Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-05-29
SUGAR AND SPICES.


articles which are always on the break
fast or dinner-table. If / were to- ask
where they all came from you might at
first think it q very easy question to am
sWer. You would say that part of them
came from the field and part from the
garden and some from the grocery.
This answer would be correct IS far As
it goes; but it would not go far toward
wisest man could hardly give accom-
so he would have to tell how asseed
and covered deeply under. the heavy
soil bursts its covering and sends up
tender little shoot into the ain, there to
grow and spread and blossom and bear
the fruit which came to the table to-day.
Men have found out many curious and
wonderful things in the life history OF
plants. but what that life is and how
things grow and blossom none have
ever been able to explain.
So we will not trouble ourselves with
those questions. bat will try and answer,
some plain ones. Among other things
that you had to-day was sugar. That
came from the store, to be cure, direct
to your home, but If you should ask the
merchant where he obtained IL he would
probably answer. at some large ware
house In the great city. And il you
should 90 there and ask the man Of
whom be bought it where. he found the
sugar he would probably tell YOU that
it came to- him from the refinery. /
have not space to describe to you the
whole process by which the dark stuff
II.
into fine white or crushed sugar. How
it is at first dissolved in tanks Of hot
water and then filtered into iron watts
impurities, after which it is made ready
for market. But il YOU should still be
inquisitive about the sugar and should
ask the refner where he obtained the
raw material he would be likely to tell.
you that it came to him in ship from
some PARKWAY place, from Louisiana or
no frosts ever come and no cold winter
winds ever blow, are great plantations /
of sugar-cane, plant which, while
growing, looks something like our In
dian corn, ana from which most of our
sugar il made. The sugar-caue may
also be found in other Southern States
and in various parts of the world where
the climate is hot. The stems of the
cane are long, sometimes ten or twelve
feet high, and nearly filled with
sweet, juicy pith. At certain seasons
these canes are cut and bound together
in bundles and taken to the mill. where
the canes are passed through heavy iron
rollers that squeeze nearly all the juice
o,lt of them. The juice then passes into
reservoir, from which It is drawn into
large vessels and boiled until it becomes
thick by being crystallised. It is then
allowed to cool and is put into casks for
shipment to the refineElcs, Of which I
have already spoken. 8 i7s.ss
There are other kinds Of sugar besides
that which comes from the sugar-cane.
Some Of it is made from the juice of
beets, some from grapes and some from
fruit and many other substances have in
them sweet juice which il pressed out
and reduced to solid form would be
sugar. The sap of the sugar-maple, /
as any child knows, yields delicious
sugar. s8.s
But let us go back to the table again,
and see what we can find out about
such common articles as cloves and Gin
namon and other spices that are used
10 make food pleasant to the taste. H
you ask the merchant about these he
will tell you very much the same story
that he did about the sugar. He will
say they came to him from the great
storehouse in the city. And if you go
there again, you will be told that they,
too, came from far away, thousands
and thousands of miles. The best Gin
namon comes from the island of Cey-
Ion, OF the southeastern coast of Hin
doostan, in the Indian Ocean. The
cinnamon tree sometimes grows to the
height of twenty feet. It has pretty |
flowers of q silky gray color. The bark
is taken from the young branches, which |
are cut at certain seasons of the year, !
and stripped of their outer coating.
The strips Of bark are exposed to the
hot sun, and in driving are curled
up into the little quilts that You
have seen. The finest cloves come
from the Spice Islands, 4 gronp in the
Pacific Ocean, between Borneo and New
Guinea, not far from the coast of Asia.
The cloves are the fiower-buds of the
Glove tree, which often grows TO the
height of forty feet. Il isa beautiful
tree, and its leaves and stalks. give
off pleasant aroma, and are sometimes
used as well as the buds. II is very
important article of commerce, and
of pounds of the little buds
are gathered annually and shipped to
all parts Of the globe.
The nutmeg comes all the way from
the East Indies and from South Amer
lea. It is the kernel d the fruit Of the
nutmeg tree, which grows I'd 9 height
- o1,nt1f fvuantv-fsu feat s8s The frnit