The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-11-18
MINNESOTA SWEET.
An Interesting Article upon Amber Cane
Syrup.

The Farilnult RpuHic'a of the F.
9th inst. gives Il very interesting &C /
count of Seth kUuEry : syrup Refine |
ry al MuTriSt0wu. which We cun>IGcr
well worthy al reru>al
\ visit 10 he Amber Cane Refinery
of Hon. Seth II. kcGncy. in Morris
town. last week. furnished us with
gratifying evidence of the strides
that the syTup ami sugar making ill.,
dustry is making in Rice County.
which las thus far led the advance
in this DEPARTMENT in the northwest.
Our last visit preceding this Ia Mi.
Kenney's WAS SIN years ago. when he
was still perSeverimgly struggling
along without chemical knowledge,
in the Cn&c&Eor 10 overcome the
acidity and obstinate affinity for
vegetable impurities of the Old
sorghum juice, 50 as 10 make mer-
charitable article Of syrup. With
his horse power mill and Cook evap-
Grating pan set up under a rough
shed lie was working up ten acres OF
cane. of which four were grown by
himself and six 10y his neighbors.
Since that period tie superior merits
of the "Eaily Amber" variety of the
cane have been developed, and every
wear has added 10 the store of valu.
able knowledge III The cane growing
industry. and the mechanical facill-
ties for dealing with the difficult
problem. The visitor 10 Mr.. Ken
news farm viii now find the most
prominent feature TO lie his sugar
works, which comprise two large
buildings. IN one of which Is located
the engine. and apparatus for grind
ing. defeating and finishing the
syrup, and the other is principally for
storage purposes.
The mill used for grinding, No.
Niles CTTSher. from the Blymer
works of Cincinnati, which is but one
size smaller than the one used ut the
Faribault Refinery. IL is driven by
an engine of - horse power, worked
BY steam from 20 horse power
boiler, which also supplies steam for
the finishing pan. The boiling is
done Ey a No. =. Cooks evaporator
set in brick work. Wood is used for
fuel. The finishing pan is copper
lined and the heat is supplied through
copper steam coils. 1t is of approved
construction and ranks next TO =
vacuum pan. The works are so ar
ranged that the juice has to he
pumped up hat once in tire process
of manufacturing, when it goes 10
the finishing pan. The finished syr-
up is pumped up for barrellng.
The sugar house is large new
building 3Ox4o feet square and two
stories in height above the basement.
The basement walls are of stone the
upper mart of wood. In the base
meut are six large wooden tanks OF
$500 gallons each. These tanks are
ranged OH each side of Il passage way,
facilitating the delivery of the syrup,
which is drawn from faucets. The
tons of the tanks extend little above
the floor of the first story. The
syrup is emIlicd into the tanks from
barrels, as they He brought from the
boiling house. Upon the same. floor
is a fine Centrifugal for swinging
out mush sugar, which was manu-
featured in Germany. and was origin
ally used in Il beet sugar lnanufactory
in Wisconsin.
Mr.. Kenney has worked during the
season just closed the same from
lO4l. acres. of which fOrty-five were
his own production. The total pro-
duct was l4.20O gallons, or at the rate
of 1876 gallons 10 the acre. This Is
considerably less than the average
of former Yeas, and is owing to the
fact that the quality of the cane was
greatly Deprecated by the heavy
rains that set in about the last of the
growing season, that caused IL new
growth Of suckers TO start out. Up
to that period the promise OF the cane
was excellent. AS it was the juice
only tested : deg. in Saccharine rich
ness when j; should lave been 10 deg.
This also increased the expense OF
manufacturing. The works have
turned out the present season $50
gallons in every twenty four hours,
running day and night. The product
would have been one-third greater
with Juice of the average richness.
The quality Of the syrup manufac.
tured is exceedingly fine. Two
barrels of the very best, which Mr..
X. intends To exhibit at the Sugar
Growers Convention, falls very little
below the best maple in flavor and
consistency. He has also two tanks
filled with very thick syrup OF
beautiful amber color and fine flavor.
All of his product this year exhibits
a marked advance in excellence over
that of former years, owing to his
adoption Of new process for chemic'
ally eliminating the impurities. The
crude sorghum taste of the earlier
syrups is no longer perceptible, and
so convinced are the wholesale deal
ers of the merchantable quality of
his goods that Mr.. X. has an offer
from a responsible dealer of fifty
cents gallon for his entire product