The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-04-29

A SUoAR PLAxrArrox.-An American in Cuba
gives an account of one of the large plantations ON
that island. There are about lOO0 acres OF lana,
nearly three quarters of which are under Guilt
walton with sugar cane, the remainder being devoted
TO grazing and plantation fields The product OF
this estate averages ten thousand boxes and I,Voo
hhis. of sugar, and its income at present prices
$3.50, 900. About one-half of this sum will be profit.
There are on the estate $50 handsL35O negroes and
$50 Chinese The other so are overseers, cartmen,
coopers, engineers, Sc There are so OK carts FOR
drawing tie cane to the mill, and oOO oxen, Iour
being used to every cart, and they are relieved twice
. day. The buildings on the estate make quite q
village. Besides the sugar houses, there are the
dwelling-houses for the owner and the overseers, the
drying houses, the hospital, the baracoons Tor the
slaves, and even q nursery for the children OF the
slaves. The sugar house here is the principal attrac-
ton. 1t is all on one floor, and very large. There are
two large rolling mills for crushing the cane, eacn
with three rollers six feet long, and placed on the top
of two. the cane feeding itself and passing under one
over the other two rollers, it comes out squeezed al
most dry, and as fat as a sheet of paper; the juice
runs down into troughs- The rollers are set very
close. within an eighth Of an inch OF each otner, ana
the pressure is enormous. To drive the rollers there
il an engine of so horse power. The juice is carried
by pumps to n set Of fourteen kettles, where oy steam
IL Is condensed and then it runs through n body OF
carbon or burnt bone, in to another set OF cisterns- IL
Is then carried to a vacuum pan, where II Is evapo-
rated, then over a set Of copper pipes for condensa-
ton, again though the charcoal for decoiorlng, then
into another vacuum pan, where II Is oolied 10 a
crvstalZlng point. Ii IS tnen cafTfeu On W no'"S.
part of the building. and by copper ladies' is empted
into the sugar moulds holding about go pounds EACH
where in another day it is ready for clayfng. ms
process is only followed for box sugar, which IS al,
WAYS cIayed, while that packed in h~ogsheads is called
muscovalo, and is packed into the casks in a green
state, where it is then allowed to purge itself for M
teen or twenty days, and it is then ready 'or ship
ment.
The process of claying is this. The moulds con-
tanning the green sugar are placed on a long floor IN
a room holding from 800 to 1000 moulds; the point
of the mould is below the level Of the floor, which is
made with square holes for their support; after the
sugar has set in the moulds, the plug at the bottom
is taken out, and On the base or upper fat surface OF
the sugar is placed a quantity of black pasty clay,
which has the power of distributing the water very
equally through it. This clay is wet, and the water
filters slowly through the body of the sugar, carrying
with it all color, and leaving the base of the cone
perfectly white. This process is repeated several
times, and tn, sugar is kept in this house for about
twenty days 1t is then turned out of the mouids
into large, open. fat wooden trays, and the different
LAYERS or stratas of sugar are divided by a negro with
a large cleaver, into white, brown, yellow, that
nearest the point is still colored with molasses, and
not very dry. These several classes are all kept by
themselves, and the sugar is dried either by the sun
or by ovens, and then packed into boxes holding
about 400 pounds each. These are then nailed and
strapped by pieces of green cow hide, IN narrow
strips, the boxes weighed, branded and ready for
transport TO market.