MONDAY EVENING, Jan. 6, 1862. President Gardner, in the chair, called the meeting to order, and stated that Owing to the absence of Mr. Potwin, an examination of the Treasurer's, Secretary's, and Executive Committee's accounts could not be had, but that there were sufficient data in the hands of the Secretary to give an approximate statement of the condition of the Treasury. The Secretary presented a letter from Wm. Hageler, in which the writer claims a premium of $20, which was awarded on one of his horses at the Dayton Fair in 1860, but which had been paid to Wm. Bain. It appears that Mr. Hageler commissioned a Mr. Alexander to exhibit his (Hageler's) horses at that Fair, but Mr. Alexander intrusted the matter of making entries to Mr. Bain. The Secretary made the entries as requested by Mr. Bain, and regarded him as the agent; and when the Fair was concluded, Bain demanded the premium, which was accordingly paid to him. The Board decided that the conduct of the Secretary was proper, and that Mr. Hageler must obtain the money from Mr. Bain. The Secretary then presented a list of commended articles at the last State Fair. On motion, it was voted that the commended list be referred to Jno. M. Millikin, to report what articles were entitled to awards. The report is as follows: L. S. Fairchild, Cleveland, Water-wheel .... F. F. Fowler, Upper Sandusky, Hay Gatherer...... Do 66 Hay Pitching Machine Jno. G. Henderson, Upper Sandusky, Farmers' Loom S. S Williams, Granville, Cashmere Goats..... ... Thompson, McGregor & Co., Dayton, Display of Castings.. .... .... ....Diploma 66 At the late Fair, the first premium on aged Ewes was awarded to Wm. Eagleson, but the Committee made no record on the book; also the premium on Lambs to John Singer. Voted, That Messrs. Singer and Eagleson be paid the premiums so awarded. Prof. M. A. Mot presented some papers on Beets and Sorgho, with specimens, which were referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Townshend and Jones. The only application, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations for Premiums on Field Crops, was made by Gurdin Perrin, of Erie county, for one acre of buckwheat, $10. Mr. Perrin raised 189 bushels of potatoes on half acre, but the Rules and Regulations require 200 bushels; therefore no premium was awarded, though the requirements were filled in every other respect. The committee on Prof. Mot's application reported as follows: The committee to whom was referred the specimens of beet sugar, exhibited in competition for the premiums offered by the State Board of Agriculture, for the best conducted and most valuable experiments in the manufacture of sugar and syrup from any plant adapted to this State, would respectfully report, that the committee do not regard the experiments of Prof. Mot as sufficiently extensive to warrant the advertised award of $50; yet in view of the interesting character of his investigations and experiments, the committee recommend that the sum of $20 be presented to Prof. Mot. [Prof. Mot is the first one who has succeeded in obtaining a good article of crystallized sugar from the beet root in the United States.-KLIPPART.] On motion, adjourned to meet to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock. TUESDAY, January 7, 1862. Board met and held an informal session, after having visited the Sorghum Convention. Among other proceedings, Mr. Day, of Mansfield, exhibited some half dozen beautiful samples of Sorgho sugar, and requested the Board to decide. which was the best. It appears that Mr. Day offered a copper evaporator as a premium, to be awarded by the State Board, for the best sample of Sorgho sugar, not less than 20 pounds; the award was made to Mr. Cook, of Mansfield. In the evening another informal session was held. Prof. A. Mot, of Columbus, submitted the following paper concerning the practicability and economy of making sugar from the beet root in Ohio: To the Ohio State Board of Agriculture : The subscriber begs leave to submit the following remarks: The State of Obio could raise her own sugar and export a surplus, notwithstanding failures in former attempts. Scepticism is the main obstacle in the way; to remove this, nothing will avail except a successful, practical, public demonstration, on a large scale; this ought to be encouraged. The consequences of beet cultivation are— 1st. To increase from one to ten, the number of horses, cattle, and sheep. 2d. To supply the land with immense quantities of phosphate (bone black) and other residues, all favorable to wheat. 3d. To relieve a State from sugar importation. 4th. To give expansion to metallurgy and machine shops, by the demand for new implements. 5th. To introduce a profitable industry in which all branches of natural sciences find application. It has been affirmed that $60,000,000 could be added to the annual production of the State, by substituting beets for corn on 300,000 acres ; this could be done in less than ten years. To reach this desideratum, France applied energetic means; in the midst of general war she offered a premium of $200,000. Beet-sugar was immediately taxed, and has been so ever since; this tax, now reduced to 2 cents per lb., yields $6,097,070 for beet-sugar alone, and probably $2,000,000 for molasses. The declining fertility of the soil in Ohio, and the pressure of the times, call for decisive action; therefore the subscriber respectfully suggests that the State authorities be requested to offer a premium (liberal and commensurate with the interests at stake), to be awarded "to the first person having planted within the State no less than five acres of beets, and having made therefrom no less than 5000 pounds of fair, merchantable, crystallized brown sugar." Will those having charge of the commonwealth apply the proper means, or shall another State have the advantages of present opportunities? In competition for the premium which is offered for the most valuable experiment on sugar and syrup, the subscriber respectfully submits his specimens and the detail of his operations: The most valuable experiment is that which opens the way to the greatest profit. The included extract from the Field Notes demonstrates the "importance" of beet sugar, and the possibility of its profitable production in Ohio. The seeds for the subscriber's experimen's during the last four years, were mostly supplied by the ob'iging Secretary of your Board. The calculated production of beets averaged 30 tons to the acre; a parcel of seeds planted in the garden of G. M. Parsons, Esq., of Columbus, yielded at the rate of 65 tons to the acre; a specimen of this crop is herewith submitted, with the offer to make sugar therefrom in presence of the Board. Experiments in making sugar were more or less successful, according to the kind of beets; the white French beet gave the best results; the per centage was low, owing to the want of implements; it was in average 4 parts of sugar and 6 parts of molasses on 100 parts of beets. The specimens are: No. 1. Raw beet sugar in progress of crystallization; the dark color belongs to the molasses; this being removed, the crystals will appear with a light brown color, similar to No. 3. No. 2. Beet molasses drained from specimen No 3, and filtered through French woolen stuff of the adjoined pattern. No. 3. Brown beet sugar extracted from white French beet, raised near Newark (Cherry Valley), Licking county; seeds from the Board of Agriculture. No. 4. Clayed beet sugar partly refined, from white French beet, raised in the garden of G. M. Parsons, Esq., at Columbus, Ohio. The refining operation could not be perfected for want of machinery. No. 5 Sorgho syrup from the half of one cane; it contains neither gluten, acid or essential oil; it will not ferment; process as usual, except removing the rind of the cane, and filtering with bone-black and woolen stuff. With a large evaporator, a golden color or even white may be obtained. The detail of the operations was: 1. Washing the beets by hand. 2. Rasping the beets with a tin grater. 3. Pressing the pulp in a cloth. 4. Heating the juice to 85° C., then adding 1 per 100 of lime, diluted; heating to 1000 C., then allowing rest to complete defeca tion. 5 Filtering the juice with bone black. 6. Boiling juice down to 240 B. 7. Filtering syrup with bone-black. 8. Cooking syrup to 45° B. 9, Cooling the sugar in a cup. 10. Placing sugar to crystallize. 11. Draining off the molasses. How it is done in Factories. By a washing machine. In coarse filter In vacuum pans. In cones in hct-house. 12. Drying the sugar before the fire, and pack. By steam ing. The subscriber claims no merit of invention, his "modus operandi" being the reproduction (on a small scale) of that which he had occasion to observe in the factories of Europe. A. MOT. STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION. Official Report for the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, by Elias Longley. SENATE CHAMBER, Columbus, O., } President D. E. Gardner took the chair, and remarked: Gentlemen of the Convention-We have met here to-day, as has been our custom for many years, to reorganize the State Board of Agriculture, and hear reports of the proceedings of the past year, and receive such suggestions as to the conduct of our affairs for the year to come, as may be submitted. Proceeding in the usual order, I shall call over the counties, and trust that the delegates or presidents will present their credentials to the Secretary, in the order in which they are called. A. A. Jewett. J S. Winner. T. F. Joy. J. A. Fetters. G. Terrill. J. Forsman. Peter Hitchcock. Daniel McMillen, Jr. Thomas Oldham. D. B. Beardsley. J. M. Floyd. J. D. Easton. Isaac Roberts. W. C. Mabolm. James Myers. H. Toland. R. M. Montgomery. E. Peters. J. Seely. W. B. McLung. Jefferson Patterson. W. P. Sprague. G. W. Hiskitt. V. Best. ... Canfield Phelps. G. W. Gregg. Thomas Gorby. G. W. Dooly. John Maidlaw. B. S. Runyon. Daniel Capper. Lewis Baltzell. |