Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-12-21
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By G. HENTY ~
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By G. A. HENTY

JIOu
The young Hardys looked aghast at
each other, for in the pressure of other
matters the question of apparatus for
the sugar manufacture had been quite
forgotten.
Have you really no idea how to do it,
FrankY
NO, really l have not, my dear. We
have certainly no wood on the place
which would make the rollers; besides, it
would be rather a difficult business.
Mrs. Hardy thought for a minute and
then said: Il should think that the man
gle would do it,
There was a general exclamation of
Capital, mammal" and then a burst of
laughter at the idea of making sugar with
a mangle. The mangle in question was
part Of patent washing apparatus which
Mr.. Hardy had brought with him from
England, and consisted of two strong
iron rollGrs, kept together by string
springs, and turning with a handle
Il do think that the mangle would do,
Clara" Mr.. Hardy said "and we are all
much obliged to you for the idea had
thought of the great washing copper for
boiling the sugar, but the mangle alto
gether escaped me- We will begin to-
morrow. Please get all the tubs scrub
bed out and scalded, and put out in the
sun to dry"
How long will it take, papa?"
Some days, Ethel We must only cut
the canes as fast as the boiler can boil
the juice down."
The next day the work began The
canes were cut at a level with the ground,
the tops taken off, and the canes cut into
lengths of three feet. They were then
packed on bullock cart and taken up to
the house. They were next passed
through the mangle, which succeeded adj
mirably, the juice flowing out in streams
into the tub placed below to receive it.
When all the canes had been passed
through the mangle, the screws were
frightened to increase the pressure, and
they were again passed through, by
which time, although the juice was not
so thoroughly extracted as it would have
been by a more powerful machine, the
quantity that remained was not impor-
tant. AS the tub was filled the con-
tents were taken to the great copper, I'M
der which a fire was then lighted. The
til the copper was nearly full, when Mr..
Hardy ordered the cutting of the canes
to be discontinued for the day. The fire
under the copper was fed with the crush
ed canes, which burned very freely Mr..
Hardy now added a small quantity of
lime and some sleeps blood, which last
ingredient caused many EXPLANATIONS of
horror from Mrs. Hardy and the young
ones. The blood, however, Mr.. Hardy
informed them, was necessary to clarity
the sugar, as the albumen contained in
the blood would rise to the surface, bring
ing the impurities with it. The fire was
continued until the thermometer showed
that the syrup was within a few degrees
of boiling, and the surface was covered
with a thick, dark-colored scum. The
fire was then removed, and the liquor al
lowed to COOL the family now going about
other work, as 50 large a quantity of iq-
uor would not be really cold until the
next day.
The following morning the tap at the
bottom of the boiler was turned and
the syrup came out bright and clear
about the color of sherry wine. The
scum descended unbroken on the surface
OIL tnp uCiuOI, anu W uGL TIE NOpDcG w DIS
nearly empty the tap was closed, and
the scum and what little liquor remained
was taken out. The bright syrup was
now again poured into the boiler, the fire
relighted, and the syrup was kept boiling
to evapOrate the water and condense the
syrup down to the point at which 1t would
crystalline. 1t required many hours boil
ing to effect this, any scum which rose
to the surface being carefully taken off
with a skinner. At last it was found
that the syrup on the skinner began to
crystalline and Mr.. Hardy pronounced
it to be fit to draw off into the large
washing tubs to crystallize A fresh batch
of canes was now crushed, and SO the
process was repeated until all the canes
were cut. 1t took fortnight altogether,
but only FIVE days Of this were actually
occupied in cutting and crushing the
canes. AS the sugar crystallized it was
taken out-a dark, pulpy looking mass, at
which the young Hardys looked very
doubtfully-and was placed in a large SUI
gar hogshead, which had been procured
for the purpose. In the bottom of this
eight large holes were bored, and these
were stopped up with pieces of plaintain
Sldlh. 1ulOuSl lIlS pOAOuo SNpSIt'ASS ~
these stalks the molasses or treacle slow
ly drained off. AS the wet sugar was
placed in the cask, layers of slices of
plaintain stems were laid upon it, as the
spongy substance draws the dark color
ing matter out from the sugar. The
plaintain grows freely in South America,
and Mr.. Hardy had planted a number of
this graceful tree near his house; but
these had not been advanced enough to
cut, and he had, therefore, procured a
sufficient quantity from a friend at Ro-
sario. 1t was three months before the
drainage of the molasses quite ceased;
and the Hardys were greatly pleased, on
emptying the hogshead and removing the
plaintain stems, to find that their sugar
was dry and of a fairly light color. The
sugar canes did not require planting
again, as they will grow for many years
from the same roots; and although the
canes from old stools, as they are called,
produce less sugar than those of the first
years planting, the juice IS clearer and
requires far less trouble to prepare and