New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-01-14

| mills vas left in tho refuse To check tfis cnor-
mous waste yarious attempts have been made to
introduce the diffusion process employed III INC
manufacture of beet sugar The process III oriei ID
this: A number of close vessels, say ton arc
connected by pipes from the ton OF the hrst 10 tDo
bottom of the THESE ten cells or dinuels are
filled closely with finely cut stripped cane. Water
il then introduced into cell No. anu taxes up d
large part of tho sugar in the cane. This dlinte
mice IS then forced into cell No. where it takes up
more sugar. while fresh water Is forced into cell No
| TO leach its contents second time and so on Inc
luce after passing through the entire battery Is
drawn from cell No. 10 rs rich in sugar as pure
cane juice Meanwhile the contents OF cell NO
have been treated ten times ana yleld sugar ho
longer IN uuantity worth gathering. This rei"se Is
then removed and the cell winch now becomes NO.
10 in the battery is filled with fresh cane ana INC
process goes on as before. Instead OF losing niY
per cent of the sugar, but little more than eleven
Der cent ESCAPES In other words Of the 145
pounds of sugar in ton of cane the mill secures ~
hounds while the difiusers secure $50 ponds or,
diffusion products are 81 per cent greater IMAM MN
products from the same cane.
Now stripped cane when cut is comparatively
heavy and lies closely in the cell. Cane win the
leaves on is much lighter and lies SO much more
loosely that it requires nearly twice as lnuch water
10 I'LL the spaces in the latter case, and THIS means
more dilute Juice and the need OF more evaporation
In the experiments of Mr. Wiley, Chemist of the
Agricultural Department. the juice obtained by
diffusion contained less than . per cent OF sugar.
while in the Rio Grande tests the Juice was more
than twice as rich. containing III per cent OF
sugar. In the Rio Grande Works, with a capacity
for so tons of cane per day. the evaporation OF
Il 900 gallons Or one third of the entire amount OF
water used would be saved by stripping the cane
before diffusion. TO produce given amount OF
sugar then n much less expensive plant could be
used when stripped cane is worked, while the saving
of fuel especially in districts where coal is dear
would materially reduce expenses. Besides thls'
under the long boiling needed with the greater
amount of water Of the sugar ieverts to form
incapable of crystalllzation and in this way the
production is decreased. In addition to all TINS IL Is
found that the leaves and sheaths amount 10 one
fourth of the entire weight of cane-whIle every
hundred pounds of diffusion solids from this
source consists OF fourteen pounds of sugar and
eighty-s,x pounds of worse than worthless ana
quickly decaying matter that must be removed at
great cost The bulletin is plainly right therefore
in arguing that the one rational way OF removing
this trouble is keep the impure matter out OF tile
sugar house by stripping the cane before IL Is
worked.
Dr. Collier long ago experimental with diffusion
battery winch lie made himself IN an inexpensive
way ont OF barrels and secured noteworthy results
considering the facilities at his command but he
was removed just he was ready to do lis best
work lis successor after several years oi study
has added little ii anything OF practical value to our
knowledge OF the subject. lie has now gone 10 Eu-
rope to get improved machinery but II he had t
upon tho really vital difficulty from the manuiact-
urer's pout of yicS ho would have remained at
home and asked some bright American 20 build hun
an elective stfipper. lie mas lately written to the
cane growers of Indiana that "diiluson cannot be
adapted 10 medium or small works. II he had
expcrlmented with clean cane his views might have
been different. 1t is remarkable fact that Ia MS
pamphlet on the sources OF sugar. while mentioning
All the prominent sorghum plant, elsewhere lac sad
not a word OF tine Rio Grandc Works. where the
New-Jcrscy experiments were made and one oil the
largest in the country, although he has freely used
the information gained there IN his addresses ana
Official papers.
As time rolls on tho evidence dccumulates that
the estimates of Dr. Collier ~ to the coming import
ancs OF the sorghum sugar industry were none too