at from a ton to a ton and a half of hay to the acre. It should be cut as soon as it is out of blossom; if it stands later, the stems are liable to become too hard to make good hay. The variety known as German millet is that most common in North America. It grows ordinarily to the height of about three feet, with compact heads from six to nine inches in length, bearing yellow seed. There are some sub-varieties of this, as the white and purple-seeded.

The Italian millet, Setaria italica, is larger than the preceding, reaching the height of four feet in tolerable soil, and its leaves are correspondingly larger and thicker. The heads are sometimes a foot or more in length, and are less compact than the German, being composed of several spikes slightly branching from the main stem. It is said to derive its specific name from being cultivated in Italy, though its native habitat is India. It is claimed by some that this variety will yield more seed than any other, and the seed is rather larger, but the stalk is coarser, and would probably be less relished by stock.

If the greatest amount of seed is desired from the crop, it is best to sow it in drills, two to two-and-a-half feet apart, using a seed drill for the purpose. This admits of the use of a small harrow or cultivator between the rows, while the plants are small, which keeps out the weeds. The crop will ripen more uniformly in this way than broadcast, and enables the cultivator to cut it when there will be the least waste. The seed shatters out very easily when it is ripe, and when the crop ripens unequally it cannot be cut without loss, because either a portion of it will be immature, or, if left till it is all ripe, the seed of the earliest falls out. It should be closely watched, and cut in just about the same stage that it is proper to cut wheat, while the grain may be crushed between the fingers. It may be cut with a grain cradle, and, when dry, bound and shocked like grain; but it should be threshed out as soon as practicable, on account of its being usually much attacked by birds, many kinds of which are very fond of the seed. In particular localities they assail the crop in such numbers, from the time it is out of the "milk," till it is harvested and carried off the field, that it is no object to attempt to ripen it. This crop is sometimes sown in drills, when it is only intended for fodder, being cut and cured in bundles, as the stalks of Indian corn are. It is best to pass it through a cutting machine before feeding it to stock; indeed, all millet hay will be fed with less loss in this way, than if fed to animals without cutting.

The seed is used in various European countries as a substitute for sago, for which it is considered excellent. It is likewise a valuable food for poultry, particularly for young chickens, which from the smallness of the grain can eat it readily, and it appears to be wholesome for them.

In some countries millet seed is ground into flour and converted into bread; but this is brown and heavy. It is, however, useful in other respects, as a substitute for rice. A good vinegar has been made from it by fermentation, and, on distillation, it yields a strong spirit. Millet seed--the produce of H. saccharatum--is imported into this country from the East Indies for the purpose chiefly of puddings; by many persons it is preferred to rice. It is cultivated largely in China and Cochin-China. The stalks, if subjected to the same process that is adopted with the sugar-cane, yield a sweet juice, from which an excellent kind of sugar may be made.

Millet will grow best on light, dry soils. The ground being first well prepared, half a bushel of seed to the acre is ploughed in at the commencement of the rains, in India. The crop ripens within three months from the time of sowing. The usual produce is about 16 bushels to the acre. The Canary Islands export annually about 212,400 bushels of millet.

Great Indian Millet, or Guinea Corn.--This is a native of India (the Sorghum vulgare, the Andropogon Sorghum of Roxburgh), which produces a grain a little larger than mustard or millet seed. It is grown in most tropical countries, and has peculiar local names. In the West Indies, where it is chiefly raised for feeding poultry, it is called Guinea corn. In Egypt it is known as Dhurra, in Hindostan and Bengal as Joar, and in some districts as Cush.

In Lower Scinde joar is very extensively cultivated, as well as bajree (H. spicatus). It is harvested in December and January; requires a light soil, and is usually grown in the east, after Cynosurus corocanus.

Guinea corn is extensively cultivated in some parts of Jamaica. I did not, however, find it thrive on the north side of the island. It is best planted in the West Indies between September and November, and ripens in January. It ratoons or yields a second crop, when cut. The returns are from 30 to 60 bushels an acre, but the crops are uncertain.

Mr. C. Bravo tried Guinea corn at St. Ann's, Jamaica, as a green crop, sown broadcast, for fodder, and it answered admirably, the produce being very considerable. It was weighed, and yielded 14 tons of fodder per acre, and was found very palatable and nutritious for cattle. It was grown on a very poor soil, which had, previously to ploughing, given nothing but marigolds and weeds. The luxuriant growth of the corn completely kept under the weeds. A great number of the stalks were measured, and they averaged 10 feet from the root to the top of the upper leaf. It had been planted 10 weeks, and had, therefore, grown a foot a month. Mr. Bravo is of opinion, that sown broadcast it would answer either as a grain crop, as fodder, or ploughed in to increase the fertility of the soil.

Dr. Phillips, of Barbados, being of opinion that it might be advantageously employed as human food, requested Dr. Shier, the analytical chemist, of Demerara, to determine in his laboratory its richness in protein compounds (the muscle-forming part of vegetable food) in comparison with Indian corn. He, therefore, caused a sample of each to be burned for nitrogen, when the following results were obtained:--

Indian corn. Guinea corn. Water, per cent. 12.81 13.76 In ordinary state-- Nitrogen, per cent. 1.83 1.18 Protein compounds 11.51 7.42 In dry state-- Nitrogen, per cent. 2.10 1.36 Protein compounds 13.20 8.60

According to these results, the Guinea corn is less rich in nitrogen or protein compounds than Indian corn, though not much less so than some varieties of English wheat.

Indian corn meal, analysed by Mr. Hereford, from two localities, gave in the ordinary state of dryness 11.53 and 12.48 per cent. of protein compounds--results which come very near to that obtained by Dr. Shier.

Sorghum avenaceum, or Holcus avenaceus, is a native of the Cape.

Several species and varieties of sorghum have been introduced, and more or less cultivated in the United States. It is often popularly termed Egyptian corn. It is closely allied to broom corn (S. saccharatum), the head being similar in structure, and the seed similar, except that in most varieties of sorghum, the outer covering does not adhere as in broom corn. The plant bears a strong resemblance, while growing, to maize or Indian corn. There is also some similarity in the grain, and it is extensively used as food by many oriental nations.

A variety, under the name of African purple millet, was some years since introduced into North America, and recommended for cultivation as a soiling crop; but this, as well as other varieties, do not possess any advantages over Indian corn.

The natives of Mysore reckon three kinds, known as white, green, and red. The red ripens a month earlier than the rest, or about four months from the time of sowing. Near Bengal, Bombay, and elsewhere, in Eastern India, sowing is performed at the close of May or early in June. A gallon and a third of seed is sown per acre, and the produce averages 16 bushels. This grain, though small, and the size of its head diminutive, compensates for this deficiency by the great hulk and goodness of its straw, which grows usually to the height of 8 or 10 feet. It is sometimes sown for fodder in the beginning of April, and is ready to cut in July. It is said to be injurious to cattle, if eaten as green provender, the straw is therefore first dried, and is then preferable to that of rice.

This grain is frequently fermented to form the basis, in combination with goor or half made sugar, of the common arrack of the natives, and in the hills is fermented into a kind of beer or sweet wort, drank warm.

Holcus spicatus, the Panicum spicatum of Roxburgh, is cultivated in Mysore, Behar, and the provinces more to the north. From one to four seers are sown on a biggah of land, and the yield is about four maunds per acre. It is sown after the heavy rains commence, and the plough serves to cover the seed. The crop is ripe in three months, and the ears only are taken off at first. Afterwards the straw is cut down close to the surface of the soil, to be used for thatching, for it is not much in request as fodder. Being a grain of small price, it is a common food of the poorer class of natives, and really yields a sweet palatable flour. It is also excellent as a fattening grain for poultry.

The _Poa Abyssinica_is one of the bread-corns of Abyssinia. The bread made from it is called teff, and is the ordinary food of the country, that made from wheat being only used by the higher classes. The way of manufacturing it is by allowing the dough to become sour, when, generating carbonic acid gas, it serves instead of yeast. It is then baked in circular cakes, which are white, spongy, and of a hot acid taste, but easy of digestion. This bread, carefully toasted, and left in water for three or four days, furnishes the bousa, or common beer of the country, similar to the quas of Russia.

BROOM CORN.

The production of broom corn is rapidly extending, and corn brooms are driving broom sedge, as an article for sweeping floors, out of every humble dwelling in the United States. There are about 1,000 acres of it under culture in one county (Montgomery) alone, and it brings 30 dollars per acre in the field.

Messrs. Van Eppes, of Schenectady, have been engaged in the broom manufactory business about eleven years. They have a farm of about 300 acres, 200 of which are Mohawk flats. A large portion of the flats was formerly of little value, in consequence of being kept wet by a shallow stream which ran through, it, and which, together with several springs that issue from the sandy bluff on the south side of the flats, kept the ground marshy, and unfit for cultivation. By deepening the channel of the stream, and conducting most of the springs into it, many acres, which were formerly almost worthless, have been made worth 125 dollars per acre. They have also, by deepening the channel, saving the water of the springs, and securing all the fall, made a water privilege, on which they have erected an excellent mill, with several run of stones, leaving besides sufficient power to carry saws for cutting out the handles of brooms, &c.

They have about 200 acres of the flats in broom-corn. The cultivation of this article has within a few years been simplified to almost as great a degree as its manufacture. The seed is sown with a seed-barrow or drill, as early in the spring as the state of the ground will admit, in rows 3½ feet apart. As soon as the corn is above ground, it is hoed, and soon after thinned, so as to leave the stalks two or three inches apart. It is only hoed in the row, in order to get out the weeds that are close to the plants, the remaining space being left for the harrow and cultivator, which are run so frequently as to keep down the weeds. The cultivation is finished by running a small, double mould-board plough, rather shallow, between the rows.

The broom corn is not left to ripen, as formerly, but is cut when it is quite green, and the seed not much past the milk. It was formerly the practice to lop down the tops of the corn, and let it hang some time, that the brush might become straightened in one direction. Now, the tops are not lopped till the brush is ready to cut, which, as before stated, is while the corn is green. A set of hands goes forward, and lops or bends the tops to one side, and another set follows immediately and cuts off the tops at the place at which they are bent, and a third set gathers the cut tops into carts or waggons, which take them to the factory. Here they are first sorted over, and parcelled out into small bunches, each bunch being made up into brush of equal length. The seed is then taken off by an apparatus with teeth, like a hatchet. The machine is worked by six horses, and cleans the brush very rapidly. It is then spread thin to dry, on racks put up in buildings designed for the purpose. In about a week, with ordinary weather, it becomes so dry that it will bear to be packed closely.

The stalks of the corn, after the tops have been cut off, are five or six feet high, and they are left on the ground, and ploughed in the next spring. It is found that this keeps up the fertility of the soil, so that the crop is continued for several years without apparent diminution. It should be observed, however, that the ground is overflowed every winter or spring, and a considerable deposit left on the surface, which is undoubtedly equivalent to a dressing of manure.

This may be inferred from the fact that some of the flats have been in Indian corn every year for forty or fifty years, without manure, and with good cultivation have seldom produced less than sixty bushels per acre, and with extra cultivation from eighty to ninety bushels have been obtained.

In case of need, the stalks would furnish a large amount of good food for cattle. They are full of leaves which are nutritive, and whether cut and dried for winter, or eaten green by stock turned on the ground where they grow, would be very valuable in case of deficiency of grass.

Messrs. Van Eppes employ twenty hands during the summer; and in autumn, when the brush is being gathered and prepared, they have nearly a hundred, male and female. They are mostly Germans, who come to Schenectady with their families during the broom corn harvest, and leave when it is over.

The manufacture of brooms is carried on mostly in the winter season. The quantity usually turned out by Messrs. Van Eppes is 150,000 dozen per annum.--("Albany Cultivator.")

CHENOPODIUM QUINOA.

About twenty-eight years ago this plant was introduced into Britain from Peru, where the seeds are used as food, under the name of petty rice. Attention was drawn to it by Loudon, in his "Gardener's Magazine," in 1834, and in 1836 it was cultivated on a large scale by Sir Charles Lemon. This plant and the lentil are two of the most promising exotics that have been recommended for field culture. There are two varieties of quinoa, the white and the red seeded; the red has bitter properties, and is only used for medicine. In North America the seeds of the former are used as a substitute for maize and the potato. A white meal is obtained from it, having a tinge of yellow. It contains scarcely any gluten, but, like oatmeal, makes very good porridge and cakes. Its nutritive qualities are proved by the analysis of Dr. Voelcker ("Journal of Agriculture of Scotland," October, 1850), which states it to yield 3.66 per cent. of nitrogen, equal to 2.87 per cent. of protein compounds. In this respect the meal appears to be superior to rye, barley, rice, maize, the plantain, and potato. It has long furnished the food of millions in South America; and in Scotland and Ireland the plant would find a congenial climate and rich soil.

FUNDI OR FUNDUNGI.

This is an hitherto undescribed species of African grain (probably the Paspalum exile), much cultivated and esteemed in Sierra Leone, and other places on the African coast, where it is known by the Foulahs, Joloffs, and other native tribes, under the local name of Hungry rice. It is a slender grass with digitate spikes, which have much of the habit of Digitaria, but which, on account of the absence of the small outer glume existing in that genus, Mr. Keppist, Librarian of the Linnean Society, of London, refers to Paspalum. It produces a semi-transparent cordiform grain, about the size of a mignionette seed; the ear consists of two conjugate spikes, the grain being arranged on the outer edge of either spike, and alternated; they are attached by a peduncle to the husk. The èpicarp, or outer membrane, is slightly rugous.

The ground is cleared for its reception by burning down the copse wood and hoeing between the roots and stumps. It is sown in the months of May and June, the ground being slightly opened, and again lightly drawn together over the seeds with a hoe. In August, when it shoots up, it is carefully weeded. It ripens in September, growing to the height of about 18 inches, and its stems, which are very slender, are bent to the earth by the mere weight of the grain. The patch of land is then either suffered to lie fallow, or is planted with yams or cassava in rotation. Experienced cultivators of this Lilliputian grain assert that manure is unnecessary, as it delights in light soils, and it is even raised on rocky situations, which are most frequent about Kissy. When cut down, it is tied up in small sheafs and placed in a dry situation within the hut; for if allowed to remain on the ground and to become wet, the grains are agglutinated to their coverings. The grain is trodden out with the feet, and is then parched or dried in the sun, to allow the more easy removal of the chaff in the process of pounding, which is performed in wooden mortars. It is afterwards winnowed with a kind of cane fanner or mats.

This grain could be raised in sufficient quantities to become an article of commerce, and I have no doubt would prove a valuable addition to the list of light farinaceous articles of food in use among the delicate or convalescent. In preparing this delicious grain for food, it is first put into boiling water, in which it is assiduously stirred for a few minutes; the water is then poured off, and the Foulahs, Joloffs, &c., add to it palm oil, butter, or milk; but Europeans and negroes connected with Sierra Leone prepare it as follows:--To the grain cooked as above mentioned, fowl, fish, or mutton, with a piece of salt pork for the sake of flavor is added, the whole being then stewed in a close saucepan. This makes a very good dish, and thus prepared resembles "Kous-kous." The grain is sometimes made into puddings, with the usual condiments, and eaten either hot or cold, with milk. By the few natives of Scotland in the colony, it is occasionally dressed as milk porridge.

The negroes also eat it in the same way as they do rice, with palaver sauce. Fundi ought to be well washed in cold water, and afterwards rewashed in boiling water. If properly prepared it will be white, and perfectly free from gritty matter.

Canary-seed, obtained from Phalaris canariensis, is grown rather largely in Kent, the Isle of Thanet, and other parts of the south of England, as much as 500 tons being annually consumed here for feeding singing birds. The produce is three to five quarters the acre, and it is sold at about £25 the ton. We receive foreign supplies of the seed from Germany and the Mediterranean, and the duty on imports is 2s. 6d. per bushel.

PULSE.

There are a variety of pulses and leguminous seeds extensively cultivated as food for both man and cattle, and which form an important article in the husbandry of tropical countries. The importance of peas and beans is well appreciated, both by the horticulturists and agriculturists in Europe and our temperate colonies, where, however, they are comparatively of less importance than the smaller pulses and grains are in various tropical countries, such as haricots in the Brazils and West Indies; ground or earth nuts in South America, and especially in Western Africa; beans of different kinds amongst the miners of Peru; gram (Ervum lens), and dholl (Cajanus), with innumerable varieties of beans and small lentils among the natives of India and Egypt; and the Carob bean, or St. John's bread (Ceratonia siliqua), in the Mediterranean countries.--("Jury Reports.")

Of leguminous grains there are various species cultivated and used by the Asiatics, as the Phaseolus Mungo, P. Max and P. radiatus, which contain much alimentary matter; the earth-nut (Arachis hypogæa), which buries its pods under ground after flowering.

The gram (Cicer arictinum) which is mentioned by Dr. Christie ("Madras Journal of Science," No. 13) as exuding oxalic acid from all parts of the plant. It is used by the ryots in their curries instead of vinegar. It is the chick pea of England, and chenna of Hindostan.

Among the most commonly cultivated leguminous plants are the lentil (Ervum lens), horse gram (Dolichos biflorus, Linn), various species of Cytisus and Cajanus, &c. Many of these are grown in India as fodder plants; others for their seeds, known as gram, dholl, &c. The Cajanus flavus, of Decandolle (Cytisus Cajan), is very generally cultivated along the Western coast of Africa, and continues to bear for three years. Several species of dolichos are used as food in various countries, as D. ensiformus in Jamaica, D. tuberosus in Martinique, D. bulbosus and D. lignosus in the East Indies.

The vessels of the North bring to Shanghae a great quantity of a dry paste, known under the name of tanping, the residuum or husk of a leguminous plant called Teuss, from which the Chinese extract oil, and which is used, after being pressed, as manure for the ground. Captain H. Biggs, in a communication to the Agri.-Hort. Soc. of India, in 1845, states that of the esculents a large white pea forms the staple of the trade of Shanghae, or nearly so, to the astonishing amount of two and a-half millions sterling. This he gives on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Medhurst, of Shanghae, and Mr. Thorns, British Consul at Ningpo. These peas are ground in a mill and then pressed, in a somewhat complicated, though, as usual in China, a most efficient press, by means of wedges driven under the outer parts of the framework with mallets. The oil is used both for eating and burning, more for the latter purpose, however, and the cake, like large Gloucester cheese, or small grindstones in circular shape, is distributed about China in every direction, both as food for pigs and buffaloes, as also for manure.

We import on the average about 20,000 quarters of beans, peas, &c., from Ireland, 450,000 quarters of beans and 200,000 quarters of peas from foreign countries.

The land under cultivation with pulse, and the crops raised, have been estimated as follows:--

Acres. Quarters. England 500,000 1,875,000 Ireland 130,000 540,000 Scotland 50,000 150,000 ------- --------- 680,000 2,565,000

This is of course exclusive of garden cultivation. The average produce of beans per acre in England is 3¾ quarters, 3½ in Ireland, and three in Scotland.

The price of beans per quarter in the last ten years has ranged from 39s. to 27s. the quarter; peas from 40s. 6d. to 27s. 6d.

Algaroba beans.--The seed pods or bean of the carob-tree (Ceratonia siliqua, or Prosopis pallida?) a tree common in the Levant and South of Europe, are used as food. The pods contain a large proportion of sweet fecula, and are frequently used by singers, being considered to improve the voice. The name of St. John's Head has been applied to them, from the supposition that they were the wild honey spoken of in Scripture as the food of John the Baptist. About 40,000 quintals of these carobs are annually exported from Crete. During the Peninsular war, the horses of our cavalry were principally fed upon these algaroba seeds. The pods of the West India locust tree, Hymenæa courbaril, also supply a nutritious matter.

That well known sauce, Soy, is made in some parts of the East, from a species of the Dolichos bean (Soja hispida), which grows in China and Japan. In Java it is procured from the Phaseolus radiatus. The beans are boiled soft, with wheat or barley of equal quantities, and left for three months to ferment; salt and water are then added, when the liquor is pressed and strained. Good soy is agreeable when a few years old; the Japan soy is superior to the Chinese. Large quantities are shipped for England and America. The Dolichos bean is much cultivated in Japan, where various culinary articles are prepared from it; but the principal are a sort of butter, termed mico, and a pickle called sooja.

1,108 piculs of soy were shipped from Canton in 1844, for London, British India, and Singapore. 100 jars, or about 50 gallons of soy, were received at Liverpool in 1850. The price is about 6s. per gallon in the London market.

THE SAGO PALMS, BREAD-FRUIT, &c.

Sago, and starchy matter allied to it, is obtained from many palms. It is contained in the cellular tissue of the stem, and is separated by bruising and elutriation. From the soft stem of Cycas circinalis, a kind of sago is produced in the East and West Indies. The finest is, however, procured from the stems of Sagus lævis (S. inermis, of Roxburgh), a native of Borneo and Sumatra; and Arenga saccharifera, or Gomutus saccharifus, of Rumphius. The Saguerus Rumphii, or Metroxylon Sagus, which is found in the Eastern Islands of the Indian Ocean, yields a feculent matter. After the starchy substance is washed out of the stems of these palms, it is then granulated so as to form sago. The last-mentioned palm also furnishes a large supply of sugar. Sago as well as sugar, and a kind of palm wine, are procured from Caryota urens.

In China sago is obtained from Rhapis flabelliformis, a dwarfish palm; and some sago is made from it for native use in Travancore, Mysore, and Wynaad, and the jungles in the East Indies.

The trunk of the sago palm is five or six feet round, and it grows to the height of about 20 feet. It can only be propagated by seed. It flourishes best in bogs and swampy marshes; a good plantation being often a bog, knee deep. The pith producing the sago is seldom of use till the tree is fourteen or fifteen years old; and the tree does not live longer than thirty years. Mr. Crawfurd says there are four varieties of this palm; the cultivated, the wild, one distinguished by long spines on the branches, and a fourth destitute of these spines, and called by the natives female sago. This and the cultivated species afford the best farina; the spiny variety, which has a slender trunk, and the wild tree, yield but an inferior quality of sago. The farinaceous matter afforded by each plant is very considerable, 500 lbs. being a frequent quantity, while 300 lbs. may be taken as the common average produce of each tree.

Supposing the plants set at a distance of ten feet apart, an acre would contain 435 trees, which, on coming to maturity in fifteen years, would yield at the before-mentioned rate 120,500 lbs. annually of farinaceous matter. The sago meal, in its raw state, will keep good about a month. The Malays and natives of the Eastern Islands, with whom it forms the chief article of sustenance, partially bake it in earthenware moulds into small hard cakes, which will keep for a considerable time. In Java the word "saga" signifies bread. The sago palm (Metroxylon Sagus) is one of the smallest of its tribe, seldom reaching to more than 30 feet in height, and grows only in a region extending west to Celebes and Borneo, north to Mindanao, south to Timor, and east to Papua. Ceram is its chief seat, and there large forests of it are found. The edible farina is the central pith, which varies considerably in different trees, and as to the time required for its attaining proper maturity. It is eaten by the natives in the form of pottage. A farina of an inferior kind is supplied by the Gomuti palm (Borassus gomutus), another tree peculiar to the Eastern Archipelago growing in the valleys of hilly tracts.

At so great a distance it is difficult to decide as to which of these trees really produce the ordinary sagos of commerce, for there are several kinds. Planche, in an excellent memoir on the sagos, has described six species, which he distinguishes by the names of the places from which they come. Preferring to classify them according to their characters, M. Mayet distinguishes only three species.

The first he denominates Ancient sago, which comes from different parts, and varies much in color. It comprehends--1st, Maldivian sago of Planche, in spherical globules, of two or three millimetres in diameter, translucid, of an unequal pinkish white color, very hard and insipid. 2nd, New Guinea sago, of Planche, in rather smaller globules, of a bright red color on one side, and white on the other. 3rd. Grey sago of the Moluccas or brown sago of the English; of unequal globules, from one to three millimetres in diameter, opaque, of a dull grey color on one side, and whitish on the other. This grey color probably arises from long keeping and humidity. 4th. Large grey sago of the Moluccas, exactly resembling No. 3, only that the globules are from four to eight millimetres in diameter. 5th. Fine white sago of the Moluccas; entirely resembling No. 3, only that it is purely white, owing to the complete edulcoration of the fecula of which it is made.

Whatever may be the places of origin of these sagos, they all possess the following characters--

Rounded globules, generally spherical, all isolated, very hard, elastic, and difficult to break or powder. The globules put into water, generally swell to twice their original size, but do not adhere together.

Second sage.--This species corresponds with the pinkish sago of the Moluccas of Planche. It is in very small globules, less regular than those of the "first sago," and sometimes stuck together to the number of two or three. Soaked in water, it swells to double its volume.

Third Species.--Tapioca sago.---This name has been applied to a species of sago now abundant in commerce, because it bears the same relation to the ancient or first sago, and even to the preceding sago, that tapioca bears to "Moussache," which is the fecula of the manioc, Janipha manihot (Manihot utilissima).

Whilst the two preceding species of sago, whatever may have been stated to the contrary, have been neither baked nor submitted to any heating process, as is proved by the perfect state of nearly all their grains of fecula, this species has been subjected to the action of heat while in a state of a moist paste. This sago is not in spherical globules, like the two preceding species, or at least there are but few of the globules of that form; it is rather in the form of very small irregular tubercular masses, formed by the adherence of different numbers of the primary globules. The facility with which this sago swells and is divided by water, has occasioned it to be preferred as an article of food to the ancient sago. It has been described by Planche under the name of the white sago of the Moluccas, and by Dr. Pereira under the name of pearl sago.

Bennet, in his work on "Ceylon and its Capabilities," (1843), states that sago is procured from the granulated pith of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera.

The Sagus Rumphii, Willdenow, and S. farinifera, Gaertner.--Before maturity, and previous to the formation of the fruit, the stem consists of a thin hard wall, about two inches thick, and of an enormous volume of tissue (commonly termed the medulla or pith), from which the farina or sago is obtained. As the fruit forms, the farinaceous medulla disappears, and when the tree, attains full maturity, the stem is no more than a hollow shell. Sago occurs in commerce in two states, pulverulent and granulated. 1. The meal or flour as imported in the form of a fine amylaceous powder. It is whitish, with a buffy or reddish tint. Its odor is faint, but somewhat unpleasant and musty. 2. Granulated sago is of two kinds, pearl and common brown. The former occurs in small hard grains, not exceeding in size that of a pin's head, inodorous, and having little taste. They have a brownish or pinkish yellow tint, and are somewhat translucent. By the aid of a solution of chloride of lime they can be bleached, and rendered perfectly white. The dealers, it is said, pay £7 per ton for bleaching it. Common sago occurs in larger grains, about the size of pearl barley, which are brownish white.

Sago is an article of exportation to Europe, and is also shipped to India, principally Bengal, and to China. It is in its granulated form that it is usually sent abroad. The best sago is the produce of Siak, on the north coast of Sumatra. This is of a light brown color, the grains large, and not easily broken. The sago of Borneo is the next in value; it is whiter, but more friable. The produce of the Moluccas, though greatest in quantity, is of the smallest estimation. The cost of granulated sago, from the hands of the grower or producer, was, according to Mr. Crawfurd, only a dollar a picul. It fetches in the London market--common pearl, 20s. to 26s. the cwt., sago flour, 20s. the cwt. The Chinese of Malacca and Singapore have invented a process by which they refine sago, so as to give it a fine pearly lustre, and it is from thence we now principally derive our supplies of this article. The exports from Singapore in 1847 exceeded 6½ million pounds, but are now much larger.

The following is a description of the manufacture of this important article of commerce:--The tree being cut down, the exterior bark is removed, and the heart, or pith of the palm, a soft, white, spongy and mealy substance is gathered; and for the purpose of distant transportation, it is put into conical bags, made of plantain leaves, and neatly tied up. In that state it is called by the Malays Sangoo tampin, or bundles of sago; each bundle weighs about 30 lbs.

On its arrival at Singapore it is purchased by the Chinese manufacturers of sago, and is thus treated:--Upon being carried to the manufactory, the plantain-leaf covering is removed, and the raw sago, imparting a strong acid odor, is bruised, and is put into large tubs of cold spring water, where it undergoes a process of purification by being stirred, suffered to repose, and again re-stirred in newly-introduced water. When well purified thus, it is taken out of the tubs by means of small vessels; and being mixed with a great deal of water, the liquid is gently poured upon a large and slightly inclined trough, about ten inches in height and width; and in the descent towards the depressed end, the sago is deposited in the bottom of the trough, whilst the water flows into another large tub, where what may remain of sago is finally deposited. As the strata of deposited sago increases in the trough, small pieces of slates are adjusted to its lower end to prevent the escape of the substance. When by this pouring process the trough becomes quite full of sago, it is then removed to make room for a fresh one, whilst the former one is put out into the air, under cover, for a short time; and on its being well dried, the sago within is cut into square pieces and taken out to be thoroughly dried, under cover, to protect it from the sun. It has then lost the acid smell already noticed, and has become quite white. After one day's drying thus, it is taken into what may be called the manufactory, a long shed, open in front and on one side, and closed at the other and in the rear. Here the lumps of sago are broken up, and are reduced into an impalpable flour, which is passed through a sieve. The lumps, which are retained by the sieve are put back to be re-bruised, whilst that portion which has passed is collected, and is placed in a long cloth bag, the gathered ends of which, like those of a hammock, are attached to a pole, which pole being suspended to a beam of the building by a rope, one end of it is sharply thrown forward with a particular jerk, by means of which the sago within is shortly granulated very fine, and becomes what is technically termed "pearled." It is then taken out and put into iron vessels, called quallies, for the purpose of being dried. These quallies are small elliptical pans, and resemble in form the sugar coppers of the West Indies, and would each hold about five gallons of fluid. They are set a little inclining, and in a range, over a line of furnaces, each one having its own fire. Before putting in the sago to be dried, a cloth, which contains a small quantity of hog's-lard, or some oily substance, is hastily passed into the qually, and the sago is equally quickly put into it, and a Chinese laborer who attends it, commences stirring it with a pallit, and thus continues his labor during the few minutes necessary to expel the moisture contained in the substance. Thus each qually, containing about ten pounds of sago, requires the attendance of a man. The sago, on being taken off the fire, is spread out to cool on large tables, after which it is fit to be packed in boxes, or put into bags for shipment; and is known in commerce under the name of "pearl sago." Thus the labor of fifteen or twenty men is required to do that which, with the aid of simple machinery, might be done much better by three or four laborers. A water-wheel would both work a stirring machine and cause an inclined cylinder to revolve over a fire, for the purpose of drying the sago, in the manner used for corn, meal, and flour in America, or for roasting coffee and chicory in England. But the Chinese have no idea of substituting artificial means, when manual ones are obtainable.

A considerable quantity of sago is exported from Singapore in the state of flour. The whole quantity made and exported there exceeds, on the average, 2,500 tons annually. The quantity shipped from this entrepot is shown by the annexed returns, nearly all of which was grown and manufactured in the settlement. The estimated value for export is set down at 14s. per picul of 1¼ cwt.

EXPORTS FROM SINGAPORE. Piculs 1840-41 Pearl sago 41,146 " Sago flour 33,552 1841-42 Pearl sago 46,225 " Sago flour 7,447 1842-43 Pearl sago 25,306 " Sago flour 4,838 1843-44 Pearl sago 14,266 " Sago flour 14,067 1844-45 Pearl sago 18,472 " Sago flour 36,141 1845-46 Pearl sago 19,333 " Sago flour 26,925 1846-47 Pearl sago 40,765 " Sago flour 9,025

Imports of sago into the United Kingdom, and quantity retained for home consumption:--

Imports. Home consumption. Cwts. Cwts. 1826 9,644 2,565 1830 2,677 3,385 1834 25,763 13,827 1838 18,627 28,396 1842 45,646 50,994 1846 38,595 45,671 1848 65,000 1849 83,711 72,741 1850 89,884 83,954

THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE.

Artocarpus incisa.--This tree is less cultivated than would be supposed from its useful properties. In the West Indies and the Indian Islands, where it has been introduced from its native place, the South Sea Islands, it is held in very little consideration, the graminea, tuberous roots, and farinaceous plants being more easily and readily cultivated. There are two or three varieties known in the Asiatic regions. The properties of this tree are thus enumerated by Hooker:--The fruit serves for food; clothes are made from the fibres of the inner bark; the wood is used for building houses and making boats; the male catkins are employed as tinder; the leaves for table cloths and for wrapping provisions in; and the viscid milky juice affords birdlime.

_A. integrifolia_is the Jack or Jacca, the fruit of which attains a large size, sometimes weighing 30 lbs., but is inferior in quality to the bread-fruit.

The nuts or fruit of Brosimum Alicastrum, an evergreen shrub, native of Jamaica, are nutritious and agreeable articles of food. When boiled with salt fish, pork or beef, they have frequently been the support of the negroes and poorer sorts of white people in times of scarcity, and proved a wholesome and not unpleasant food; when roasted it eats something like our common chesnut, and is called bread-nut.

Kafir Bread.--According to Thunberg, the Hottentots being very little acquainted with agriculture, or with the use of the cerealia, and subsisting principally upon wild bulbs and fruits, obtain food also from Encephalartos caffer, a species of Zamia, with a cylindrical trunk, the thickness of a man's body, and about seven feet high. Having cut down a tree, they took out the pith, that nearly fills its trunk, and which abounds in mucilage and an amylaceous fluid; after keeping this for some time buried under ground in the skin of an animal, they reduced it by pounding and kneading into a kind of paste; and then baked it in hot ashes, in the form of round cakes, nearly an inch thick. The Dutch colonists, in consequence of this practice of the natives, called the plant brood-boon, which signifies literally bread tree.

THE PLANTAIN AND BANANA.

The several varieties of the edible plantain which are known and cultivated throughout the West Indies, Africa, and in the East are all reducible to two classes, viz., the Plantain and the Banana (_Musa Paradisiaca_and sapientum). The difference between these two plants is even so slight as to be scarcely specific; it is therefore most probable that there was originally but one stock, from which they have, by cultivation and change of locality, been derived.

The tiger plantain (M. maculata) and the black ditto (M. sylvestris) are cultivated in Jamaica. The whole of the species and varieties of the tribe are what are called polygamous monoecious plants, each individual tree bearing the male and female organs of reproduction.

The plantain and its varieties invariably bear male, female and hermaphrodite flowers within the same spathe, all of them being imperfect and consequently unproductive of seed. An individual may, even from excess of culture, moisture, &c., be entirely incapable of flowering. During the prevalence of a disease or blight among the plantain walks of Demerara in the years 1844 and 1845, it was seriously proposed to introduce male plantains, or obtain fresh stock by seed.

It is, therefore, necessary to determine with exactness, if possible, whether the Plantain or Banana, (whichever be the parent stock) exists anywhere at present, or has been known to have existed as a perfect plant, that is bearing fertile seeds; or, whether it has always existed in the imperfect state, that is, incapable of being procreated by seed, the only state in which it at present exists in our colonies.

Whether Linnæus be right in his conjecture (Spec. Plant, 1763) that the "Bihai" (Heliconia humilis), a native of Caraccas, which produces fertile seeds, is the stock plant of the plantain, it is almost impossible to ascertain; but the absence of any description of a wild seed-bearing plantain, renders it highly probable that the cultivated species are hybrids produced long ago. The banana, from time immemorial, has been the food of the philosophers and sages of the East, and almost all travellers throughout the tropics have described these plants exactly as they are known to us, either as sweet fruit eaten raw, or a farinaceous vegetable roasted or boiled. It is remarkable that the plantain and banana should be indigenous, or at all events cultivated for ages both in the Old and New World. Numerous South American travellers describe some one of these plants as being indigenous articles of food among the natives, thus showing (if the plantain and its varieties be hybrids) a communication between the tropics of America, Asia and Africa, long before the time of Columbus. The older writers on the colony of Guiana, as Hartsinck, Bellin and others, consider the plantain to be a native. It is remarkable that Sir R. Schomburgk, during his travels, found a large species of edible plantain far in the interior. It appears, therefore, from all the investigations that have been made, that the plantain is either a hybrid, or its power of production from seed has been destroyed long ago by cultivation, and that it is not known to exist anywhere in a perfect state; in which case any attempt to improve the present stock by the introduction of suckers from elsewhere, must be totally futile. Mr. A. Garnett recommends the following system of cultivation, as calculated to prevent the blight. The walk or plantation is to be formed into beds 36 feet wide, divided by open drains 30 inches deep. Two rows of plantains to be planted upon each bed at 18 feet distance, both between and along the rows, to afford a clear ventilation to the enlarging plants, and so soon as the plantation has been established, the space of land between each row to be shovel-ploughed 12 inches deep; the same to be repeated annually, and upon the interspace may be planted maize, yams, sugar cane, or eddoes, and the whole kept clear at all times. Thus, with the conjoined principles of good tillage, free ventilation, and mixed crops, the blight may yet be successfully combated.

A great diminution in the cultivation of the plantain has been occasioned in British Guiana by this blight or disease, which first made its destructive appearance in Essequibo, upwards of thirty years ago, where its ravages increased with such fatal intensity as to render the profitable growth of the plant almost hopeless; and up to this hour no one has been able to discover the immediate or remote cause of this extraordinary vegetable endemic; whether arising from the action of insects among the sheathes of the petioles of the leaves, or in the soil, or from organic decay of the plant, remains without solution. The last-named cause seems to be rejected, by the fact that the fructification of the plant is as healthy and abundant in parts of the colony where the blight does not prevail, both in number and size of the fruit upon the spike, as at any former period. On the east coast of Demerara, both the plantain and banana have been grown for more than twenty years upon the same land, without any attack of the disease, and without any extraneous manure or even lime having been applied, and the plants still exhibit great luxuriance, and produce their former weight of fruit.

The foliage of the plantain affords food and bedding, and is used for thatch, making paper, and basket making; and from its petioles is obtained a fine and durable thread. The tops of the young plants are eaten as a delicate vegetable; the fermented juice of the trunk produces an agreeable wine.

The abundance and excellence of the nutritive food which the plants of this valuable genus supply are well known; but of the numerous uses to which they are applied I may mention, the following:--

The fruit is served up both raw and stewed; slices fried are also considered a delicacy. Plantains are sometimes boiled and eaten with salt meat, and pounded and made into puddings, and used in various other ways. In their ripe state these fruits contain much starchy matter. From their spurious stems, the fibres of the spiral vessels may be pulled out in such quantity as to be used for tinder. M. textilis yields a fibre which is used in India in the manufacture of fine muslins, and the coarser woody tissue is exported in large quantities from Manila, under the name of white rope or Manila hemp. Horses, cattle, swine, and other domestic animals are fed upon the fruit, leaves, and succulent trunks.

The same extent of ground which in wheat would only maintain two persons, will yield sustenance under the banana to fifty. That eminent naturalist and elegant writer, the Baron Von Humboldt, states ("Political Essay on New Spain," vol. ii.) that an acre of land cultivated with plantains produces nearly twenty times as much food as the like space sown with corn in Europe. He refers to a place in Venezuela, where the most careful tillage was rendered to a piece of land, yielding produce supporting a humble population residing in huts, each placed in the centre of an enclosure, growing the sugar cane, Indian corn, the Papaw tree, and the Musa--a tropical garden!--upon the elaborate culture of which a whole family relied for subsistence.

Although from the extensive plantain walks in our colonies--which are seldom cultivated with a garden-like care--so large an average proportion may not be obtained as twenty times the production of wheat in Europe, yet I have had practical experience of the prodigious quantity of farinaceous matter obtainable from an acre of tolerably well-cultivated plantains, and no esculent plant requires less labor in its culture upon land suitable for its production. They are readily increased by suckers, which the old plants produce in abundance.

Lindley enumerates ten species of Musa, some of which grow to the height of 25 or 30 feet, but that valuable species M. Cavendishii, does not grow more than four or five feet high.

The bananas of the family of the Musaceæ, appear to be natives of the southern portion of the Asiatic continent (R. Brown, "Bot. of Congo," p. 51). Transplanted at an unknown epoch into the Indian Archipelago and Africa, they have spread also into the, New World, and in general into all intertropical countries, sometimes before the arrival of Europeans.

According to Humboldt it affords, in a given extent of ground, forty-four times more nutritive matter than the potato, and 133 times more than wheat. These figures must be considered as only approximative, since nothing is more difficult than to estimate the nutritive qualities of different aliments.

Musa paradisiaca is cultivated in Syria, to latitude 34 deg. Humboldt says it ceases to yield fruit at a height of 3,000 feet, where the mean annual temperature is 68 deg., and where, probably, the heat of summer is deficient.

The banana seems, however, to be found no higher than 4,600 feet in a state of perfection.

No fruit is so easily cultivated as are the varieties of the plantain. There is hardly a cottage in the tropics that is not partly shaded by them; and it is successfully grown under other fruit trees, although it is independent of shelter. Its succulent roots and dew-attracting leaves render it useful in keeping the ground moist during the greatest heats. The plantain may be deemed the most valuable of fruits, since it will, in some measure, supply the place of grain in time of scarcity. To the negroes in the West Indian Islands the plantain is invaluable, and, like bread to the Europeans, is with them denominated the staff of life. In Jamaica, Demerara, Trinidad, and other principal colonies, many thousand acres are planted with these trees.

The vegetation of this tree is so rapid that if a line of thread be drawn across, and on a level with the top of one of the leaves, when it begins to expand, it will be seen, in the course of an hour, to have grown nearly an inch. The fruit when ripe is of a pale yellow, about a foot in length and two inches thick, and is produced in bunches so large as each to weigh 40 lbs. and upwards.

The soil best suited to the growth of the plantain is found in the virgin land most recently taken in from the forest, having a formation of clay and decomposed vegetable substances. A large portion of organic matter is required, as well as clay or other ponderous strata, to afford the greatest production of fruit. I have known good plantains produced in the West Indies, upon land considerably exhausted by the culture of cotton, but which was enriched by the application of a quantity of the decomposed seed of that shrub near the roots of the young plantains.

In the Straits' settlements of the East, the following are the most approved varieties:--The royal plantain, which fruits in eight months; one which bears in a year, the milk plantain, the downy plantain, and the golden plantain or banana. A species termed gindy has been lately imported from Madras, where it is in great request. It has this advantage over the other kinds, that it can be stewed down like an apple while they remain tough.

The Malays allege that they can produce new varieties, by planting three shoots of different sorts together, and by cutting the shoots down to the ground three successive times, when they have reached the height of nine or ten inches.

About 144 suckers of the plantain are set on an orlong (1-1/3 acres), each of which spreads into a group of six or eight stems, of about six inches to one foot in diameter, which yield each a bunch of fruit, and are then cut down, when fresh shoots succeed. In very rich soils the plant will continue to bear for twenty years, but otherwise it is dug up after the seventh or eighth year. The cost of cultivating 100 orlongs of land exclusively with plantains, will be nearly 2,000 Spanish dollars until produce be obtained. About 43,200 bunches may be had afterwards yearly, which might give a return of 2,160 dollars, or, deducting the cost of cultivation and original expenses, a profit per annum of 1,450 dollars.

The plantain has frequently been suggested as an article of export from our colonies. A few bunches are occasionally brought over by the Royal West India Mail Company's steamers running to Southampton, but more as a curiosity than as articles of commerce.

In its ripe state no unexceptionable and sufficiently cheap method of preserving it has yet been suggested.

In some districts of Mexico it is, indeed, dried in the sun, and in this state forms a considerable article of internal commerce under the name of "plantado pasado."

It is sometimes so abundant and cheap in Demerara, Jamaica, Trinidad, and other of our colonies, that it might, if cut and dried, in its green state, be exported with advantage.

It is in the unripe state that it is so largely used by the peasantry of the colonies as an article of food. It has always been believed to be highly nutritive, but Dr. Shier states that, in any sample of the dried plantain which he analysed, he could not find a larger amount than 88 per cent of nitrogen, which corresponds with about 5½ per cent. of proteine compounds.

When dried, and reduced to the state of meal, it cannot, like wheat flour, be manufactured into maccaroni or vermicelli, or at least the maccaroni made from it falls to powder when put into hot water. The fresh plantain, however, when boiled whole, forms a pretty dense firm mass, of greater consistency and toughness than the potato. The mass, beaten in a mortar, constitutes the foo-foo of the negroes. The plantain meal cannot be got into this state unless by mixing it up with water to form a stiff dough, and then boiling it in shapes or bound in cloths.

Plantain meal is prepared by stripping off the husk of the plantain, slicing the core, and drying it the sun. When thoroughly dry it is powdered and sifted. It is known among the Creoles of the West Indies under the name of Conquin tay. It has a fragrant odour, acquired in drying, somewhat resembling fresh hay or tea. It is largely employed as the food of infants, children, and invalids. As food for children and convalescents, it would probably be much esteemed in Europe, and it deserves a trial on account of its fragrance, and its being exceedingly easy of digestion. In respect of nutritiveness, it deserves a preference over all the pure starches on account of the proteine compounds it contains.

The plantain meal would probably be best and freshest were the sliced and dried plantain cores exported, leaving the grinding and sifting to be done in Europe. The flavor of the meal depends a good deal on the rapidity with which the slices are dried; hence the operation is only fitted for dry weather, unless indeed, when there was occasion for it, resource were had to a kiln or stove. Above all, the plantain must not be allowed to approach too closely to yellowness or ripeness, otherwise it becomes impossible to dry it. The color of the meal is injured when steel knives are used in husking or slicing, but silver or nickel blades do not injure the color. On the large scale a machine, on the principle of the turnip slicer, might be employed. The husking could be greatly facilitated by a very simple machine. Were the plantain meal to come into use in England, and bear a price in any way approaching to that of Bermuda arrowroot, it would become an extensive and very profitable export. Full-sized and well-filled bunches give 60 per cent. of core to 40 of husk and top-stem, but in general it would be found that the core did not much exceed 50 per cent., and the fresh core will yield 40 per cent. of dry meal, so that from 20 to 25 per cent. of meal is obtained from the plantain, or 5 lbs. from an average bunch of 25 lbs.; and an acre of plantain walk of average quality, producing during the year 450 such bunches, would yield a ton and 10 lbs. of meal, which, at the price of arrowroot, namely, 1s. per lb., would be a gross return of £112 10s. per acre. A new plantain walk would give twice as much. Even supposing the meal not to command over half the price of arrowroot, it would still form an excellent outlet for plantains whenever, from any cause, the price in the colony sank unusually low.

In respect of the choice of a situation for establishing a plantain walk, with a mill, boiling-house and drying ground, it will be necessary to fix upon new land with plenty of moisture, and flat if possible, in order that there may be no difficulty in making roads to carry the trees; whilst a deep river traversing the land, where there is no tide or danger of salt water--where facility would be afforded in making the basins wherein to wash the fibre; where a sea port would be near at hand for shipping the produce--where workmen, provisions, and fuel would be readily obtained, and where the climate is particularly healthy, should be especially sought after.

The plantain grows in profusion between the tropics in all parts of the world; but as it is an object to have the London market available for the prepared fibre, the following places may be mentioned as best calculated to produce a good and constant supply, viz:--the West India Colonies, the British Colonies in Africa, the South American Republics, along the Mosquito shore, and other places on the Continent of America, including Porto Rico, Hayti, and Cuba. The advantages to the paper manufacturer in employing the prepared fibre instead of rags, will be numerous, for the fibre is equal in texture, clean, and aromatic; whilst rags are dirty, full of vermin, and very often pestilential.

A large stock of the plantain can always be secured, without fear of its being injured by keeping. The paper will be superior to that made of rags, and the process of making it will be more economical, inasmuch as the sorting of the material will not be required. Another advantage is, that a new article of commerce will be opened for the benefit of the colonial shipping interests, and a stimulus will be given to the cultivation of a fruit which is the favorite food of large masses of the population.

The following is a "specification" of articles requisite for making three tons of prepared fibre in a day:--

Four wooden boilers lined with lead, in the form of coolers, 7 feet deep by 6 in diameter. One hydraulic press, from 400 to 500 tons. One stout screw press, to compress the fibre before it is submitted to the hydraulic press. One iron mill with horizontal cylinders. Six waggons; twenty mules. Utensils, such as spatulas, cutlasses, hoes, rakes, &c. &c. One lever, to take out the fibre from the boilers. One steam boiler, equal to 12-horse power, to steam the four wooden boilers.

It being very desirable that the works should be in the immediate neighbourhood of a river, the machinery should be worked by water-power; but if this mode should be inconvenient, a steam engine in addition must be obtained, of about 8 or 10-horse power; or if one steam engine of 20-horse power were employed, it would be sufficient for all purposes. Thirty men are required to make three tons of fibre in a day.

Buildings.--A store, 100 feet long by 25 feet broad, in wood, covered with straw, to contain the dried fibre and the presses. One open shed of the same dimensions, covered with straw for the boilers.

Capital required.--It is ascertained that the following outlay will be sufficient:--

The materials will cost £2,000 Buildings 500 Purchase of land 1,500 Working capital 1,000 ------ £5,000

The estimated expense in cultivating one quarree, or 5 1-5th English acres, in plantains, will be £30, as the work can be easily performed by one laborer in 300 days, at 2s. sterling per day.

A quarree will produce 18 tons of mill fibre, the cost of the preparation of which is as follows:--

For workmen's wages, soda, lime, and fuel, at £3 per ton £54 Freight to Europe at £4 per ton 72 Managers 30 Duty, insurance, office fees, &c., at £1 per ton 18 ---- £174

Thus, making the total expense of producing 18 tons of fibre £174, or £9 13s. 4d. per ton. In 1848 Manila rope, or plantain fibre of good quality, was worth £38 per ton.

A correspondent in Jamaica, who has devoted much attention to the subject, has furnished me with some very valuable detailed information, the most complete and practical that has ever yet appeared:--

Cultivation.--The first care of a planter in superintending the cultivation of the banana tree, with the two-fold object of collecting both fibre and fruit, will be to study the nature of the tree to which he will give the preference. A number of experiments have been made upon different species of the banana with a view of obtaining therefrom the largest quantity and the best color of fibre, as well as the finest fruit. Those experiments were very tedious and minute, but were absolutely necessary, in order to arrive at the most economical and advantageous method of rendering the fibre into a state fit for shipment to Europe. At the same time, it was of the utmost importance to find out the best description of tree, for producing the strongest, the most abundant, and the most silky fibre--for containing the least quantity of juice, for producing the color sufficiently white to facilitate the operation of bleaching, for bearing fruit of the most esteemed quality, and, therefore, the most favorable for general consumption.

A banana tree, which seemed at first sight to possess all those good qualities--being of a large size, with whitish or flaxen colored fibre, and producing very savoury fruit, only gave 2 per cent, of fibre after preparation; that is to say, 100 lbs. in its raw state, only gave two pounds of fibre after it was boiled. In endeavoring to find out the cause of such a small result, it was discovered that this specimen of banana (commonly called the "pig banana,") contained a larger proportion of water than of fibre, compared with other sorts--that the heart was too large, and that the inside leaves were so tender that they almost dissolved in the process of boiling. These were the greatest inconveniences of this species of tree. There was also another disadvantage, in the quality of its fruit, which was yellow in color, and not so useful as those descriptions of banana which are generally eaten as a substitute for bread. The results of several experiments made upon various descriptions of banana, demonstrated the properties of each species, both as regarded fibre and fruit. The most profitable in both respects is undoubtedly the yellow banana, or common plantain. This tree grows to the height of about fifteen feet, it is nine or ten inches in diameter, its fibre is firm and abundant, and its fruit is used both in a green and ripe state. This plantain abounds on the continent of Spanish America and between the tropics, where the natives cultivate it as producing the most nutricious fruit of its kind. Cargoes of the fruit are frequently exported from Surinam and Demerara. On the Spanish part of the American continent, land is measured by fanegas, each fanega containing twelve quarrees, and each quarree five and one-fifth English acres. A quarree measures one hundred geometrical paces, or three hundred square feet.

In the first instance, the suckers of the plantain (the tree being propagated by cuttings or suckers which shoot up from the bulb), should be set at ten feet distance from each other; this proposition gives 300 plants on one line of trees, or 900 on the surface of one quarree of land. Each plant propagates itself and gives upon an average ten trees of the same size and bearing. On one quarree of land, therefore there would be 9,000 trees, yielding four pounds of fibre and one bunch of fruit each, which is 9,000 bunches of fruit, and 36,000 lbs. nett of fibre, in the whole. In good ground the same plant will last fifteen years without any further trouble. Flat lands ought to be cultivated in preference to any other. The plantain thrives with the root in the water, and the head to the sun. On the borders of the river Orinoco it grows to the height of twenty feet, is one foot in diameter, and the stalks of the branches are three inches in circumference.

Cutting.--The tree which has not produced its ripe fruit ought to be cut, for two reasons--first, that the fruit be not lost; and secondly, that the tree will not have arrived at its full growth and ordinary size, and the fibres will be too tender. In cutting it down, take it off six inches above the surface of the ground, then divide it longitudinally into four parts, take out the heart, which must be left to serve for manure, and if fermentation is decided upon, leave the pieces at the foot of the tree, otherwise take them to the mill to be crushed. The tree being very tender, may, on being bent down, be cut asunder with a single stroke of a hatchet, cutlass, or other convenient instrument. One man can cut down 800 trees, and split them in a day.

Carrying.--The trees being thus divided, may be immediately carried to the mill to be crushed, or may remain until the fermentation separates the juice of sap from the fibres and the pith. By fermenting the trees, their weight will be so much reduced as to render their carriage considerably lighter than if taken away when first cut down. A wagon, with oxen or mules, can carry about a ton per day, and one man can load the wagon and drive the cattle.

Crushing.--If the tree is carried from the plantation without being subjected to fermentation, it must be passed through a mill, the rollers of which, if made about three feet in length, and one foot in diameter, will be found a very convenient size. In this operation, care should be taken, first of all, to separate the tender from the harder or riper layers of fibre. The tree is composed of different layers of fibre, which may be divided into three sorts; those of the exterior, having been exposed to the atmosphere, possess a great degree of tenacity--whilst those of the interior, having been secluded from the air, are much more soft and tender. If, therefore, the layers of the plantain are passed indiscriminately through the mill, those which are hard or firm will not be injured by the pressure, whilst those which are soft will be almost reduced to pulp. Therefore, the rollers of the mill should be always placed horizontally, and upon passing the trees lengthways through the mill, the pressure will be uniform and the fibre uninjured. In this manner, pass the different sorts of layers separately, and the produce will be about four pounds of fibre from each tree. The stalks of the branches of the plantain give the best fibre, and a large quantity, as compared with the body of the tree; 100 lbs. of the stalk will give 15 lbs. nett of fibre. In general, if a tree will give 4 lbs. nett of fibre, the stalks will give 1 lb. out of the 4 lbs. The stalks ought also to be crushed separately, because they are harder than the exterior layers of the tree. About 3,000 trees may be passed through the mill in a day. Whilst the experiments were in progress it was ascertained that with a single horse, 100 plantain trees on an average were crushed in twenty minutes, giving five minutes rest for the horse.

Fermentation.--This operation may be performed in several ways. If the trees are allowed to ferment upon the spot after being cut, a great saving will occur in respect of carriage; this matter ought to be carefully studied, because, on an extensive scale of manufacture, it is of serious importance. It is found that the trees when cut and heaped up, are subject to a drainage of juice, which, having a tanning property, discolors those pieces which lie at the bottom; hence much time is consumed in afterwards restoring the fibre to its natural color. The cut plants should be removed from the stumps of the trees, and then placed in heaps, shaded from the sun by laying the leaves over them. They will take several weeks to ferment. To pursue this process in the immediate vicinity of the establishment, would give rise to many inconveniences, in consequence of the very large space of ground that would thereby be occupied. Fermentation requires a mean temperature. A tree cut down and exposed to the sun, would be nearly dry at about 30 deg. centigrade, showing a result quite different to that which ought to be obtained; whilst a tree placed on a wet soil, and open for the fresh air to circulate between the plants, covered at the same time with its own leaves, and shaded by the foliage of the plantation, would be decomposed at the desired point of about 22 degrees. The different modes of fermentation require the same proportions. If the cut plants be covered with a thick layer of earth, they will not decompose in six months; but if, on the contrary, they are covered slightly, so that they may receive the freshness of the earth, and the heat of the air, they will decompose in six weeks. It is the same with the fermentation of alkaline baths. Baths at only one degree will produce decomposition, whilst baths at three degrees will not produce any decomposition. The stuff after being passed through the mill, or after fermentation, will be put into the chemical baths, or vats, or chemical liquor, and the persons in charge of the mill and boilers will do this work. Fermentation may be advantageously used, in cases where the trees are grown at a distance from the establishment--but, where they are in the immediate vicinity of the works, it will be best to crush them by the mill. The principal saving that is occasioned by fermentation, will be found in the carriage, as the substance will be much reduced in weight by that process. In an establishment where the manufacture is carried on upon a very large scale, trees cut down at a distance can be fermented, whilst those produced near the mill can be crushed.

Chemical Agents.--For decomposing the gluten in the trees during the process of boiling, soda, carbonate of soda, and quick lime, are used. The proportions herein given, are those requisite for making three tons of fibre per day, upon which scale the cost price of the fibre in a prepared state for bleaching, is subsequently calculated. To make three tons of fibre per day, it is necessary to have four boilers of 800 gallons each, and give five boilings in a day, or 1,650 lbs. of nett fibre for each boiler, or 6,600 lbs. for the four boilers per day. After having put into the boiler a sufficient quantity of water to cover the material, wait until the water begins to boil, and then add the chemical agents.

lbs. To the first boiling of a copper, put of soda 60 To the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th boilings of the same copper, 15 lbs., each making 60 ----- 120 ----- Therefore the four boilings will take of soda 480 The same liquid will serve for two other days, by adding 15 lbs. to each fresh boiling, say, in the whole, 40 lbs., or 600 It will consume in soda for nine tons made in three days 1,080 Or 360 lbs. for three tons made in one day.

On the fourth day commence again in the same manner, and go on for the two remaining days as above, producing eighteen tons in the six days. The quick lime is to be employed in each of the boilings, in the proportion of one-third less than the quantity of soda. Crude soda may be used in the boilings, without previously discarbonising it, and quick lime reduced to lime water; but, to render the action of the chemical ingredients more quick and certain, it is better to discarbonise the soda before it is put into the boiler. This may be done by preparing in a small separate boiler the quantity of liquid necessary for a day's consumption, which is prepared in about an hour. The carbonisation is effected in the following manner:--

Ten parts of salt of soda. } Six parts of quick lime. } In weight. Seventy parts of water (never less.) }

Boiling.--This is a most important operation. By it the gluten and coloring matter are separated from the fibres, which separation is absolutely necessary, in order to prepare the fibre to receive the bleaching. It is necessary to observe that the three several sorts of layers which are found in the tree, and which, under the head of "crushing," are recommended to be pressed separately, should be also boiled separately, because the outermost layer has more coloring matter than the next under it, which again has more than the innermost layer. As they are boiled so will they be dried and shipped, and each sort will have a different price in the market; that fibre which is lightest in color bearing the preference, in consequence of its not requiring more than six hours to bleach--whilst the darkest will, probably from its greater tenacity, take twelve to eighteen hours. It is advisable to place over each boiler the means of lifting the mass of fibre when boiled, and suffering it to drain into the boiler before it is carried away to be washed. This is easily effected by a chain from the roof, to which may be hung a lever, having at that end over the boiler some hooks attached to it, whereby the mass is lifted out of the boiler, and the liquor thus preserved for the next boiling.

Washing.--It is absolutely necessary that the fibre should be well washed after being taken out of the boiler, in order that all extraneous matter may be separated therefrom. In choosing the site for an establishment of this kind, care must always be taken to make choice of a spot in the immediate neighbourhood of a large river, or other plentiful supply of fresh clean water. The machinery necessary for cleansing and washing the fibre may be of various descriptions; but, perhaps a selection from one of the three following sorts will be found to answer every purpose, viz., those used by paper manufacturers in England, and by coffee planters and arrowroot growers in the West Indies.

Drying.--The washed fibre, when hung over lines made of the twisted fibre, or any other convenient material, will be sufficiently dry in a few hours to be taken down, when more can be hung up, and then several batches can be dried in a day; and it will be necessary to have the drying ground as near the water as possible, in order to save weight in carriage.

Pressing.--When the fibre is perfectly dry, it must be well pressed, for the convenience of packing, carriage, and shipment. The hydraulic press is the best machine that can be used for the purpose; but in the absence of that, the lever and screw will make a large amount of pressure available. A hydraulic press of from 400 to 500 tons, will press bales of from four to five hundred weight each, which will not be too large for shipment."

STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS INVESTIGATED.

Starch is one of the constituent parts in all mealy farinaceous seeds, fruits, roots, and other parts of plants, and is in large demand for domestic use, the arts, &c. Our common starch is made from wheat, and a good deal from potatoes. Pure fecula is separated by art from a variety of plants.

Of plants yielding starch we have the Indian arrowroot, which is the fecula in the rhizomata of several species of the Marantaceæ. In the West Indies it is obtained from the Maranta arundinacea, Allomyca and nobilis, and also from various species of Canna called Tous les mois, and in the East Indies from species of Curcuma, and from Maranta ramossissima in Silhet.

The bread fruit (Artocarpus incisa), already alluded to, yields a large quantity of starch; as do the sweet potato (Convolvulus Batatas, or Batatas edulis). The pith or farinaceous part of the trunk of the Caryota urens, is almost equal to the finest sago. In Assam the sago of this palm is much used.

The two varieties of the Cassava afford a very superior fecula, which is imported under the name of Brazilian arrowroot. 8,354 bags of tapioca and farina were imported from Maranham in 1834. Some excellent starch from Norfolk Island was shown at the Great Exhibition.

The Cycadaceous family yields much starchy matter, along with mucilage. From the soft stems of Cycas revoluta and C. circinalis, natives of China and the East Indies, a kind of sago is made. These plants are propagated by suckers. Zamia pumila, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and other species of this remarkable genus of plants, which is nearly related to both ferns and palms, supply an amylaceous matter, which has been sold as arrowroot. A similar product is obtained from Alstroemeria pallida, a perennial plant, with pink red flowers, growing in Chili. From the nuts of the Cycas circinalis, the Singalese prepare an inferior kind of starch, by pounding the fresh kernels. These are cut in slices, and well dried in the sun before they are fit for use, otherwise when eaten they are intoxicating, and occasion vomiting and purging.

The quantity of starch in a plant varies according to the period of growth. The results of examination on the comparative yield of starch in the potato, showed that while it abounded towards the latter part of the season, it decreased when the tubers began to germinate in the spring. It was found by Professor Balfour that 240 lbs. of potatoes left in the ground, contained of starch--

lbs. Per cent. In August 23 to 25 or 9.6 to 10.4 September 32 " 38 " 13.3 " 16 October 32 " 40 " 13.3 " 16.6 November 38 " 45 " 16 " 18.7 April 38 " 28 " 16 " 11.6 May 28 " 20 " 11.6 " 8.3

The quantity of starch remained the same during the dormant state of winter, but decreased whenever the plant began to grow, and to require a supply of nourishment.

Mr. Harris, of Jamaica, some years ago, made experiments upon the nutritious qualities of the principal roots and vegetables of the West Indies. These being well washed and scraped, were grated, in each case into two gallons of clear rain-water, and the whole then filtered through a clean linen strainer, after which it was left to settle; when the amylaceous matter had wholly subsided the supernatant liquor was carefully decanted, and fresh water added, which process was repeated until every foreign substance appeared to be removed; the produce of these several operations was then carefully collected and dried with a temperature of about 110 deg. Fahrenheit, and, when dry, weighed. In this manner the results given in the following table were obtained:--

PRODUCE FROM FIVE POUNDS OF THE Oz. Drms. Centes. prop. Root of the sweet cassava (_Janipha Loeflingii_) 14 1 17.27 Root of ocoes or taniers (_Caladium esculentum_) 11 17 14.29 Root of the bitter cassava (_Janipha manihot_), the Yucca amarga of the Spaniards 11 2 13.90 Full grown but unripe fruit of the plantain (Musa paradisiaca) 11 1 13.82 Root of the Guinea yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) 8 6 10.46 Root of the sweet potato (Batatas edulis) 8 6 10.46 Root of the arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) 5 6 6.71 The full-grown but unripe fruit of the banana (Musa sapientum) 0 0 0.00

This table exhibits, no doubt, very unexpected results, since it places the sweet cassava at the very top, and the banana at the lowest place in the list, while the bitter cassava, which seems to be little more than a variety of the sweet, notwithstanding its being the staple material of West Indian bread, occupies two places lower down, and is followed by the plantain. The sweet potato and the yam, both of which are considered to be less nutritious than the arrowroot, rank above it in the centesimal proportion of their amylaceous produce. Upon what, then, do the nutritive properties of these various substances depend? Is it upon a gluten which was overlooked by Mr. Harris, in his experiments, or, if not, may we not suspect some inaccuracy in the proportion of starch assigned by him to each? It is to be wished that similar experiments were repeated with care in different quarters, and the list extended to other tropical products applicable to human sustenance, especially the roots which yield the farinaceous starch of the South Sea islanders, to the achira of Choco, &c.

I shall extract largely from a very valuable report drawn up by Dr. John Shier, agricultural chemist, of Demerara, and submitted to the Governor of that colony in 1847, on the starch-producing plants, which is deserving of more widely extended publicity than the merely local circulation it has received. The remarks and results of experiments are worthy of deep consideration; and although they were meant to apply specially to British Guiana, they are equally pertinent to the West India colonies generally, our African and Australian settlements, and many other of our foreign possessions.

For many reasons it is desirable that the number of the staples of cultivation and export of our colonies should be increased. It is the general experience of British agriculturists, that the mixed system of agriculture is more profitable to the farmer and safer for the land, than the continued cultivation of any single crop, or indeed of nearly allied crops; and although fewer valid objections can be urged against the continued cultivation of the sugar cane, when properly conducted, than against that of grain crops, it is nevertheless certain that a well-arranged alternation or rotation of crops would be better. When an efficient system of covered drainage is adopted in British Guiana, there can be no doubt that the sugar cane will be replanted at shorter intervals of time than at present, and that other crops, such as provender crops for cattle, and provision crops for the colonial and perhaps the home market, will be made to alternate in cultivation with the cane. When the cane rows are as far apart as they require to be, to admit of sufficient tillage with the plough and other implements, it will also be possible to intercalate crops of rapidly growing plants; and were this done, as it easily might, in such a manner as to prevent undue exhaustion of the land, or impoverishment of the sugar crop, the returns could not fail to be materially increased. It would then probably be found that the fluctuations in prices would be less felt, for they would not likely, at the same time, affect different crops in the same manner.

It has been ascertained, in regard to some plants at least, that a much larger return can be obtained in the colonies than can be grown in temperate countries, however fertile. This is partly owing to the greater fertility of the soil under powerful tropical atmospheric influences, and partly to the fact that vegetation is continuous throughout the year, so that slow growing plants can do more within the time, from their functions not being arrested by the chill of winter; and of many rapidly growing plants, two successive crops can be grown within the year.

Starch is a substance easily manufactured, and being largely used in several of the arts, as well as an article of diet, there consequently exists a considerable demand for it in England. It may be obtained from a great variety of plants, and many of the most productive of it are natives of the tropics.

The high prices commanded by grain and breadstuffs in Europe, renders the present a remarkably favorable time to ascertain what can be done in this branch of tropical agriculture; for should the potato disease return, or this root be less extensively planted than hitherto, starch must maintain a high price, and it will be worth ascertaining whether some of the superior starch-producing plants of the tropics might not be cultivated to such an extent as to supply the English market, and thus be at once profitable to the colonies and advantageous to the mother country.

Before entering on such a cultivation, however, various points require investigation. We ought to be able to answer such questions as the following:--

1. What differences exist between the characters of starch produced by different plants?

2. What are the qualities or properties that lead manufacturers--calico printers for example--to prefer one variety to another?

3. For culinary purposes, and as an article of diet, what qualities or characters obtain a preference?

4. Can the starches from different plants be distinguished from one another by distinct and well marked characters, so that the substitution of a less esteemed variety for a more esteemed one, or the adulteration of a high priced variety with a cheaper one, could be readily detected?

5. What plants produce the most esteemed varieties?

6. What plants produce it in the largest quantity?

7. What plants produce the largest yield per acre?

8. From what plants is it most easily manufactured?

9. Is the process attended with any particular difficulties that ought to deter the East and West India planters from engaging in it?

In the following observations (continues Dr. Shier) I shall be able to reply to several of these questions, especially those capable of being settled in the laboratory. On other points, particularly those relating to the returns per acre, I am at present but imperfectly informed, in consequence of the limited extent to which these plants have hitherto been cultivated in this colony (Demerara), and from the total absence of authentic data regarding the amount of yield.

Characters of starch produced from different plants.--Starches from different plants are best distinguished from one another by examination under a good miscroscope. The grains or globules may be examined either as transparent or opaque objects; and although in the same species there are considerable differences in size and form, the different kinds are, on the whole, quite distinguishable. One of the best ways of examining the form of the globules, under the microscope, is to lay them on a plate of glass and cover them with a drop of aqueous solution of iodine, which renders them gradually blue and opaque. When the difference in size and form between the globules of different species is considerable, as between the Tous les mois starch and cassava starch, or even between the arrowroot starch and cassava starch frequently used to adulterate it, it is not difficult, with a little practice, to detect the fraud.

TABLE ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SIZE AND FORM OF THE STARCH GLOBULES OF VARIOUS PLANTS.

1. Tous-les-mois (Canna coccinea).--Grown in Grenada, 1-300 to 1-2,000 of an inch; general size, 1-500; form of the globules, large, elliptical and ovate, and remarkably transparent.

2. Ditto ditto (species unknown).--From a plant grown in the garden of the Hon. J. Croal, Georgetown, but gathered before the root was fully ripe; globules spherical, shortly ovate and elliptical; size, from 1-600 to 1-1,600; general size, 1-800.

3. Buck Yam (Dioscorea triphylla).--Grown on the banks of the Demerara River. Form of globules, elliptical, often truncated at one end, so as to be mullar-shaped, some pear-shaped; length, twice the width; size, 1-600 to 1-2,000; general size, 1-800.

4. Common Yam (D. sativa).--Grown on No. 1 Canal, Demerara River. Elliptical, some long elliptical; size, 1-700 to 1-2,000; general size, 1-1,000.

5. Guinea Yam (D. aculeata).--Grown in the same locality. Larger globules, elliptical; smaller ditto, spherical, often truncated; some shortly ovate, with the appearance of being flattened; general size and range, same as No. 4.

6. Barbados Yam, grown on banks of Demerara river. Globules, pear-shaped and mullar-shaped; range, 1-700 to 1-1,600; general size, 1-1,000.

7. Plantain (Musa paradisiaca).--Grown on the banks of the Demerara river. Globules long and narrow, generally long elliptical, often more acute at the ends than in any other species, some linear ended abruptly; length, often three times the width; range, from 1-400 to 1-4,000 of an inch; general size, 1-800.

8. Potato (Solanum tuberosum).--Irish tubers, from Belfast Sound. Globules, 1-600 to 1-2,000; general size, 1-1,200.

9. Potato (Commercial).--Locality unknown. Range from 1-600; globules generally same as former, but a few stray ones as large as 1-40 of an inch.

10. Sweet Potato (Convolvulus Batatas).--Grown at the Lodge, Demerara. Form of globules, spherical aggregated; range, 1-1,000 to 1-4,000; general size, 1-2,400.

11. Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea).--Specimens from Bermuda, where the highest priced and best quality is prepared. Ovate and elliptical; length in the larger globules, twice the width; range, from 1-800 to 1-2,400; general size, 1-1,400.

12. Ditto ditto, grown on plantation Turkeyen, Demerara, by J.W. King. Size and description same as No. 11.

13. Ditto ditto, grown and prepared in Barbados. Characteristics the same, but globules more uniform in size.

14. Ditto ditto, grown on plantation Enmore; not quite so uniform in size.

15. Bitter Cassava (Janipha Manihot).--Grown on Haagsbosch plantation. A few globules occur as large as the 1-1,000 of an inch; these are ovate, the rest are spherical. The range is from 1-2,000 to 1-8,000; general size, 1-4,000.

16. Sweet Cassava (Janipha Loeflingii).--Grown on No. 1 Canal, Demerara River.

17. Tannia (Caladium sagittifolium).--Grown at the Lodge. Globules not so truly spherical as the foregoing, but range and size the same.

18. Wheat (Triticum sativum).--Locality unknown. Form of globules, spherical and slightly elliptical, some very small; range, 1-2,000 to 1-6,000, the former the general size.

19. Maize (Zea Mays).--Grown in the colony, but locality uncertain. Globules, approaching to spherical, much aggregated; range, 1-2,000 to 1-4,000; general size, 1-3,000.

From an inspection of this list, it does not appear that the species would be easily distinguishable, and it is not easy briefly to describe the differences; in practice, however, and especially when the observer has a number of pure and authentic specimens before him, to have recourse to as standards of comparison, the discrimination is by no means difficult.

Specific gravity of starch derived from various plants.--Of many bodies the determination of the specific gravity is one of the best modes of distinguishing the purity. With the view of ascertaining whether the different varieties of starch have all the same density, as has been asserted by some, trials were carefully made of as many specimens as I could procure. The results are embodied in the following table:--

TABLE No. I.--DENSITY OF STARCH DERIVED FROM VARIOUS PLANTS. ------------------+-------+-------+----------------------------------------- | |Tem. at| Names of |Density|time of| Remarks Plants | |Obs. F.| ------------------+-------+-------+------------------------------------ 1. Bitter cassava|1.4 3 | 87. |Grown in the colony and prepared in | | | the Colonial Laboratory. 2. Tannia |1.4773 | 87. |Ditto ditto 3. Arrowroot |1.4772 | 86.25 |Ditto ditto 4. Arrowroot |1.4748 | 86.25 |Ditto ditto 5. Common yam |1.4733 | 83.25 |Ditto ditto 6. Sweet potato |1.4718 | 85.75 |Ditto ditto 7. Arrowroot |1.4717 | 82.75 |St. Vincent's, commercial 8. Arrowroot |1.4701 | 84.75 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L. 9. Tous les mois |1.4698 | 85.25 |Ditto ditto 10. Sweet cassava |1.4692 | 86.5 |Ditto ditto 11. Wheat starch |1.4632 | 85. |Commercial, of English manufacture 12. Plantain |1.4615 | 85.75 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L. 13. Tous les mois |1.4611 | 84.25 |Grenada, commercial 14. Barbados yam |1.4607 | 83.5 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L. 15. Irish potato |1.4589 | 84.75 |Tubers from Belfast; prepared in C.L. 16. Guinea yam |1.4581 | 84.2 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L. 17. Potato |1.4561 | 84. |Commercial 18. Buck yam |1.4489 | 81.25 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L. 19. Arrowroot |1.4443 | 85.5 |Barbados, commercial 20. Arrowroot |1.4158 | 86.25 |Bermuda, ditto 21. Maize |1.4109 | 85.5 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L. ------------------+-------+-------+----------------------------------------

From this it will be seen that the order of density does not correspond with the order in any of the other tables. Probably those specimens prepared from dry seeds, such as wheat and maize starch, which, as commercial articles at least, are less pure than those prepared from recently dug roots, have also the lowest density.

Hygroscopic properties of starch produced from different plants.--Such of the specimens as are marked in the following table, as prepared in the colonial laboratory, were dried in the sun in shallow trays, to which they had previously been transferred in the wet state. When sun dried, the masses were broken down, and the starches freely exposed to the air in the shade for ten days. Any adherent masses were then rubbed to powder by light pressure in a glazed mortar, and the whole sifted. Portions of each of these starches, and of others for the sake of comparison, were then dried, at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, in a current of dry air, and the loss determined:--

TABLE No. II.--SHOWING THE HYGROSCOPIC WATER CONTAINED BY STARCH PRODUCED FROM DIFFERENT PLANTS.

Per centage of water. Remarks. 1. Potato 20.27 Commercial, locality unknown 2. Sweet potato 19.57 C., C.L.** 3. Buck yam 19.43 C., C.L. 4. Barbados yam 19.40 C., C.L. 5. Arrowroot 18.81 Bermuda, commercial 6. Irish potato 17.28 Tubers from Belfast, C.L. 7. Guinea yam 17.14 C., C.L. 8. Tous les mois 16.74 Grenada, commercial 9. Arrowroot 16.43 Barbados, ditto 10. Common yam 16.36 C., C.L. 11. Plantain 16.23 C., C.L. 12. Arrowroot 15.65 C., C.L. 13. Arrowroot 14.84 C., Plantation Enmore 14. Tous les mois 14.64 C., C.L. 15. Tannia 14.60 C., C.L. 16. Sweet cassava 14.30 C., C.L. 17. Maize 14.22 C., C.L. 18. Arrowroot 13.36 C., C.L. 19. Bitter cassava 11.88 C., C.L. 20. Wheat starch 11.16 Commercial, of English manufacture

[** The initial C. throughout these tables indicates that the plant was grown in the colony; C.L., that the starch was prepared in the colonial laboratory.]

That the extremes in this table should occur in the case of the starches of commerce, was, perhaps, to be expected; nevertheless the difference between the starch of the sweet potato and that of the bitter cassava is nearly as great, and both these specimens were prepared in the laboratory, by the same process, and subject to the same temperature and exposure.

Characters of the jellies formed by various starches.--Tenacity.--I have met with no very precise results on this subject, except the well-known fact that it takes a much larger quantity of some starches, the arrowroot for instance, to form a jelly of equal tenacity with that formed by others, such as the Tous les mois; and hence in the West Indies the latter is universally preferred to the cassava starches.

After trying various plans, the method which I found best fitted for comparing the tenacity of different starch jellies, was the following:--Of each of the kinds of starch, 24 grains were weighed out and mixed with 400 grains of distilled water, in a porcelain capsule of suitable size. The mixture was then heated and boiled briskly for three minutes, with constant stirring, and was immediately poured into a conical test-glass,[45] which the jelly nearly filled. The time at which each glass was filled was noted, and exactly two hours were allowed for the contents to cool in a current of air. The glass is then set on a plate of glass, supported on a ring of a retort stand, and the weight ascertained, which was necessary to force a metallic disc, of ascertained size, through the jelly. The most convenient way of doing this was by using a piece of apparatus of the form rudely represented on the margin. The rectangular frame is of thin brass wire, and the slightly cup-shaped disc, d d, is soldered to a wire, attached to the upper short side of the rectangle. From the opposite or lower side of the rectangle a small glass cup, c., is suspended, into which weights are put as soon as the disc has been made to rest on the surface of the jelly, pp is the plate of glass on which the test-glass is set. Whenever the disc tears the skin of the jelly and begins to sink in it, no further addition, of weights is made, and the weight of the disc, framework, and cup being known, we have an estimate of the tenacity of the jelly. This process is but approximative, and some practice is necessary before the operator succeeds in getting uniform results from the same series of specimens.

+--------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | d \_____/ d | | | | | | | | p--------------p | | | | | +--------------------+ | | | | --------- c.

The following statement shows the results on such specimens as I could procure. The disc was exactly 7/10ths of an inch in diameter.

TABLE NO. III.--TENACITY OF STARCH IN JELLIES.

No. Names of specimens. Weight in grains required to break the jelly. 1. Tous les mois, C., C.L. 2,446* 2. Tous les mois, Grenada, Commercial 1,742 3. Maize, C., C.L. 955 4. Barbados yam, C., C.L. 895 5. Irish potato, from Belfast, C.L. 756 6. Tannia, C., C.L. 630 7. Bermuda arrowroot, finest Commercial 627 8. Common yam, C., C.L. 657 9. Guinea yam, C., C.L. 571 10. Plantain, C., C.L. 467 11. Potato starch, Commercial 467 12. Arrowroot, C., C.L. 393 13. Sweet potato, C., C.L. 368 14. Arrowroot, C., C.L. 340 15. Arrowroot, C. 301 16. Arrowroot, St. Vincent's, Commercial 289 17. Barbados arrowroot, Commercial 273 18. Wheat starch, Commercial 183 19. Buck yam, C., C.L. 151 20. Bitter cassava, C., C.L. 150 21. Sweet cassava, C., C.L. 78

[* In this instance the weight stated detached the jelly from the side of the glass, but the skin of the jelly was not torn as in the other cases.]

From this list it is obvious that, in respect of tenacity, there is a very great difference between the jellies prepared from the different starches--greater, indeed, than exists in regard to any other character. At first I thought it probable that the tenacity of the jelly would bear some relation to the size of the globules, and it is true that we find the Grenada Tous les mois, the largest globule, next the top, and the cassava among the smallest, at the bottom of the scale. But, on the other hand, we have the Buck yam starch, a large sized globule, very high; together with many other exceptions.

As an article of diet, the most tenacious varieties of starch are preferred, on account of the economy of employing an article of which a less quantity will suffice; and the same is true when applied to starching linen, provided the jelly be not deficient in clearness.

Clearness of jellies.--When starch jelly is used for the purpose of starching, or glazing linen, or cotton goods, those varieties that are most transparent are understood to be preferred, provided, at the same time, they possess the requisite tenacity. This and other matters will be best determined by practical men in England; but having had occasion many times to prepare specimens for trying the tenacity, the opportunity was always taken of arranging the specimen of jellies in the order of their clearness, or, to speak more accurately, of their translucency. In this respect also they exhibit considerable differences, varying, when prepared according to the formula described under the head of tenacity, from very translucent approaching to opaque. The order is shown in the annexed list, which begins with the clearest.

TABLE NO. IV.--SHOWING THE ORDER OF CLEARNESS OR TRANSLUCENCY OF UNIFORMLY PREPARED STARCH JELLIES.

Order. Names of specimens. 1. St. Vincent Arrowroot, Commercial 2. Arrowroot, C., C.L. 3. Sweet cassava, C., C.L. 4. Bitter cassava, C., C.L. 5. Bermuda arrowroot, Coml. 6. Arrowroot, C., C.L. 7. Irish potato, C.L. 8. Potato starch, Coml. 9. Buck yam, C., C.L. 10. Arrowroot, C. 11. Plantain, C., C.L. 12. Tannia, C., C.L. 13. Sweet potato, C., C.L. 14. Common yam, C., C.L. 15. Tous les mois, Grenada, Cml. 16. Barbados arrowroot, Coml. 17. Tous les mois, C., C.L. 18. Barbados yam, C., C.L. 19. Guinea yam, C., C.L. 20. Wheat starch, Coml. 21. Maize, C., C.L.

On comparing this list with the former one, and taking a general view of the subject, it will be seen that the jellies that are most tenacious are generally the least translucent, and that the order of the two lists is more nearly the converse than occurs in regard to any other properties.

Percentage of starch yielded by different plants.--On this point no two writers do or can agree. The quantity of starch, even in the same plants, the potato for instance, varies with the season, the soil, climate, age, ripeness, length of time the roots have been out of the ground, &c.

In the following table I have given the result of a series of trials made in the Colonial Laboratory, Demerara. The roots were all fresh dug, and, with two exceptions, noticed in the remarks, were fair average specimens. The process was the common one. The grater or rasping machine was of copper, to avoid injuring the color of some of the starches, which an iron grater is liable to do:--

TABLE NO. V.--PERCENTAGE OF STARCH YIELDED BY DIFFERENT PLANTS.

No. Names of plants. Percentage of starch.

1. Sweet cassava 26.92 2. Bitter cassava 24.84 3. Another sample 20.26 4. A third 16.02 5. Common yam 24.47 6. Arrowroot (roots scarcely ripe) 21.43 7. Another sample 17.28 8. Barbados yam 18.75 9. Tannia 17.05 10. Another sample 15.35 11. Guinea yam 17.03 12. Plantain 16.99 13. Sweet potato 16.31 14. Buck yam 16.07 15. Another sample 15.63 16. A third, from a dark colored variety 14.83

From the foregoing list it appears that the sweet and bitter cassava merit attention as starch-producing plants. They are occasionally grown for this purpose in the colonies, and yield a large per centage of starch; but there exists an opinion, whether well or ill founded, that it is liable to rot linen, and the preference is given here to the starch of arrowroot. It remains to be seen, however, what estimate will be formed of this starch in England, for if it should prove an esteemed variety, there can be no doubt of its proving a highly profitable cultivation. Cassava grows readily in almost any soil, and when the drainage is tolerable, two crops of the sweet variety can, it is stated be grown in a year. I have seen it growing luxuriantly in the light soils of the interior, as well as in the stiff clay soils of the coasts. It is considered an excellent preparatory crop in new and stiff land, on account of its tendency to loosen the soil. Were the bitter variety fixed on, the preparation of Casareep might be combined with the preparation of starch; and as that substance is one of the most esteemed bases for the preparation of various sauces, it is probable that this might turn out the most profitable part of the produce. At all events, bitter cassava would have this advantage over all other starch-producing roots, that the juice of the roots could be turned, to account as well as the starch.

Of all the plants mentioned in the list, starch is most readily separated from the arrowroot, in consequence of the tissue being more fibrous, and yielding little or no cellular tissue requiring to be run off the starch. Time and water are thus saved in the process, and were the fibrous residue pressed and dried, it could probably be turned to good account in the manufacture of paper.

In respect of facility of preparation, the plantain starch, though of excellent quality, ranks lowest, for the flesh-colored tissue in which the starch is embedded is somewhat denser than the starch, and settles down under it, and it is not a little difficult to arrange the process so as completely to separate the finer parts of this matter from the starch, and hence its color is never perfectly white.

Yield of starch-producing plants per acre.--On this subject, as already remarked, I do not at present possess sufficiently accurate data.

In England ten tons of potatoes are not unfrequently produced per acre; now assuming 15 the per centage of starch, there would be a yield of one-and-a-half tons per acre, which, at the-lowest quotation, 28s. a cwt., would give £42 per acre; and were the starch to rank with that prepared from wheat, it would produce £40 per ton, or £60 per acre. In the thorough drained land of Demerara, and under a good system of cultivation, I have no doubt that ten tons of cassava could easily be grown, and if it yielded 25 per cent. of starch, it would be a return of 2½ tons, or of £62 10s. per acre, reckoned at the price of potato starch.

Of the yield of the plantain we possess much more accurate information. A new plantain walk in this colony (British Guiana) will yield 450 bunches, of 50 lbs. each, of which, as nearly as possible, 50 per cent. will be of core, containing 17 per cent. of starch, thus producing 17 cwt. of starch per acre. But an old plantain walk, even when free from disease, could not be reckoned to yield more than half this quantity, namely, 8½ cwt. per acre. Considering the value that is set on the plantain as an article of food, and the difficulties incident to the process of making starch from it, it is by no means probable that it will ever be used as a source from which to obtain starch.

Of the quantity of arrowroot that can be grown per acre, I have been able (continues Dr. Shier) to procure no information; but from the price it commands in the market, the facility with which it can be grown, and the ease with which the process of separating the starch can be carried on, it deserves a fair trial here. To cultivate it to advantage it ought to be done on thorough-drained and well-tilled land, planted at the proper season, and not dug till ripe and in dry weather.

Of the Tous les mois, I have only been able to procure a single plant, for which I am indebted to the kindness of the Hon. John Croal. As the root was immature, it would be unfair to deduce from the quantity of starch obtained, the per centage generally contained by the plant. Its immaturity was also indicated by the globules being smaller than in the specimen obtained from Grenada; in other respects, however, such as the tenacity of its jelly, it stands highest. It is altogether one of the most promising starch-producing plants, and obviously deserves a careful trial. It is a plant that expends a good deal of matter in maturing a considerable quantity of dense and bulky seeds, but as it propagates both by root and seed, it is probable that, as a root-crop, it would be highly advantageous to procure a variety that does not flower.

Both the tannia and the sweet potato can be readily grown, and the produce per acre is large; but from the foregoing tables it would appear that there are other plants whose starch is likely to be held in greater estimation.

Difficulties attendant on the process of preparing starch.--Were the manufacture of superior starch to be carried out in this colony (British Guiana) on a large scale and profitably, recourse would require to be had to all the well-known means of economising labor. In the cultivation as much as possible would require to be done by cattle and implement labor, and this would be the easier to accomplish, inasmuch as, to grow roots to great advantage, the land would require to be thorough drained. When the produce was brought to the buildings, machinery similar to what is already in use in Europe, for the purpose of washing and rasping roots, and of separating and washing starch, would suffice with comparatively little manual labor. An ordinary amount of judgment being exercised in determining the proper period of ripeness of the roots, and in selecting seasons when the weather is usually most suitable for conducting the process of manufacture, it does not appear that any unusual difficulty would have to be encountered by growers or manufacturers, unless as regards the obtaining of a sufficient supply of good water; for that is essential to the production of good starch.

The creek water of the colony is generally too brown, and the trench water too muddy, and contains often too much salt to produce starches of the finest color, hence recourse would require to be had to rain water, or Artesian water. The first is remarkably pure, and it certainly does not appear that were sufficiently capacious reservoirs built, or ponds dug, and protected from infiltration by the usual well-known means, there would be great difficulty in getting a sufficient supply of rain water. It is done in Bermuda, and why not here? On the other hand, almost all the Artesian wells in the colony contain a large quantity of oxide of iron held in solution by carbonic acid, and which separates as an ochrey deposit on free exposure to the air. Were this water used in the starch process, it would certainly injure the color materially; but by a chemical process, exceedingly simple, inexpensive, and easy of application, it is possible to purify the Artesian water, and render it almost as fit as rain water for the purpose of manufacturing starch.

In some of the other colonies a great deal of the best starch is produced by the holders of small lots of land, and many parts of the labor being light, and suited for women and children, it is one of the most desirable cultivations for small holders, and would be very beneficial for Demerara, where the lands of the peasantry too generally lie in a state of utter neglect; yet small holders could not be expected to be able to compete with those who should grow starch on the large scale, and prepare it with the best machinery.

Cassava meal, plantain meal, &c., as articles of export.--It may soon become an important question whether the plantain, or some of the edible roots grown in the tropics, might not be sent to Europe in a fresh state as a substitute for the potato. Many of them, the buck yam and the cassava, for instance, ought to be used when fresh dug, for every day they are out of the ground they deteriorate. This, however, is not so much the case with some of the larger yams. It is worth trying whether the finer sorts that deteriorate by keeping, might not, after being sliced and dried in the sun, become articles of export, either in that state or when ground to meal. For this purpose the bitter cassava, the plantain, and the buck yam are the most promising.

Of the bitter cassava mention has already been made as a substance from which the starch and casareep might be prepared. In this case, however, the woody and cellular tissue, with the small quantity of starch left in it by the ordinary starch process, would form far too poor an article of diet to constitute part of the food of man. But the roots might be used as a medium from which to prepare cassava meal, casareep, and the very small quantity of starch which is expressed along with the juice, leaving all the rest of the starch to form part of the meal. It is of such meal that the cassava cakes of the Indians are prepared; and although by no means so nutritive as Indian corn meal[46], there can be little doubt that in the Scotch and Irish markets the cassava meal would obtain a preference; and were it exported in quantity it would probably come into extensive use among all classes.

The process would be as follows:--After washing in a revolving apparatus, by which means the adherent earth would be got quit of, and almost the whole of the thin dark colored cuticle become detached, the roots could be reduced to pulp in a rasping-mill, without the use of water; the pulp might be compressed in bags by hydraulic pressure, whereby the juice, together with a small portion of the starch, would be expressed. After allowing the starch to subside, the juice should be concentrated to about the density of 1.4. The starch would be washed, purified, and dried. The contents of the bags would then be broken up and dried in the sun or in a current of air, after which the meal would be sifted through a coarse sieve to separate the coarser parts, which, if their amount was considerable, could be ground and added to the rest. In this state of rough meal it is fit for making the cassava cakes. If ground to flour it might be used to mix with wheat, rye, or barley flour.

The process is usually conducted as follows:--The squeezed pulp is broken up, sifted, and exposed to the sun on trays or mats till it is fully more than half dry. An iron hoop of the size and thickness of the cake to be made is then laid on a griddle or hot plate, and the space within the hoop is filled evenly with the somewhat moist meal, no previous kneading or rolling having been employed. As soon as the coarse meal coheres, the ring is lifted and the cake is turned and heated on the opposite side. The heat should not be sufficient to brown the cake. The cakes are finally dried by exposure to the sun. From the dry cassava meal cakes may be prepared by sprinkling it with as much cold water as to moisten it to the proper point, and then proceeding as above. Hot water cannot be employed, neither can kneading, or any considerable degree of compression be used, otherwise the water does not evaporate readily enough; the starch gets too much altered by the heat, and the cake becomes tough.

If an acre of well-tilled thorough-drained land yield 10 tons of fresh roots, and I have every reason to believe that such a return might be obtained, I have ascertained that the produce would be 3½ tons of meal, 598 lbs. of casareep, and 2 cwt. of starch; and estimating the meal at 1d. per lb., the casareep at 1s. 5d. per lb., and the starch at 40s. per cwt., the gross amount would be £78 13s. 4d. per acre. In ascertaining these proportions, very simple machinery was employed, and had the pulp been better pressed the quantity of casareep would have been considerably greater.

From the table given in a former note it will be seen that the cassava meal prepared in this way contains but a very small proportion of matter nutritive in the sense of contributing to the formation of blood, and that the expressed juice carries off fully one-half of the proteine compounds contained in the plant.

Lichenin is a variety of starch occurring in Cetraria islandica, or Iceland moss.

Indian corn starch.--The advance of science has recently brought to our knowledge the preparation and use of another article, not only important as food, but also essential in the arts. I have had occasion to mention the high value of the Indian corn, and I might with advantage allude to many of its uses and properties; at present I must confine my remarks to a product from this valuable grain, known as corn starch, and yet another as the fecula of maize. In the close of 1849, Mr. Willard and his associates, of Auburn, established extensive works at Oswego, for the preparation of these important products, their establishment covering an area of 49,000 square feet. As the proprietors have to some extent held unrevealed the process by which they produce a starch more pure than the starch of commerce, we may not indulge in speculative curiosity; yet I can hardly doubt their great success is mainly attributable to perfect machinery, guided by science and talent. The rapid and extended demand for these new products presents sufficient evidence of their character, as we are told that about three millions of pounds of this corn starch are demanded annually by the trade, notwithstanding the usual supply of wheat starch is undiminished. A remarkable feature of maize starch is the absence of impurities; upon being subjected to analysis, it is found that only 2 76-100 parts in 1000 are of other matter than pure starch. According to Dr. Ure, wheat yields only 35 to 40 per cent, of good starch, a material extensively used in arts and manufactures.

In addition to starch, the Oswego starch-factory produces from Indian corn a fecula, peculiarly adapted to culinary purposes, presenting to our domestic economy one of the most acceptable, pure, and nutritious articles of food. Already has it become an indispensable household article, and is consumed largely at home and abroad. The factory, though in its infancy, consumes annually 150,000 bushels of corn, equal to about nine millions of pounds in weight. Hitherto the quantities of starch used for laundry purposes and in the manufactories of America, have been produced from costly wheats, though it may be found in many vegetable substances, such as potatoes, the horse chesnut and other seeds. In England, where breadstuffs, particularly wheat, have been raised in quantities inadequate to the demand for food, attempts have been made to convert the viscid matter of lichens into a gum, for the use of calico printers, paper-makers, and ink makers; for the stiffening of silks, crapes, and the endless variety of dry goods, which, by means of these gums or starch, are made to appear of greater consistency. Most of these attempts had partial success, yet the making of starch from wheat has not been arrested.

The Oswego starch factory has happily introduced the use of Indian corn, as a grain producing a larger proportion of pure amylaceous properties than any other known vegetable substance, proffering to the American manufacturer another economic advantage, sustaining, in a most legitimate matter, sound rivalry and competition with all the world. I am not aware whether the Oswego factory has converted its starch into gum--a process easily accomplished by heat, and thus rendered soluble in cold water, which cannot be done while in its condition of starch. Here is another result of vast importance derivable from Indian corn; and we can well conceive that, in a short period of time, the advantages now derived from the production of corn starch, may have grown into a national benefit.

Rice (according to Prof. Solly) contains on an average about 84 per cent of starch; but till comparatively a few years ago, no starch was manufactured from it, notwithstanding its low price, and the large quantity of starch which exists in it. The reason of this was, that the old process of fermentation, by means of which starch is procured from grain, was not found to be applicable to rice; and hence the latter only became available as a source of starch in 1840, when Mr. Orlando Jones introduced his new process, for which he obtained a patent. This process consisted in macerating the rice for about 20 hours in a dilute solution of caustic potash, containing about 200 grains of the alkali in every gallon; the liquor is then drawn off, the rice dried, reduced to powder by grinding, then a second time digested in a similar alkaline lye for 24 hours, repeatedly agitated. After this it is allowed to settle, and well washed with pure cold water. A prize medal was awarded for this rice starch at the Great Exhibition.

Mr. S. Berger, of Bromley, also received a prize medal. He adopts a different mode of preparation. In place of employing a dilute solution of caustic potash to dissolve the gluten and other insoluble matters of the grain, Mr. Berger uses a solution of carbonate of soda, containing half a pound to the gallon. The rice is steeped, in cold water for 48 hours, levigated in a suitable mill, and the pulp thus formed is treated with the solution of carbonate of soda for 60 or 70 hours, being repeatedly stirred; it is then allowed to settle for some hours, the alkaline liquor is drawn off, and the starch is washed and purified. This process was patented by Mr. Berger, in December, 1841. A third process was patented in February, 1842, by Mr. J. Colman; he uses dilute muriatic acid for the same purpose as Messrs Jones and Berger.

ARROWROOT, EAST AND WEST INDIAN.

The genuine arrowroot of commerce is the produce of the tuberous rhizomata of Maranta arundinacea, a native of South America, and M. indica, indigenous to the West Indies, but also cultivated in the East. The best West Indian arrowroot comes from Bermuda. Its globules are much smaller and less glistening than those of Tous-les-mois, or potato starch.

The peculiar characteristics of the starch obtained from various plants has been particularised and described already in the elaborate investigation of the commercial yield and value of the starch-producing plants. Amylaceous matter of a similar kind to arrowroot is obtained from other species of Maranta, as from some species of Canna, well known under the popular name of Indian shot, from the similarity of their round black seeds.

The arrowroot plant (M. arundinacea) is a perennial, its root is fleshy and creeping, and very full of knots and numerous long white fibres. Arising from the root are many leaves, spear-shaped, smooth on the upper surface and hairy beneath. The length of the leaf is about six or seven inches, and the breadth about three towards their base, the color and consistence resembling those of the seed. From the root arise slender petioles upon which the leaves stand, and several herbaceous erect stalks come out between them, rising to the height of about two feet. A loose bunch of small white flowers is succeeded by three-cornered capsules, each containing one hard rough seed.

The propagation and culture of this plant are of the simplest kinds. The roots should be parted, and the most suitable soil is a rich loam.

In the Bermudas, a deep rich soil, or one in which marsh or peat prevail, is alone adapted for growing arrowroot in perfection.

A correspondent from the Bermudas, (where arrowroot forms the great staple crop of the islands), informs me that he ploughed up a small piece of land, twenty rods (or the eighth part of an acre), with a small plough and one horse. He ploughed it over three times, and the third time planted the arrowroot as he ploughed it. The land had not been turned up before for twenty years.

The expenses and profits stand thus:--

EXPENSE. £. s. d. To the ploughman, harrowing and planting the arrowroot 1 0 0 Arrowroot plants 16 0 Digging it up £1 0 0 Deduct half, as the land was planted for the next year 0 10 0 0 10 0 Balance carried down, being net profit 5 14 0 -------- 8 0 0 PRODUCE. By 2,000 lbs. of root at 8s. per 100 lbs. 8 0 0 By balance brought down as net profit 5 14 0

The above £5 14s. clear profit on the 20 rods, is at the rate of £45 12s. profit for one acre. Now, if a small cultivator were to plant three or four acres, and get only one-half of the above profit, it would give a good return, and would be well worth the trial.

Arrowroot requires a good rich red soil, of which there is still much lying waste. The best time for planting it is in April, but it can be planted in March, or indeed at any time after the first of the year, till May: though if taken up and planted before Christmas, you may depend it will not come to any perfection. Arrowroot can be planted in many ways; either in holes made with a hoe, ploughed under, or in drills like Irish potatoes. Now the way I prefer is to prepare the land, then strike the line at two feet apart, and make holes with a pointed stick or dibble six inches apart, putting in each hole one strong plant or two small ones, then cover them up. This is more trouble than the old way, but it gives an excellent crop. It can also be planted like Irish potatoes in drills, two feet apart in the rows, and six inches between the plants. It should be hand-weeded in the spring, because if it is hoed, most likely you will cut some of it off which may be springing under ground, and it will never come up so strong again. Arrowroot requires very strong ground and plenty of manure. Farm yard manure is the best; next to that green seaweed dripping with salt water--this is an excellent manure, and should be dug in the ground as the arrowroot is taken up. I have no doubt that it would be of great advantage to the planter, if he were to put a cask in a cart, fill it with salt water, and put it on the land a few weeks before it is planted. Some people say that arrowroot does not pay so well, because it has to stay in the ground a whole year; but then if you have onions you can plant them over it, and so obtain a crop which will pay much better than the arrowroot itself. If you have a large piece of arrowroot ground, take up one half early, and plant it out with Irish potatoes; then take up the other half later, and with the plants set out your potato ground, that is if you have taken up your potatoes; if not, plant the arrowroot between the rows, in holes; so that when you take up the potatoes, you clean the arrowroot and loosen the ground, which will give a good crop; or you can plant Indian corn very thin over the arrowroot ground (if you have nothing else), but be sure to cut it up before it ripens corn, or it will injure your arrowroot crop; or you may plant a few melon seeds over it, and you will have a fine crop of fruit.

In 1845 I planted, in the months of January and February, a quarter of an acre of good land, in arrowroot and onions.

The expense and profit stand as follow.--

EXPENSE £. s. d. To digging the ground 1 0 0 Planting arrowroot 0 6 0 Twelve load of seaweed, at 1s. 0 12 0 Rotten manure for onions, 10 loads, at 2s. 1 0 0 One bottle onion seed 0 16 0 Sowing onion seed and keeping the plants clean 0 10 0 Planting out onions 1 0 0 Cleaning onions after set out 0 15 0 Tops and making basket 1 8 0 Pulling, cutting, and basketing 0 18 0 Carting and shipping 0 8 0 Digging arrowroot 2 0 0 -------- 10 13 0 Clear profit on quarter acre 22 13 9 -------- 33 6 9 PRODUCE By onions sold 20 16 0 By arrowroot 12 10 9 -------- 33 6 9

This is at the rate of £90 15s. clear profit per acre, which is more than double the worth of the land. I have not named the arrowroot plants, because I have planted my land with them again, but they might be fairly put to the credit of the account. The above statement shows what may be done with good land and good management; but even if a man can only clear £10 on an acre of land, he ought not to grumble.

Dr. Ure gives a most interesting and lucid account of the mode of manufacture in the island of St. Vincent, where the plant is now cultivated with great success, and the root manufactured in a superior manner.

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