The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1891-12-03
FARMER AND PLANTER.
SORGHUM MoLAssEs.

directions Tor Making SOrRhum MOIHsScS
Given Out by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.
The United States department of
agriculture, in recent bulletin, gives
the following directions for manufac-
turing sorghum molasses:
THE sorghum canes, properly strip
ped of leaves and with the seed tops re-
moved, are passed through mill adj
justed to extract as large a per cent. as
possible of the juice. A frst-class,
three-roller horse mill, properly adj
justed, will extract from sixty to sixty
five pounds of juice from each one hum
bred pounds of clean cane. In case the
molasses shows tendency to gram
nlatc, the cane should be cut and al
lowed to lie in the field three or four
days before being worked. If the
molasses does not show any tendency
to granulate, it is best to have the cane
worked as soon as possible after har-
vesting.
''As soon as the juice is expressed, it
should be treated with cream of lime,
which has been thoroughly strained so
as to contain no large Jumps of undis-
solved lime. In a tank of convenient
size, two-thirds filled with juice, the
cream of lime should be added, little by
little, with stirring so as to incorporate
it thoroughly with the juice. As the
point of neutrality is reached. the juice
will show large amount of focculent
matter and will slightly change in color,
passing from green to amber color.
Care must be taken not to add an excess
of the cream of lime, the result of which
would be a darkening of the molasses.
The proper point may be soon learned
by experience; it can also be deter
mined directly by litmus test paper.
The blue litmus paper should be used.
When this blue paper is placed in the
natural juice, it will turn to light red.
AS the point of neutrality is reached
the change of color in the litmus paper
becomes less and less pronounced and
when it is distinctly purple it shows
that the proper amount of lime has been
added. If too much lime be added the
paper will not change in color at all or
be made more distinctly blue. Litmus
paper can be obtained from any we'll
equipped drug store.
"a very excellent article of molasses
is made by adding to the juice, treated
as above some bisulphite of lime. This
bisulphite of lime is made by passing
the fumes of burning sulphur into
cream of lime until it is saturated. The
addition of the bisulphite of lime makes
the juice again acid. but tends to pro-
duce molasses of a much lighter color
than can be made without it. Excellent
molasses, however, of a somewhat dark
er color can be made without the use of
the bisulphite of lime. A good article
of molasses of light color can also be
made without adding lime, and molasses
made in this way is exceptionally good
for baking purposes.
THE juice after treatment with the
lime or with the lime and bisulphite of
lime alone should be placed at once in
a tank and rapidly brought to the boil
ing point. 1t should, however, not be
allowed ito boil, but when the scum,
which is formed over the top, begins to
show signs of breaking the heat should
be withdrawn and the blanket of scum
removed. The heat may then
be again applied until all the green
scums have been entirely separated.
The purified juice should now be re-
duced, as rapidly as possible, to the con-
of molasses. This is best done
in some form of continuous evaporation
based on the old-fashioned Cook evapo-
rator, in which the purified juice con-
stantly runs in at one end of the evapo-
rator, passes back and forth across it,
and the finished molasses runs out at
the other end. The more quickly this
evaporation can be accomplished the
better for the molasses.
when the molasses runs from the
evaporation it should be cooled as Quick
~ as possible and should never be
placed in barrels until it has almost
reached the ordinary temperature of
the air.
''These directions are only of gem
eral nature and it requires a large ex-
perience to be able to produce always
drst-class article of molasses."