Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1889-01-19
MAKING SUGAR.
THE INTERESTING FACTS OF A
GREAT INDUSTRY
Juice Extracted From CAKE on the
Plant ation>-Secursng Crudc
Materiai-Syrup Cleared
and Cr,staii ed

ana Cr1staIi ed
Sugar exists in various forms o. vcCe-
table growth, but the great producers
IRE sugar cane. sorghum and the bee,
root. The nited States cpnsumes more
sugar per capita than any o:her country
in the world, Louisiana growing the
bulk Of cane. In lse. Lou siana
produced HES So pounds of cane
gar. he same year the United States /
imported ;,l26, +42,2,o pounds aod
exported 2oi. .24l, lG. pounds. The
biggest years product for Louisiana was
in l,bo, when ,he outpu, reached 52s.
81, 500 pounds.
Sugar making" said one of the It
Louis reines $ when inte-rogated by a
Giode- Democrat reporter. is cooking.
The first care Of the producer lis to get
all the sugar possible out OF the cane.
either by squeezing out the Juice or
cleared of its impurities, As coffee is
cleared By the white of an egg or water
is filtered through charcoal, it is then
boiled. to evaporate as much Of the water
AS possible and crvstalize the solid sugar.
it is then cooled and the mola.ses drained
off, leaving the soft dark sugars, in
viii Ii ca h crystal has its thin coating
of molasses or dried by centrifugal
machine, as clothes are dried in the
out. or further clarified aud left to cry
stalize in white loaves VIII ch are sawed
or crushed, or ground or powdered into
egeral varieties Of sugar. Most Of these
earlier processes are performed on the
plantations. but in many cases they are
repeated and the sugar carried through
the final process in the great redneries.
Refining is, in fact, little more than a
finer repetition Of making and to do
these simple things on great scale and
in the best way is the sole purpose Of
those enormous beeh.ves Of industry"
The sugar planter requires for his cane
plantation a warm. moist climate, with
intervals of hot. dry weather, with little
| danger from frost a soil not too rich,
containing lime and magncsis, and Of
good drainage; and the benefit of sea
bree1es, salt in the air being better for
HIM than salt in the soil The sugar
~ EY1
ditions IN the alluvia soil of the lower
! Mississippi Valley. In laying out an es
tate. drainage must be carefully pro-
vided for. and in some countries irriga-
tion is much used From one to four
cuttings are set ont together in ho.es
about two feet apart AS the canes grow
they must be we'll weeded and crashed, :"
that is, all dry, dead leaves removed.
They begin to grow in I ouisana in 1cb-
truarv. and are harvested from October to
January
The Juice of the cane makes nbo nine.
tenths of its weight. and the extraction
can be done by soaking out the sugar in
water or crushing or grinding. TIL" lat
ter was the process in early times and
some of the pr m tive mills are still used
in some Of the Southern States The
sugar house on a large p'an'at on is a
big building. usually in the center oil
tn lands. with roads or tramwavs lead
ing to it from all directions As the
cane is brought up by the teams it j,
carried by endless belts t. the crushing
mill. This is simple in constru "tion, hu,
Of enormous power. The crushing il
done bv gigantic iron rollers. giving i'm
mense pressure The iuice runs in on
direction and the crushed cane, caIlcC
''begars," goes another. TO be finall,
burned in the furnaces.
From the cru~her the Juice goes I,
the strainer then is heated 10 about 81
degrees. milk Of lime being added t
neutrali7e the acid n the ;uce TIL
liquid must then be tenn aercd TO correc
any excess Of lime. after which is i. fl
tered and crystalize1 In the old suga
houses these changes are effected b.
what they call "bat'e-v" Of open pan
or 'taches." The ciar flying is done il
the frs: two pans The others arc Sc. o
descending linc, TIC last and loves
beng the striking .sche' The JUG
is dipped from one pan to another, tt
heat Increasing as the pan. get lower an
searer the FIRE. until at last the boilin
has broueh. cry;,alzing point. Ate
Q 81 or echt hours boiling the cooke
. mass i. Of reddish god color and
| ready for striking" his calls for tn
1 expert. as il is the critical mom-nt II
|, mus. strike or dip of the Lou d 81
n exact instant il is reaiv 10 crys,alize
] The pan cnc half the con'entk may |
taken GU; when the res. will have 20 |
9 le.. 10 haze ne. syrun added. An in
: proyem.nt on this pan i. the using