The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-16
THE MANUFACTURE OF
FINEST TABLE SYRUP
Uncle Sam to Establish Station of Instruction
at Waycross for the Planters

Washington, July 15.-Uncle Sam is
embarking in the business of manufac-
turing table syrup. He is not going
into this as a money-making venture,
but for the purpose of setting an ex-
ample to the makers of syrup In the
Southern states and teaching them how
to get the best results from their cane.
The last agricultural appropriation
bill contained an appropriation Of $15,-
600, to be used exclusively for the pur-
pose of investigating, determining, and
reporting the proper treatment and
process in order to secure a uniform
grade and quality of first-class table
syrup. DR.. H. w. Wiley, chief Of
the Bureau of Chemistry, under whose
supervision the money is to be expend-
ed, determined that the best way 10
carry on the investigation was to erect
a model syrup factory and engage In
the production of syrup on a sufficient
ly large scale to demonstrate the adj
vantages of the methods employed.
Waycross, Ga, was selected as the To-
cation of the model factory and It's
erection il now under way. DR.. Wiley
has arranged for a supply of sugar cane
from planters in the neighborhood and
it is NOW being grown in accordance
with the instructions issued from
Washington.
The manufacture of table syrup from
sugar cane is not a new industry In the
South. 1t is practiced over large areas
of Southern Georgia, and South Caro-
lima, Southern Mississippi and Alaba-
ma, nearly the whole of Louisiana and
Florida, and in Southern Texas. In
nearly all of these localities, however,
the methods that have been employed
have been of a crude nature, involving
no accurate knowledge of the character
of the cane employed, the amount of
sugar that 1t contained, or the chemi-
cal composition of the product secured.
The extent to which the industry has
been developed is shown by the last
census report, which gave the total
quantity of cane syrup produced in the
United States as 12.293,032 gallons.
The quality of the product made has
usually been of high character, and
the appreciation of it's value for the
breakfast table and for cooking pur-
poses has gradually grown until it is
now a recognized food product through
out the whole of the region in which it
is produced and in many other parts of
the United States to which it has been
sent. So great has become the demand
for this wholesome, palatable and
nutritious article of diet that in the
past few years manufacturing estab-
lishments have been erected on a much
more elaborate scale and under much
more careful management than hereto
fore. The old-fashioned mule mill and
iron kettle have given way to the
steam mill and steam evaporation. I'M
proved methods of treatment of the
juice have been practiced. and attempts
have been made to secure an article of
standard quality and properties. The
greatest difficulty in the way of the
development of a market for the table
syrup has been the lack of uniformity
between the products of different mills
and even between the products turned
out by the same mill at different times.
Merchants desire to handle uniform
grade of syrup so that when its value
is once established they can meet the
demands of their customers for this
particular kind. Another difficulty in
the way of development of a market
has been the tendency of the syrup to
ferment in warm weather, thus re-
stricting it's sale very greatly.
The purpose of the model factory be-
ing erected at Waycross is to demon
strate to the cane producers the best
methods of overcoming these difficult
ties. 1t is proposed to show them how
to produce syrups of uniform quality
that will resist the tendency to fer
mentation in warm weather. The man