carolina watchman wkeklv vol xx salisbury x c octobers 1862 numhki 20 iu the year for family use an i fur market it is in ail respects one t mir must attractive and profitable trull crops ami we b pe it will re ceive increased attention hereafter por hardiness and produeli veiiess plant wilson's albany for line flavor the black prince is tinsur passed long aiar fit's e ittlijic.j lliuj liiirl c arc also desirable varie ties sweet j*o(itto,x — this crop may be dug the latter part of october or as soon as the vines are wilted by the lirst frost a hat temporary gives us the following indication ofthe ripeness or maturity of the sweet potato . pull several pota toes from different parts of your patch break them and give tbem tunc to dry and if the fresh broken parts iry over perfectly white the potato is ripe ami should be dug — but if of a darkish hue the potato '■■ is not ripe and should be left to ripen if dug when ripe they will ( ki-ep : if not will rot put up your potatoes in small banks 25 ; to .'.() bushels and reject all cut or bruised roots see also that they j are perfectly dry before banking j let the foundation of the banks be i i'j or is inches higher than the '■ r"i surrounding surface ; on an eleva ! tion a here water will not settle or j stand egyptian and other winter oats r e barley clover lucerne and otuer hardy grasses should he sown at ouce plow deep pulverize finely and manure heavily for all these crops if you desire proper remu ! iteration for your lobor hay — the aim ml ant grass now to be found in the corn fields and meadows should be careful y cured and saved hay is now worth at least 00 per ton and will probably be scarcer and higher so soon as winter sets in now we can cut and cure ten pounds of hay more cheaply than we can grow gather gin and pack a single pound of cot i ton hay too will find a ready i market for cash iu our cities and i the tinny will need vast quantities then cut all the grass in your fields 1 so boon as the weather has become i settled cure it well and store it away in a dry place many varieties of native grasses in fence corners and remote places where it cannot be cut may be worth pulling to eke out winter supplies put do not allow the grass to dry up and be come worthless before gathering turnips — it is late for tield crops of turnips ; but if your early sow ings have failed trv again we bave known good crops made after i the first of october bring your i growing turnips to a proper stand and keep the ground clean and open pumpkins should be gathered as soon as ripe and stored on well airel scaffolds or tier ol rails one above the other so far apart tlwtt the layers of pumpkins cannot touch or rest upon each other put up in this way with a slight covering or protection from the frost they will keep nearly all winter there should be a water-tight roof over the scaf folds and straw may be used as a protection from frost placed in a heap rn pile pumpkins soon decay aud become worthless before feed ing to your stock they should be boiled up with a sprinkling uf meal or bran hedges of osage orange chero kee and macartney rose honey locust evergreen thorn rati gus pyracanihn pyrus japonica c t(*c may be set out the latter part of october or as soon as the leaves of deciduous trees fall the garden — sow cabbage tur nips parsnips carrots lettuce ra dishes c arc prepare a bed in such a way that it can be protected against frost the safest way of do ing it is by excavating it one foot below the general surface and sur rounding it with planks orj such a bed transplant your young cab bages and protect them in cold wea ther for spriug ose haul plenty of manure on your garden have it well spaded burying under all euricning animal nr vegetable hunter trans plant brocoli cabbages celery collards are if your cauliflower ami brocoli have not made bends by the latter part of october lake hem up tind transplant them un der a she i where thev eau be pro ■ tected that the itiav head work and manure your asparagus bed riot forgetting to give ihem a libera ' top-dressing of salt before spring — ' \),\ not sillier weed to cuiu'ier vour garden and exhaust the soil but turn thejn under a so mi as possible and you will find the soil much im proved by next bprilig save till old bones soap suds dead leaves . decaying vegetables ivjc c and made up into com wist heaps for fn ' tare use plow and subsoil your ground for the planting of your or chards november decern ber and i january are the best months for planting trees vines c — south j ern cultivator corn stalk sugar and syrup during the present high prices ol sugar and syrup the following ar ticle from au old number of the ten i nessee state agriculturists may be of interest to many of our readers gentlemen — believing that the manufacture of cornstalk sugar and j molasses is forthwith susceptible of being made a matter of the greatest importance it is deemed expedient to enter into details that perhaps will be considered nnneccessarily i minute by some who tire not yet ap ! prised of its great value during the last season i made rather over 100 gallons — equivalent to a hogs head of sugar this quantity could have been extended to eight or ten barrels if a sufficient supply of stalk j had been provided for by planting the corn at various times the molas ses season can be prolonged from j july to october four or five oth ! er mills were in operation in this re | gion during the past summer at j which a considerable quantity was made now what has been accom plished by a few individuals can be done by every farmer in the stpte and if this should prove the case it is evident that no trivial revolutions ■ in its commercial transactions would be the result assuredly it is as ah j siirb for a farmer to purchase sugar and molasses as it would be to im port his soft soap candles or any other article of ordinary domestic production the mill should be : made with three rollers at least 20 i inches in diameter and 20 inches long 4 inches above the cogs the cogs 4 inches wide and is inches below the cogs the necks ought to | be about three inches long and 0 inches in diameter with a smooth iron band fitted on to prevent their wearing the stem of the middle roller should be 12 or iii indies in < diameter and 5 or 0 feet long the neck to be received in a correspon ding hole in a transverse beam rest in<r on two posts about 25 ieet asun ; der this arrangement will cause i the mill to run more equally than lfi there was no support above there should also be some contrivance of keys and wedges with which to ad just the outside to the middle roller j this however must be left to the i ingenuity of the builder of the mill as it cannot easily be made intelli gible on paper for the sake of con venience it may be proper to assign to the corn stalk two stages in its growth as the most suitable for ma king molasses and sugar to wit : 1st when just in roasting ears 2d when it hits passed out of roasting ear stage and become too hard for cooking and thence to the com mencement of fodder pulling the syrup made from the stalks during tho lirst or roasting ear stage it boil ed moderately thick will very much resemble honey both in appearance and taste in the second stage which i consider on the whole the proper one or when the corn has become too hard for cooking the syrup will more nearly resemble that made from the nigar-cane and is the age of stalk at which the syrup is most disposed to granulate as you approach fodder-pulling time the molasses will become darker and not su agreeable lo the taste lu the lirst or roasting ear stage it requires ten gallons of juice to make one gallon of syrup in the second or two weeks later 8 gallons will do the same one hundred moderately large stalks will make a gallon of kvrnp boiled to the point of granu lation ; that is wnen on taking n small portion as warm as it can be borne between the thumb and fore linger can be drawn into a thread an inch or inch and a half long one gallon of such syrup ia equiv alent to ten pounds of brown sugar fur any of the purposes for which that articic is commonly used stalks from which the ears have been pulled in the embryo state will afford one-fourth more 6yrup than all those ou which the ears have been permitted to arrive at tlieir full growth small stalks will yield about the same quantity of juice as large ones ; that is the product of a given weight of either will lie about the some large stalks however are preferable to small ones as it re quires nearly as much 1 1 mo to strip and prepare for the mill the latter as the lormer lt is satisfactorily ascertained that if properly made and placed in shallow vessels and in a moderately warm situation the syrup will granulate if a sufficient time be allowed it for that purpose mv apparatus for boiling consists of a large iron kettle also one of copper made from the lower part of a second-hand still the nozzle being removed and the aperture closed by a piece of copper riveted on it ; an iron band nearly one inch wide surrounds the top and riveted ; the edge ofthe copper being turned over it a broad iip is formed in front for the convenience of pouring out the syrup the ears are welded on the band in au opposite direction with holes in ihem to receive two large rings for the purpose of lifting it off the furnace there ought also to be one behind this kettle is aiiout three feet in diameter and nearly one in depth aud holds about thir ty-live gallons and answers admira bly as the boiling can be finished in it in about one-third of the time that is required in one of the ordili ' ary depth a shallow skimmer of till about eight inches by six with ' holes in the bottom and rounding at the ends fixed in a wooden handle ! will be found far more convenient for skimming than the ladle in com mon u-c it will expedite the busi ness if the fodder be stripped off the ' stalks the evening previous to the i morning when thev are intended to cut : and afterwards the whole ol the sheaths or shucks as they are called about the joints must be rare fully removed and stalks perfectly clean it is all important that the juice be pressed out and set to noil | ing as speedily as possible after the | stalks are cut not more than two hours should elapse before this is done for if the stalks tire permitted to lie or the juice to stand longer than the time mentioned fermenta tion will commence and infallibly injure the quality of thu molasses as soon as a sufficient quantity of | juice is received from the mill it should be allowed to stand a few minutes for the coarser particles to subside and then strained through a coarse cloth and a tablespoonftll and a half of clear lime water betid ded to each gallon of juice and then poured into the kettle ami carefully watched and skimmed during the whole process of boiling when iron pots or kettles are used it is absolutely necessary that they be entirely tree from rust as the small est portion of this would impart a dark color and furiginous tasto to the syrup and also a dusky hue to coffee when used in that way the molasses thus produced has over aod again been pronounced by nu merous persons who bave partaken f it to be superior to rlie imported article ali without exception wen fond nf it winlst hiii-.n r im in were several wlio reject flu use of cane molasses nlv-getlier w'nli nue dorse we made re ven nr eight il lons per iijiv imt hein*_r in no linriv i genera 1 1 v ceased grinding abntrt four | o clock in the afternoon in order lo ; finish boiling i n fore night pv us ing two horses or extending therm cratiuiifv until some time utter dark i ten gallons dailv could |, ; ve heen easily made if is probable that the influence of prejudice will forsi-me time prevent n genera i substitution of ern stalk sugar and molasses for the correspond inn article of louis iana and the west indies for there is something repulsive in the idea that a product of common corn stalks an article with which we have heen so familiar from onr infancy should come in competition with a similar one of the far famed sngar cane that j comes from so great a distance and costs so much vve give this short article for the benefit of such of our readers as may not have the chinese sugar oano which of course is vastly superior to the corn stalk as a syrup and sugar producing plant if the war and blockade continue we shall need all our advantages in the way of •* sweetening notwithstanding our opportunities to avail oarselv 8 of the m uses of adversity to which the great dramatist has attributed bitch saccharine properties — ed so cult affairs in arkansas tho memphis appeal lias had an interview with a rjen tleraan who left helena arkansas last week he says that on the day before he i left our forces in the rear of helena bag ; ged an entire regiment of curtis army | amouoting to some five or six hundred | men they were decoyed hy cavalry j scouts into an infantry ambuscade and captured there was also skirmishing tbe day he loft he having seen some ten or fifteeu wounded soldiers brought in before leav i ing the officers it helena ho savs are be | coming somewhat shakey at the present i prospect of affairs as ihey are pretty well i assured thai their only means of escape from helens is by way ofthe river a i movement upon little rock at present is ! not talked of the troops continue to devastate and j lay waste the country they forage al most entirely upon tho planters in the i vicinity of helena receiving very few sup ; plies from up the river tiie health of town we have heen aide to obtain no reports this morning we learn that in all of vesterday fifteen new cases of e iw fever were report ed his honor the mayor is this moriihig confined to his house but not as we believe and trust by the prevailing epidemic but by the conseqm nee of his constant and al most unaided exertions how ma ny other members of the board of commissioners are now in town or have been recently — wil journal death of colonel tew we deeply regret to he compelled to announce the death of col c c tew who fell at the brittle of sbarpsburg on the i 7ih itist ool tew was horn and raised in south carolina hut moved to this slate about neveri years ago and established a military academy at hillsboro which was in a flourishing condition when the war broke out col lew was among the earliest to tender his service to the coun try and having been commissioned as colonel of the 2nd regiment of n.c 8 troop was constantly in service to the day of bis death in tbedesth of colonel tew north carolina has sustained a great loss raleioh register £ jgt we have to record the deaths of two of our fellow townsmen lieut b f davidson and oapt ii b lowrie from wounds received iu the late battles this cruel war will cause many a household to he cloth ed in mourning we hope that it may soon have an end i'eaco to the memory of tho departed soldiers — charlotte whig j .!. imuner ihl'oll and i'koi'uik io hints for september and ocrobkr tut pi.ani a i ion — as minn as cotnui begin to open freely it must lie gwthered without delay avoid picking immediately after a shower ggt iin lint should in fun see thai y ui im aiul press are in per j feet order and pack no cotton that j has not received a careful handling i through it ( mo p"is should now ik gh*jtvr : ed ami put away at the ) r '| •<■ r time the vines of late planted peas ma also be cut when thu | » « * « 1 is jintl forming and cured for hay care fully save seed of ull valuable suits ; tu may be cut up and saved as directed iti our last number page i 130 winter oats rve barley glover and lucerne may be sown the lat ter part of september i>r early in ; october turnips for a fall crop must now be sown without delay rita r-tga yellow aberdeen norfolk etrty fiat dutch globe and strap leaf lied top turnips arc all valuable varieties — iiie two tirst being the best tot stock and keeping see iii ; lections lor sowing turnips in our last (. *.-... — gather your corn and put awav securely in airy tig lit roofed and well-locked enhs wc have generally a fine prospect for a large crop but wc will not have too much j to supply our own wants ami the i army do not waste a grain or j flinc tt out carelessly to vour stock at tins time of need husband it carefully — feed generously and plen tifully but not thoughtlessly or wasteful ly in this connection wc cannot too strongly urge the econo | my of using machines for cracking both cuii and cob feed cutters lor rough forage will also be found economical forage — iti addition to the c rn stalk and drilled fodder spoken of in our last page 130 sweet potato vines and tops of pmdais make a tolerable rough forage if cut and cured before they begin to wither all crab or crop grass crowfoot and other grasses must be cut when iu blossom and carefully cured with as little exposure to the sun as possible to be of any value for bay the dried up and withered grass often jialkd for hay late in tbe season ib almost valueless wet laud may now be drained woodlands prepared for pasturage weeds and brush grubbed up dice c as directed heretofore / u liter forage — ana green crop try \\ in at sown thick in three foot drill ua deeply plowed an.0 rich land it will give your animals green food nearly all winter and bear repeated cutting sou also stanford's wild oat the terrell grass 1 ' \-. tniv gaki.ka — turnips ut all kinds il nut already sown must be put in without delay see dirvc tions in july and august numbers i n regard *■• t i ; nd other garden | g operations strawberry beua may be prepared and the plants set out anv time dur ing the fall a cool moist soil rich ' in vegetable matter suits this fruit best in our sultry climate spade or trench-plow the ground as deeply i as possible turning under a plenti ! tul supply ofawatn.pt muck,decom posed leaves wood ashes pulverized i charcoal and a little well rotted stable manure harrow or rake the surface until it is perfectly fine and even and set your plants in ."> foot rows 18 to 24 inches in the row when the plants are well rooted cover the entire surface of the ground with partially decomposed forest leaves only permitting the plants to be exposed ky this meth od with an occasional watering next summer in dry weather and the proper selection of varieties this delicious and healthy fruit mav be raised abundantly from 3 to 5 mouths