The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-07

slawIy' Ii Il hot likely that the belief was
founded on actual experiments or Inferred
from careful observations: but Ia more pro
badly tho result of a Inrlori reasoning, deiucue
that more Juice could be extracted from cor
tain amount of cane, We're II continued for n
longer time under PRESSURE or. IN other words,
II the Juice were given greater time to run oil.
~ II assumed to DO the case In slow running
mills.
by slow and fast az applied to tho speed Of
| mills | assume that twelve feet per min
ute of the surface OF tho rollers TO De
| about tho mini mum velocity, and thirty teet
| per minute to be the maximum. These are
| about tho extremes Of slow and fast running
mills In Louisiana.
The general impression Of the advantages OF
n mill running slowly was greatly strengthen.
| ed by Professor McCulloh's admirable Report
| on Sugar and Hydrometers." 1919. be says: In
| grinding, to obtain the proper yleld, the mnst
perfect system should be strictly observed. The
| mill should not only be regulated e UNIFORM
aueed. but should DO Of suilieloht power "
work of the entire crop without recurring we
4 speed to exceed tho rate which Will permit the
| the Juice to flow of readily before the bagasse
| is liberated from the mill. so that this baghsse
| NAV not in expanding. act as u sponge to alb
| sorb n large proportion OF the expressed lnice.
| The importance Of grinding ~ low speed IL
rendered evident ~ ne following mean 1 results
| ID M Croix, II very int llgent planter Of the
Island OF Martinique. With tho same mill
and its rollers set in the same way the juice
Obtained constituted 10 per cent of the weight
| of the canes ground when the rollers made six
| revolutions In a minute: and 70 per cent when
l
| per minute" which Mr.. McCulloh inadvertently
calls difference OF 25 per cont. whereas the
gain by slow running In this case L. moro than
| ~ per cont over the fast speed. The Marquis
| deduces from these experiments that the
| surfa speed OF twelve or fifteen feet per min
ute Is the best.
Mr. j. I. Benjamin. In DeBoers Rerie,r, quoted
BY MIR. McCulloh. page GOT. says The FIRST
great object Of the planter who Is about 70
manufacture the crop which forms the whole
return for the abors of the year Is. undoubt
eddy. to extract from the cane all the Juice that
1t contains. Unfortunately no means have yet
been devised by which this end can be completely
obtained; and the bagaEse, ~ i leaves our best
constructed mills. carries will 1t from one-third
to one-fourth OF the Juice. However improba-
ble II may appear. it IL nevertheless certain
that the fluid contents of the cane form from 80
to 90 per cent weight of the entire structure OF
the stem. and have taken some pains to nsgers
tain. during the present season. the. yield OF
Juice from our mills Of ordinary construction:
found tho yield from the three Ier mill. Of
average size, and run at speed II three ana u
half revolutions per minute, to be 81 per cent,
whilst from another of very large size. OF which
the rollers were five and n half feet long. TWEEN
ty- eight inches In diameter, and which was run
at a speed of two and hail revolutions per
minute the yield was &C per cent. the bagasso
being Gm ne "t5 6ess almost R@y9f
been been re regarded as Of mqch weight u d.
termining that great advantages Tin the
increased quantity of jutce) result from
running mills slowly. But. whenproperiY
considered. they are OF NJ real value g
Va
in different mills and no evidence Is given ~
10 the quality Of the cane eXperimented upon.
or thel tightness with which the rollers were
compressed together The fast-running mill
was stated to be greatly inferior In size and
strength to the sow-runninR one. which would
OF itself account for the difference In the qnan-
fifty Of nice obtained. Besides, the difference
ia not greater, nor probably 80 great, as that
which occurs between sim lar mills running at
the same speed. RS We all know from personal
With reference to the experiments of the
Marquis dc st. Croix. that Intelligent, sagaci |
Gus and far seeing. practical planter. Mr.. Val |
cour Anne says In his diary lpage 1877 There |
il. no doubt, something to bs gained bY regu-
latng the speed so as to cause theeane inice to |
flow off before the bagasse has passed through |
the mill. But there Is evidently some exagger |
alton In the statement OF the Marquis. Every
practical man can leei that il the number OF
A difference of 25 per cent treally 90 per cent? |
In the yield 81 he cane, the planters would |
soon perceive the n9,lassty OF 80 setting their
of four hundred hogsheads. -Four revolutions
in minute with rollers % inches IN diameter
is quito slow enough: The gain by ,i slower lower
IL the opinion OF practical man. Of large OK
perence and superior powers OF observation. |
and think that most persons, who have care |
fully observed the operation of different mills |
running at different speeds, have come to
nearly the same conclusion.
have always been skeptical OF the great ad-
vantages TO be gainedby running mills slowly. |
because regarded the deductive reasoning by |
which ii was attempted to be proved "a falla- |
ciu,s and rs not sustained by my own observa-
ton. !
AS early az 1876 whilst upon Madam Tu-
reaud's Union plantation. remarktng the quick |
speed of the mill. the thinness Of the feed and
the excellence of the bagasSe. L was informed /
by Mr. Augustin Tureaud. who was then In |
OF the plantation, that he had ex- |
upon the mill. running 1t rapidly
aud slowly, weighing the cane before compress |
sion In each case. and tho bagasse afterwards.
ami that he had observed no appreciable differ |
ence in the result; but he preferred running
RAPIDLY. as his mill. in doing so. never refused |
have no knowledge Of any Of the details Of
Mr.. Tureaud's experiment; IL he informed me
Of them. they are forgotten.
Impressed with the importance of the subject |
to the planting interests, and perpleXed by con- |
reasoning which led to entirely opposite con
illusions. have for several years past resolved, |
If an opportunity occurred to institute few |
experiments. which. il not absolutely cOnclu- |
sive might yet have some effect in enab ing us |
TO arrive at correct conclusions. Messrs Me |
Call Bros. equally DESTROYS with myself to OBJ |
tain information on this important subject. not |
only kindly lent their mill for the purpose Of
making the test but assisted or more properly |
speaking, made the experiment themselves
under my supervision.
In advance. l think 1t proper to state that |
was fully aware that any experiments to test
the comparative merits of slow and fast run
eliminated from them every thing but speed.
The same mill must pe used in making the OK
perimeLts. 1t must be screwed up for both
trials the same The thickness OF cane on the
carrier must be as equal as possible, and the
cane must be precisely alike In quality, and
taken from the same cut. These conditions
were all carefully observed. On the fourteenth
of December, 1873, when the cane was in good
condition. the experiment commenced with
the engine running between eighteen and nine
teen revolutions per minute. being the slowest
speed practicable without mourning great ex.
pense In altering the machinery; The speed Of
the mill was exactly one eighth of that OF the
engine. In twenty four minutes. the cane
having been placed upon the carrier with great
regularity under the strict and unremiting
attention of the intelligent overseer, Mr.. Full
gence Bourgeois 10 420 pounds of cane were
passed through the mill. The Juice was run
into a luice-b box measuring as follows: 1876
inches long. e3.sl25 inches wide at one end. and
635 inches wide at the other, to the depth,
measured at the four corners of the box, Of
133l25. 1925. l1625 and 1l.625 inches. thus
averaging depth Of 124531 inches: measuring,
in all, 674.4 gallons OF Juice.
The speed of the engine was then altered to
twenty eight revolutions per minute, giving
three and half revolutions per minute to
the mill. being as near as possible 90 per cent
faster than on the previous trial. In the trial
10. 400 pounds Of cane were passed through the