EXTRACTS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 18, 19 August 1843, Page 3

EXTRACTS.

i Oil and Sugar from Corj?. (From the London "Colonial Observer.") A lato report from tlio Commissioners of Patents to the American Congress, presents the following important facts respecting the manufacture of sugar and oil : Corn-oil is produced from corn-meal by fermentation, with the aid of barley and malt. It has been made and used for. some time past in certain distilleries, by skimming 1 off the oil as it rises on the meal in fermentation in tho mash tub. It lias, however, lately become the subject of particular attention as aa article of manufacture, and with success. The meal, after it has been used for the production of this oil it is said, will make harder and better pork when fed out to swine than before. Tho oil is of a good quality, and yellowish colour, and burns well. Further clarification, it is probable, may render it as colourless as the best sperm oil. Whether or not this may be tho case, the ease with which it is made, offers strong inducements to engage in tho production of this article. But a more important object in the production of Indian corn is doubtless the manufacture of sugar from the stalks. In this point of view it possesses some very decided advantages over the cane. Tho juice of the corn-stalk by Beaume's saccharometer, roaches to ten deg. of saccharine matter,

which, in quality, is more tliart tlirce' tinier that of beef, five times that of maple, and fully equals, if it does not even exceed, that of the ordinary sugar cane in the United States. By plucking off the ears of corn from the stalks as they begin to form", tho saccharine matter, which usually goes to the production of the ear, is retained in tho stalk, so that the quantity it yields is thus greatly increased. One thousand pounds of sugar, it is believed, can easily be produced from an aero of corn. Should this fact seem incredible, reference heed only bo made to the weight of fifty bushels of corn in tho ear, which the juico so retained in the stalk would have ripened, had not the oar when just forming been plucked away. Sixty pounds may bo considered a fair estimate in weight, for a bushel of ripened corn ; and, at this rate, three thousand pounds of ripened corn will be thq weight of the product of one acre. Nearly the whole of the saccharinp part of this remains in the stalk, besides what would have existed there without ?ucli a removal of the ear. Jt is plain, therefore, that the sanguine conclusions of experiments during the past year have not been drawn from insufficient data, Besides, it has been ascertained, by trial, that corn, on being sown broad cast (and so requiring but little labour, comparatively, in its cultivation), will produce five pounds per square foot, equal to one hundred and eight tons to tho acre for fodder in a green state ; and it is higldy probabla that, when subjected to the treatmeut necessary to prepare the stalk, as above described, in the best manner for the manufacture of sugar, a not less amount of crop may be produced. Should this prove to be the case, one thousand weight of sugar per aero might be too low an estimate. Experiments on a small scale have proved that six quarts of the juice obtained from the corn-stalk sown broad-cast, yielded one quart of crystalizod syrup, which is equal to sixteen per cent. ; while for one quart of syrup it takes thirty -two quarts of the sap of maple. Again, the corn-stalk requires only one* fifth the pressure of the sugar cane, and tho mill or press for the purpose is very simple and cheap in its construction, so that quite an articlo of expense will thereby bo saved, as the cost of machinery in the manufacture of sugar from the cane is great- Only a small portion of the cane, also, in this country, where it is an exotic, ordinarily yields saccharine matter, while the whole of thp corn-stalk, the very top only excepted, can be used. Further, while cane requires at least eighteen months, and sedulous cultivation, and much hard labour, to bring it to maturity, the sowing and ripening of the cornstalk may be performed, for the purpose of producing sugar, with ease, within seventy to ninety days ; thus allowing no less than two crops in a season in many parts of our country. Tho stalk remaining after being pressed, also furnishes a valuable feed fty? cattle-^-enough, it is said, with the leaves, to pay for the whole expense of its culture. Should it be proved by further experiments, that the stalk, after being dried and laid up, can, by steaming, be subjected to the pres.3 without any essential loss of the saccharine principle, as is the case with the beet in France, so that the manufacture of the sugar can be reserved till late in the autumn — this will still more enhance the value of thig product for tho purpose. It may also be true that, as in the case of the beet, no animal carbon may be needed, but a little lime-water, will answer for the purpose of clarification ; after which, the juice may bo boiled in a common kettle' — though tho improved mothod of using vacuum pans will prove more profitable when the sugar is on a large scale. Should the manufacture of sugar from tho corn-stalk prove as successful as it now promises, enough might soon be produced to supply our entire home consumption, towards which, as has been mentioned, at least 12,000,000 pounds of foreign sugars are annually imported, and a surplus might be had for exportation. In Europe, already, more than 150,000,000 pounds of sugar aro annually manufactured from the beet, which possesses but one-third of the saccharine matter that tho corn-stalk does ; and there are not less than five hundred beet sugar manufactories in France alone. By this manufacture of sugar at the West, the whole amount of freight and cost of transportation on imported sugar might also be saved — a sum nearly equal, it is probable, to the first cost of the article at the seaport ; so that the price of sugar is at least doubled, if not almost trebled, to the consumer at a distance, when so imported. Not less than 6,000,000 pounds of sugar, it is said, are actually imported for home consumption, in the single city pf Cincinnati. (From the Colonial Observer, July S.) The following is tho correspondence to which we refer, and it certainly does Mr.

Macarthur more credit than any other act of his public life with which we are acquainted. Had he accepted the appointment, he would have forfeited for ever the respect of every member of the community. By acting as he has done, he retires from the arena 'of public life with a good grace, and with some claim to a character for political Integrity and independence, which, opposed as we have been throughont to the return of Mr. Macarthur, we -cheerfully recognise. Parramatta, July 5, 1843. Dear Sir,— The unexpected result of the Cumberland Election -induces me to ask you, as a member of the old Council, whether it would be agreeable to you to enter the new one, as a noraiaee of the Crown, one seat being still at my disposal. Very faithfully yours, G. Gipps. 'To James Macarthur, Esq. To the above communication Mr. Macarthur replied : — Parramatta, July 5, 1843. Dear Sir, — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's obliging communication of this date. . The result of the Cumberland Election, however unexpected by your Excellency, in common, as I believe, with a large portion of the public, is one which, as a possible ■contingency, I have frequently contemplated. With every desire to aid the Government by a faithful discharge of any public duty entrusted to me, I can have no hesitation in declining the seat in the new Legislative Council, which your Excellency has been pleased in so kind a manner to offer me ; because I do not feel that, after having been rejected by a popular constituency, I could act as a nominee of the Crown, either with advantage to the public, or satisfaction to myself. I have honor to be, Sir, your Excellency's faithful obedient servant, James Macarthur. To his Excell. Sir Geo. Gipps, &c.