The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1903-11-13
Observation-Disclosures
Y The Farm and Grove. |
X Copyrighted by Rural Press Syndicate,
4 II. E. STOCKBRlDGE, Ph. D., Editor.
POINTS ON SYRUP MAKING.

POINTS ON SYRUP MAKING.
There is no farm product with
which value is more dependent on
quality than with syrup. This quail
ity is influenced by every step in its
production.
The crop is now made, and the only
influence which may now effect the
crop itself is the method of harvest
ing. Before coming to the mill the
cane should be as completely strip
ped and topped as possible. The M
puIities Of color and flavor which
injuri0usly effect the syrup, come
tops. These should, therefore, be
eliminated as far as possible by
stripping and topping as low as the
last unripe joint By observing this
rule much of the greenish tint and
vegetable taste so Objectionable in
much syrup may be entirely avoided.
Straining the juice is the next
point to be carefully looked to. The
day of the gunny sack strainer is
past. Good quality and high prices
demand something better and more
effective. The simplest effective
strainer vet devised is the moss
| filter" consisting of II tub or box OF
dry black moss placed under the
spout of the mill. The box should
be as long as possible, and stand
under the spout; about four feet long
and one foot square are good dimen-
tiOns. The moss should be packed
in as solid as possible, and washed
every night The juice should run
through the moss and out through l.
pipe at the bottom into the eyapora.
tor or kettle.
The result is a juice very free fren
coloring matter and impurities; con-
seqGently light colored pure, well
favored syrup, by simple means al
| the disposal of any One-hOrse farmer.
This method has been objected to aS
unscientific by some parties whose
farming is done on paper, and VIII"
never made any syrup outside of i
laboratory, and could not sell that.
but the fact remains, that nearly ali
/ the large commercial syrup makers
in the country, many of them parties
who grind from 20 to 100 acres OF
| cane yearly, use this method. The
syrup taking the first prize at the
Alabama and Florida State Fairs
last year was made by use of this
simple moss strainer.
Evaporation may be in either an
evapOrator or kettles. The continu-
Gus process evaporation, with stream
of Juice entering at one end and a
| flow of syrup from the other, are not
! to be commended. Separation OF
evaporating compartment from the
finishing compartment is to be-in-
sisted on. The opening between the
two should close tightly. BY any
other method there is unavoidably u
mixing of fresh juice with nearly
| finished syrup, to the great deterior-
alton of the quality.
Stirring and scimming are matters
requiring different attention from
that given by many makers. There
should be no Swimming till the first
or even second "blanket" of scum
has risen and been removed. This
should be accomplished without al
lowing the juice to boil, for boiling
mikes the impurities with the hot
Juice so completely that perfect sepa.
ration is afterwards never possible.
The "blanket" is easily removed by
means of Il narrow board, as long as
the evaporation is wide, at II single
sweep of the surface. The less the
boiling juice is stirred, the better.
The reason for this is that the mixing
of air with the juice is detrimental.
crystallation and fermenting are
aided by constant stirring so fire.
quently practiced. This habit, it is
really such, should be carefully
avoided.
Density or thickness of syrup very
materially influences quality. The
actual thickness is of less Importance
than regularity. If all the output
of a single maker is of the same
thickness, better prices will be OBJ
tanned, even if little thinner or
thicker, than preferred by the mar
kct, than with syrup constantly vary
ing with each package sampled.
! Thirty-five to thirty-three are the
proper limits in density for best pro-
duet. A saccharOmeter which shall
accurately determine the actual den
sity may be obtained of Elmer d
Armand of New York, for two dollars,
and place the syrup maker i'll absolute
control of this important point. The
instrument is fragile, and need not
be regularly used, A smooth stick
the size of lead pencil, weighted
at one end with bit of lead, may be
tested in sample of syrup with the
saccharometer, and a notch cut on
the stick, corresponding to the prop
er mark of degrees on the instrument.
The stick is then an accurate gauge
for that degree, and may be regularly
used for testing, reserving the instru-
ment for an occasional check.
Sugaring and souring of the finish
ed product, with the lapse of time,
are the obstacles most makers find
nrnn tnst hifflcnltN In avoiding. Both